Page 39 of Hold Me Until Morning

My throat grew thick, and I reached up and curled my hand over hers, voice gruff when I murmured, “I already have, Mom. It’s right here.”

And I needed not to fucking forget it.

NINE

HAILEY

It was just after five-thirty when I hopped into my Durango that Friday evening.

A sigh of contentment fluttered past my lips as I turned over the ignition.

It was hard to believe I’d already been working at Cambrey Pines for two weeks. Those two weeks had been productive. Both exciting and terrifying, the hope of freedom whispering around me while a piece of my spirit still toiled and warred.

Seized by the dread of the choice I had made, constantly worrying I had done this all wrong, the rubbing at my soul urging that I was taking the easy way out. Guilt clotting the flickers of joy I’d already found here.

But I hadn’t heard a word from Pruitt, not since my father had mentioned him, and I was standing on that.

I just had to make sure my daughter was safe first, then I would make the choice of how to proceed, how to handle the burden of this knowledge.

As if I didn’t have enough to fret over, I’d spent an inordinate amount of time trying to ignore the presence of my new neighbor that seemed to follow me everywhere, both at my house and at work, the man’s aura so distinct that I swore I could sense his footsteps wherever he went.

He was always tossing out easy hellos. Texting me to ask if I was okay and if I needed a hand. Acting like we were long lost BFFs and he owed me the time and the effort.

It would be a whole lot easier to dismiss the man if I wasn’t subject to the energy he emitted whenever he was in his house, this magnetism that’d had me peeking out my window too many times to count, then feeling guilty the second I’d give in.

The way my eyes couldn’t help but search him out whenever I roamed the grounds of the resort, drawn to an entity that would destroy.

Cody Cooper was nothing but a black hole.

A stupidly hot black hole that threatened to suck me in.

Shaking it off, I backed out of my parking space and took off down the long drive that wound out of the resort.

A ton of cars passed me coming in. The resort was booked to capacity for the weekend, which was typical since people flocked here for weekend getaways.

I was halfway down the drive when my phone rang from my Bluetooth speakers. A surprised smile stretched across my face when I saw the name on the screen.

Eagerly, I touched the button on the dash to accept the call, my voice full of wonder, “Oh, my goodness, if it isn’t Paisley Dae.”

She shrieked from the opposite end of the line. “Tell me it’s true, and your gorgeous ass is back in Colorado.”

Warmth flooded my chest. “I’m here!”

I made it to the end of the drive and carefully made a left, Paisley’s excitement in my ear. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re actually back. I heard some murmurings going around town, but I had to call to find out for myself.”

“The rumors are all true.” I grinned.

“Huh, who’d have known that rumors could be good?” she teased.

A tiny sliver of laughter rumbled out.

“And you’re back in town, too?” I asked.

The last I’d talked to her, she was moving to Arizona with her boyfriend. That was years ago, and we’d lost touch after that.

Honestly, I hadn’t known her all that well, the two of us more acquaintances than friends, though that’s what I really had considered her.

A friend.

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