Page 6 of Hold Me Until Morning

HAILEY

I remained rooted, unable to move, shock spearing me through and staking me to the ground as I watched him jog across the lawn that separated our yards, his giant frame getting eaten up by the raging storm that thrashed around him. A gray mist covered him whole before he disappeared through his garage door that had remained open.

Like a ghost had appeared from out of nowhere and evaporated just as fast.

Except he was no ghost.

He was Cody Cooper.

I stifled the wave of grief that threatened to suck me under. I knew it wasn’t wholly because of him.

It was just the memories of this place. The memories I’d worried would be too much, which was the reason I hadn’t come back here in six years.

But it was time.

Time to return to myself.

Time to reclaim.

Time to renew a purpose that had been lost somewhere along the way.

Time to stand up and fight.

It was only a tiny hiccup that it turned out Cody was my new next-door neighbor.

No doubt, Karma was laughing her ass off at me right then.

I shucked it down, the twinge of guilt I felt, and chalked it up to coincidence.

Cody was just a flirty bastard who so clearly knew how to get what he wanted. Country charm and arrogance in vats. Just as aloof and self-centered as he’d ever been.

It wasn’t a big deal. I could handle it.

Another streak of lightning flashed overhead, and it knocked me from the trance and jolted me into action.

Beneath the pelting rain, I scurried the rest of the way up the walkway and onto the porch. I tossed open the door before I leaned down and shoved the three boxes inside, internally scolding myself for being relieved for even a second that I hadn’t had to carry them in myself.

I was not in need of a white knight.

Specifically, one named Cody Cooper.

Slamming the door shut and locking it behind me, I straightened and dragged my fingers through the sopping wet mess of my hair to get it out of my face.

A buzz of satisfaction filled me as I took in the house.

The middle section was done as a great room, completely open.

Airy and letting in a ton of light when it wasn’t storming out.

The kitchen was on the left and the living area was on the right.

The floors were done in plank tiles that looked like wood. The cabinets a deep chestnut, and the countertops were a swirl of creams and browns and golds to tie it all together.

It was nice but small.

Modest.

Especially when compared to the extravagance I’d lived in for my entire life.

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