Page 71 of The Version You Hide

For the first time in a long while, I wish I didn’t have to work tonight.

I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s the conversation I’d had earlier with my mother, the feeling that I’m constantly disappointing the two people who brought me into this world.

Or maybe it’s because I know Mackenzie isn’t rostered on, and the shifts I have with her have become my favourite.

Maybe it’s the weather.

But also, maybe it’s Mackenzie.

The rain hasn’t let up for the past hour and I’m already half-drenched before I make it to the car. I reverse out of the driveway, turning onto the quiet street when a bolt of lightning illuminates the darkness.

I slow down a little further along the road, giving way to a bus, but soon after I press my foot to the accelerator, I’m hitting the brakes again as a figure darts out in front of me.

I lurch forward, my hands braced tightly on the wheel, staring through the blur of thick rain that tumbles down the windshield at the woman in front of me.

She pauses, a deer in the headlights, her long curls dampened straight by the downpour. She raises her left arm to shield her face from the light.

A face that I know all too well.

She darts off across the road, tripping at the entrance to the beach trail. I squint through the rain-soaked window in time to watch her fall to her knees. I don’t know what the hell Mackenzie is doing out here. I only know that I need to get to her.

Awareness kicks in as a car horn blares behind me, a reminder that I’m still stopped in the middle of the road. I swiftly pull over to the side and launch myself out of the car, racing in her direction.

“Mackenzie!” I call out as I reach the trail’s entrance. “Mackenzie!”

As I draw nearer, her light, denim, mud-splattered jeans come into focus, but it’s not until she pushes her hair back from her panic-stricken face, that I realise something is very wrong.

There’s a jolt in my chest at the sight of her distraught expression, her cheeks caked with streaks of mud as tears stream from her eyes, her petite rain-soaked body wracking with sobs.

“Mackenzie.”

Even if she can hear me, she doesn’t respond, scrambling to her feet and bolting further down the track. At this point, I’m concerned for her safety, so I sprint after her, settling a hand on her shoulder when she comes within reach.

She turns, thrashing at me with wild arms. “Get off me!”

“Mackenzie, it’s me,” I say as tenderly as I can over the pelting of the rain. I try to be gentle as I attempt to restrain her hands. She’s a small woman but she’s strong.

“No!” she screams again.

Reaching my arms around her, I pull her back into my chest. I squeeze her wrists tighter, hating that I need to use force to calm her down. Dropping my chin to her shoulder, I speak softly into her ear. “It’s me. It’s Dylan.”

The fight suddenly leaves her, her body sagging against mine. Her breathing is ragged as she slowly turns to face me, the terror in her eyes still there. “Dylan?”

I nod, my chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. “It’s me.”

“You’re not him.” She gasps the words out.

It doesn’t take a genius to guess who she had mistaken me for. Her ex has put her through more than any person deserves to go through. A few choice words come to mind when I think of him, but she doesn’t need to hear those right now. She needs my reassurance. To know that she is safe. Her mind has gone somewhere dark, and I need to bring her back to me. “I’d never hurt you, Kenz.”

Her bottom lip trembles as she takes a hesitant step forward, pausing before closing the final gap between us.

She collapses into my chest and I envelope her in my arms, wrapping one hand around her waist, caressing the back of her head with the other. My fingers thread through her damp hair as she chokes out another sob.

“It’s okay, Kenz. You’re gonna be okay.”

The rain pelts down on us harder now as another bolt of lightning cracks through the otherwise black sky, illuminating Mackenzie’s distant icy blue stare as she pulls back from me.

“It’s not okay,” she murmurs just loud enough for me to hear. “Nothing is okay.”

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