Page 53 of Chasing Forever

“Well, if you ever need a hand with that, you can always call me. Tristan has a shovel, and I’m really good at keeping secrets.”

She shot in my direction and wrapped her arms around me, yanking me into a hug so tight it made my ribs creak. For a tiny thing, she was strong as hell. “I’m so glad you came back to Hope Valley. I hate everything that asshole put you through while you were here, but I’m still glad, because it means I got a new friend for life.”

The sting of tears came on the heels of her proclamation. I pulled back with a sniffle and gave her an accusatory glare. “If you make me cry right now I’m going to be so mad.” She giggled, but didn’t look the least bit apologetic. “But I feel the same way. You have no idea how much meeting you guys and becoming friends has helped me move past all the ugliness from before.”

She sniffled and waved her hands in front of her face. “Now who’s gonna make who cry?”

We talked for a while longer, the rest of the conversation much lighter, but after a while she had to get back to work. The lunch crowd had filtered off, and she needed to start preparing for the night crowd that would be much bigger and a lot rowdier.

I still had some time to kill before I had to pick Levi up from school, so I headed to the grocery store to grab something to make for dinner.

I’d lived in Hope Valley for more than seven years by the time I left Warren, but in all that time, I’d never gotten to know the people in town. Back then, I’d walked through the grocery store at a quick pace, keeping my head down and trying my hardest not to make eye contact with anyone. I was in and out, never long enough to make any type of connection. Seven years, and practically everyone I’d crossed paths with was a stranger.

Since coming back—since Tristan came into my life—so much had changed. As I steered the cart through the aisles of Fresh Foods, I had a smile on my face for every single person I passed. I recognized at least half of the people I saw, and more than once, I was stopped to make small talk.

For the first time since I moved here, I was actually a part of the town—of the community. For so long I’d been scared no one would believe me. Warren’s charm and easy lies would fool them all.

Now I realized those worries had been planted in my head by Warren. The more time that passed, the more people were coming to me saying how sorry they were for what I’d gone through. The support of the community he’d once had was long gone now. The mask had been peeled away, and everyone was seeing him for what he was.

He was still doing everything in his power to drag this divorce out, but I wasn’t worried. I was patient, and I knew the day would come when I’d finally be free of him. I was sure Tristan would come up with some elaborate way to celebrate, and I couldn’t wait to see what he’d do.

I took my time shopping, planning out a dinner menu in my head that the guys in my life would enjoy enough they’d let the sight of vegetables on their plate slide.

They both seemed to be fans of my fried chicken, so I decided to make tenders with loaded mashed potatoes and green beans on the side.

I was not giving up my fight to make Levi like vegetables. One of two things was going to happen. Either he’d learn to love them, or I’d end up scarring him for life and he’d never eat another vegetable again. But I figured he’d be grown by then, and it wouldn’t be my problem anymore.

To soften the blow, I picked up a chocolate cake from the bakery. It wasn’t going to be as good as one of Nona’s cakes, but it would work in a pinch.

I’d learned, growing up, Nona had done what her kids referred to as stress baking. According to the stories they shared over the family dinners Levi and I had been attending regularly, Tristan and Blythe would come home from school to find every surface of the kitchen covered in some sort of baked good. Legend had it she managed to supply an entire bake sale all by herself, and Tristan said he and his step-brother Shawn were the most popular kids on their soccer team because Nona always showed up at their games with trays of cupcakes.

Apparently the trait was genetic and had been passed town to Blythe, but it had manifested differently with her. She didn’t stress bake, she stress cooked. Only, she’d taken that skill and made it into a career when she decided to open her own little catering company. It was still new, but she was excited about what her future held.

The more time I spent with Tristan’s family, the more I loved them, and was excited to meet his step-sibling, and his and Blythe’s half-brother, Liam, when they all traveled back home for Christmas.

It was the same for Levi. He’d already declared that Blythe’s middle daughter, Adeline, was his best friend, with her other two, Avett and Ainsley, coming in at a close, collective second.

I checked out, taking a moment to chat with the cashier who I’d become friendly with over the past few months, and headed to my car. I was in the middle of loading everything into the back hatch when a shadow came up behind me, suddenly blocking out the sun. Before I had a chance to turn around, something cold and hard was pressed into my back.

“Scream, and I swear to God, I’ll fucking shoot you.”

My blood turned to ice at the sound of Warren’s voice hissing in my ear.

“What—”

“Shut the fuck up,” he clipped, jabbing the object into my ribs hard enough to hurt. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to leave your purse in the car and casually step away. Then you’re going to get into the passenger seat of the one beside you. You aren’t going to scream or try to run or do anything else to draw attention to yourself, understand?”

I struggled to swallow past the knot in my throat. Unable to form words, I nodded.

“Good girl. Now get moving.”

I turned, glancing down to see that it had been the barrel of a gun he’d shoved into my ribs. My whole body began to tremble as terror dumped into my bloodstream. I scanned the parking lot, praying that someone would walk by as I slowly did what Warren had ordered. I knew the worst thing I could do was let him take me to a second location, but from the manic way he was watching me, there was no doubt in my mind he would pull that trigger if I gave him any reason.

With no other choice, I climbed into the passenger seat of the gray sedan that had parked beside my car and pulled the door closed.

Warren rounded the hood quickly and dropped into the driver’s seat. Then, before I could ask him what the hell he planned on doing, his arm shot out and he slammed the butt of the gun into my temple. And everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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