Page 27 of Seven

But that wasn’t possible.

Mom and Ford needed me to keep it together, so I kept putting one foot in front of the other. As I started up the steps, I thought about all the things I’d need to grab from my apartment. It wasn’t much, just some more clothes and a few toiletries. Once I had them, I could head back to the hotel and crash for the night.

I planned to do just that, but when I rounded the corner, I was surprised to find three men standing at my door. They werebig men, barely able to fit in my small hallway, and they were wearing leather jackets with embroidery I’d never seen before. They were clearly bikers, but none that I’d seen before.

Two of them were talking in low voices, but the third was turned toward my door, his hand raised as if he’d just knocked. Thinking they might have something to do with my father’s death, I panicked and started to take a step back. I’d barely lifted my foot when one of them noticed me.

He had a handsome face and kind eyes, but his muscles and tattoos made him look menacing as he took a step towards me. His lips curled into a smile as he said, “Hey there, beautiful. Where you runnin’ off to?”

Before he could answer, the man who knocked at my door turned, and my breath caught somewhere between a gasp and a sob. It was Holt, but that couldn’t be.

My mind had to be playing tricks on me, or I was dreaming, but it couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be him. It wasn’t possible. Holt was gone. He’d died overseas. I’d grieved for him. I’d cried endless tears for the life we never got to have.

But there he was, standing right there in front of me.

I could see that he was as alive and real as the ache in my chest.

“It can’t be,” I whispered to myself. “There has to be some mistake.”

But when his eyes locked on mine, full of that same fire I used to know, I knew. They’d lied. They’d all lied.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run into his arms or fall apart on the spot.

It didn’t matter. I couldn’t move if I wanted to. I felt like my soul had been yanked from my body, and I was nothing more than a puddled mess. My legs felt like lead, and my heart was pounding like thunder.

My mind struggled to process what I was seeing. His hair was longer, and his shoulders seemed broader. But those familiar, piercing eyes left me with no doubt. They were the same eyes I’d fallen in love with all those years ago. And they were the same ones I’d seen in my son every single day since the day he was born.

“It can’t be,” I cried. “It’s not possible.”

“Tallie?”

His voice was low, but it was him. I would recognize that voice anywhere. His gaze softened for a moment, and for a heartbeat, I saw the boy I’d loved all those years ago. The boy who used to make me laugh and promised me the world.

My mind started racing with all the lies I’d been told. I couldn’t believe it.

The people I trusted the most lied to me. They shattered my hopes and dreams, and now, I was left to pick up the pieces of their betrayal.

7

SEVEN

“It can’t be,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“It can, and it is.”

“But I thought you were gone.”

“Right back at ya.”

“Oh my God.” Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, “It’s really you.”

“Yeah, babe. It’s really me.”

I stood there staring at her with the weight of eight years and a million unanswered questions resting on my shoulders, and it was all I could do to keep my knees from buckling beneath me. The only thing keeping me standing was her.

Time had been kind to her. She had grown into a beautiful woman, even more beautiful than I remembered. It was hard being so close to her. It had been so long, and all I wanted to do was take her into my arms and hold her tight.

But it wasn’t the time or the place.

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