Page 53 of Snowed In with Three Mountain Men

Every now and then, she pulls out the headphones to ask for context about what he’s saying—it’s hard, but I fill her in on it. The way he hurt me, the way he pushed me away from my friends, the way he forced me out of work, insisting that he would take care of me, only to turn around and use that as leverage against me. Even now, saying it all out loud feels almost surreal, like I must be making it up, but I know it happened. Every moment of it.

And I know, most importantly of all, that I survived it.

Finally, she finishes up, and she pauses for a moment, staring down at the table as she takes in everything that she just heard.

“This—this is more than I could have imagined,” she confesses. Her face looks pale, but her eyes are steady and certain. When she looks back up at me again, I can see in her expression that she’s even more convinced than she was before of what she needs to do, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

“But I promise you that I’m going to use this story for good,” she swears to me. “Everything you’ve been through, it won’t go to waste, Charli. This fills in so many blanks, so many gaps in the story I’ve been trying to piece together. By the end of this month, James and his father will be done in this city. I promise you that.”

I can feel tears prick my eyes, the relief almost more than I can take.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to hear that,” I tell her. “I—if there’s anything else you need, just tell me. I’ll do my best to help.”

“You’ve already gone beyond what anyone could have asked of you,” she assures me. “Whatever life you want to live now, I promise—that’s where you should be putting your focus.”

I let my eyes drift shut. She’s right. Whatever life I choose to have now, I can do it. I’m not trapped by everything he wanted from me, everything he demanded, no—I’m free. I’m finally, actually, free.

And as I look over at Callum, a weight eases from my shoulders. I can be with him now, if I want—I can be withthem,if that’s what I choose, which is a crazy thought.

“Come on,” he murmurs to me. “Let’s get out of here.”

We say our goodbyes to Kennedy, and she squeezes me in a tight hug before she leaves, promising me once again that she’s going to bring this man and his father down. And as Callum helps me back into the car, the world sprawls out before me—bigger than it ever has been before, so overwhelming I hardly know where to start.

“So,” Callum wonders aloud, as he sits there opposite me for a moment. “What now?”

“I—I don’t know,” I admit. “I guess we should go back to the cabin…?”

“I guess we should,” he agrees, and he starts up the engine. But all at once, as we pull out of town and start back on the road toward the forest, something strikes me—it’s over. James is done for. Which means—which means that these brothers have no reason to help me anymore.

They’ve done what they promised me they would. And now…now that it’s done, where does that leave us? I’m not sure. I came crashing into their lives because of James, but now that he’s gone, will they expect me to go too?

I stare out of the window as the trees begin to whip past outside. I’m not sure where this leaves me. But I know I don’t want whatever we have to be over, not quite yet.

Not when it feels like my new life is only just beginning.

27

CALLUM

I pausefor a moment in the doorway to my bedroom, looking down at her, sprawled on the bed before me. She’s wearing a cute pair of pajamas, a cami and some shorts that she picked up after a trip to the city last week. She insisted that if she was going to be staying here for a moment longer, then she needed to have something of her own to wear, and when that means less clothes, I’m not going to argue.

Charli is flipping through a book, her legs kicking through the air as she lies on her front on the covers. I’m not sure if she’s noticed me yet, but as I shift my weight from one foot to another and the floor creaks beneath me, she fires a look over her shoulder and flashes me the biggest grin.

“Well, hey there,” she greets me playfully, wiggling her butt. “You going to just keep staring, or actually do something?”

“When you put it like that…”

I move over to the edge of the bed and let myself down on top of her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against me tightly. She giggles, her small body squirming against mineas she flips around to face me, her book lying forgotten on the bed beside her. I kiss the corner of her lips and pull back for a moment, admiring the way the light pours through the window to pick out the shape of her body.

“You look so fucking beautiful,” I murmur to her, and she smiles at me.

“You really think? I like these new clothes. Feels good to be out of your wardrobe for a change…”

“Yeah, I was getting sick and tired of sharing,” I tease. “About time you started grabbing your own stuff around here.”

She rolls her eyes at me and laughs. “Oh, come on. You love it when I wear your clothes. You always did.”

“You got me,” I admit, and I reach up to brush the hair back from her face.

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