Page 45 of A Forgotten Heart
He ran down the alley to the narrow passageway behind the businesses.
Please let her be okay.
That bullet had been meant for him. If Elsie hadn’t called out, he would have been shot. Was she all right?
He turned the corner. Down at the end of the street, Elsie huddled next to the shop wall.
Relief blasted him as he ran toward her. “Elsie!”
Face pale, eyes wide and terrified, she looked up at him as he heaved. He didn’t hesitate to pull her into his arms.
She folded against him, shaking. Her hands trembled as she gripped onto his coat.
He didn’t want to let go but put a few inches between them to scan her black coat for any sign she’d been shot. “Are you hurt? Did he hit you?”
“I don’t think so.” A haunted look shadowed her eyes.
His eyes slid closed.Thank You, Lord.
They needed to find safety, but a swell of emotion paralyzed his legs. His hand came to cup her cheek. “What were you thinking? Calling out like that.” He fired the words at her.
She flinched.
The Nick I knew would never speak so cruelly.
The words knocked the breath out of his lungs as the memory surfaced.
“I couldn’t let him shoot you,” she said, her voice choked with tears.
At her words, he blinked back to the present. He needed to get her to safety. Quickly.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead “Come on. Let’s go.”
Grabbing her hand, he pulled her through the snowy alley, Patch at their heels.
The safest place to go was the marshal’s office. If Marshal O’Grady was in town, she’d have heard those shots. And Ed would look for them there.
He glanced back to check on Elsie, who still looked terrified. Was she all right?
Another memory rushed in. An image of Elsie with tears streaming down her face. Within the memory, he felt satisfaction that he’d hurt her.
He blinked rapidly, almost tripping on a snow-covered crate. The memory stuck.
A wave of dizziness hit him as darkness slipped over his vision, bringing another memory.
A living room full of overdone Christmas decorations. He heard himself say,I guess we never really knew each other at all.
“Nick?”
Elsie’s voice sounded as if she were far away. He felt the tug of Patch pawing his leg.
A sharp pain pierced his brain, and he leaned his shoulder into the nearest wall.
You didn’t really want to marry me. You were simply desperate.
Images of a hurt Elsie, a furious Elsie, swam through his mind.
I would’ve at least fought for you. Which is more than what you did for me.
