Page 73 of Safe
Alex took a loud slurp of his coffee, as if to purposely interrupt.
“And on that note, I’m out of here.” And Alex disappeared behind the curtain.
“Danielle, the only person who needs to apologize is me. I shouldn’t have hidden the money from you. I just didn’t want you to feel like you were some kind of job to me.”
I couldn’t believe he was trying to apologize for this.
“I had no right to question you about the money. It was none of my business.”
“No, but it was, Danielle. At first, sure, not your business. But there was a point where it became your business, and to hide it from you, I could see why you would think you meant nothing to me.”
“Cody,” I paused, unsure of what to say.
I could see the hurt in his face, and it made me hurt. The fact that all this time he thought that he made me feel like nothing, he would never know how untrue that was. BeforeI could finish my thoughts or say anything reassuring, he interrupted me.
“You should know why I kept taking the money, I mean, aside from the fact that Alex wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. I owe you an answer to that.”
“Cody, you don’t owe me anything.”
“Just shut up and let him do it!” I heard Alex yell, not even trying to hide his eavesdropping from the hallway. I couldn’t help but laugh. He never could stay out of my business.
Cody didn’t say another word but rather stood up and went over to the curtain that divided the room. When he pulled it back, I couldn’t believe what I saw; dozens upon dozens of roses covered the second half of the room.
My face must have lit up because he smirked like he always did in all those little moments when he knew he had done something right. He came back over towards my bed, and as I was about to say something, instead of sitting back in the chair next to my bed, he got down on one knee, and I froze as he pulled a small box from his pocket. He opened it, revealing a gorgeous ring, the most beautiful I could have ever dreamed of. Black and white—like a penguin.
“I um…” He could barely get any words out without choking up, “I never thought I’d get the chance to give this to you, but I’ve had it since the day at the zoo. And even after you left, there was never a shadow of doubt in my mind that you had my whole heart for the rest of my life.”
I wanted to say something so bad, but for once in my life, there were no words to explain how I was feeling. Everything made sense now; the money, the secrecy, the zoo trip, and yet I still couldn’t help but feel horrible about how I accused Cody of having any kind of malicious intent.
“I love you more than I ever thought I could love anybody ever again. I can’t lose you a second time. So, Danielle Traser, would you do me the honor of spending your life with me?”
I barely let him finish the question before responding with an overwhelming yes, and tried my hardest to lean over to kiss him.
“Thank god, now that the mushy stuff is over, I can tell you the even better news!” Alex had already barged back into the room, and before I even noticed him, he was already standing behind Cody.
“There’s no way that there is any better news than this,” I said, wondering what Alex could possibly have up his sleeve.
“Maybe not for you, but definitely for me. Yesterday, lover boy here put in an offer on the house next door to me… neighbor.”
No. Way.
I looked at Cody, who was smiling ear to ear and nodding his head. Alex was right, this was almost,almostbetter than marrying the man of my dreams; having a man of my dreams who loved me, loved my brother like his own, and who did what he could to keep us close.
This was how it was supposed to be.
“Yeah, so now you’re stuck with both of us,” Cody said, taking my hand in his, “and you’ll always have both of us there to keep you safe.”
“There’s no other way I’d rather have it.”
Two days later, I left the hospital. Not in a disguise, not out the back door, not off to some remote location with someone hired to protect me, but out the front door with the two greatest people in my life.
I went home to a house where I felt safe and loved, where there was trust, and I never needed to question Cody’s motives or his love for me. It was a home where I didn’t need to schedulemonthly dinners to see my brother, or hide bruises from him, because let’s face it, he was over for dinner almost every night.
This was where I belonged, where I felt safe.
EPILOGUE
There was one truth that lingered, threatening to unravel everything. Landon didn’t die that day.
