Page 40 of Fall Back
“You only get to wear it if you say yes,” he teases me.
I look into his eyes and admit, “I would have said yes, no matter what the ring looked like.”
After he slips the ring on my finger and the box clatters to the floor, he wraps his arms around me and holds me against his chest. I don’t know how long we stay like that, wrapped up in each other as the shadows of what almost was reach for us, but can’t touch.
The silence stretches around us until he turns us, and we snuggle into each other and close our eyes without a word. We hold each other as the night stretches into morning, simply thankful that we can.
Tomorrow we’ll deal with the reality of the night, but until then, we simply enjoy the moment and the safety it represents.
This is the life I came back to Wintervale to find even if I didn’t realize it at the time. Now I’m living it, and I’ll never let anyone take it away.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
CARSON
After bringing in the mail, I shuffle through it and stop when I get to something from the prison where Dave has been spending some mandatory time. My hands start to shake as I open the envelope and pull the letter out. I barely read the words and still manage to absorb all of them.
He’s being let out. Today.
Why did I just get the letter today if he’s also being released today? It feels kind of strange to let me know when it almost doesn’t matter. Yet here I am.
The entire process of Dave being convicted was rough. I didn’t feel like he was sentenced for long enough, but I wasn’t in charge of that. At the same time, him getting any time felt like a win.
The last year has been the best of my life, but that doesn’t mean it was without hardships. Dealing with Dave was definitelythe most difficult thing I had to deal with. Now, with his release, I stand still and expect to be filled with fear.
But it doesn’t happen.
Maybe it’s because I know Jared will stand between me and danger no matter what. Or it could just be the fact that I have so much to look forward to in this life. I look forward to nights in my husband’s arms, snuggles from the newest Burns baby, and sharing the news I’ve been sitting on for the last few days.
I’m a jumbled mess while trying not to think about Dave being let out while I go about the normal things I do when I have a day off. If I scrub a little harder while cleaning the house, the house I’ve shared with Jared for a while, then so be it. No one is here to witness it.
Jared and I got married last month. He told me he wanted to be married before our year anniversary and I made it happen. I glance down at my engagement and wedding rings and smile.
We did it.
The wedding was small and out on Limitless land. Well, I say small but almost the entire town of Wintervale showed up. At least, everyone except for Brandy.
I remember the night I ran into her not long after we got engaged. She was at the Range and the moment she saw Jared, she made a beeline right for him. All I could do was roll my eyes because I knew what was coming.
Jared warned me about their almost night together and I’m damn glad he did.
She tried to imply a lot more happened than it did, but when she didn’t get the reaction she wanted and Jared made it verywell known that I was wearing his ring, she flounced off with a foot stomp like she was in the midst of a temper tantrum.
I wasn’t sad she couldn’t make it to the wedding.
Everyone who came was there to celebrate with us. And celebrate we did. It was a damn good day.
When I don’t have anything else to clean and I can’t concentrate on drawing, the door swings open and I jump. I guess trying to ignore Dave being released hasn’t worked as well as I was hoping it would.
Jared doesn’t stop until he’s wrapped his arms around me, and he’s buried his face in the crook of my neck. He breathes me in and lets out his breath slowly. “Did you open the letter?” The question is mumbled against my skin, and I shiver in response.
“I did,” I whisper.
His shoulders slump and he pulls back until he can look down into my eyes. “You should know that I went and picked him up.” My eyebrows pull together in confusion. “I went, picked him up, and then took him directly to the bus stop. I got him on a bus to Colorado after making sure he understood when I told him how coming back here would be the worst decision he could ever make. He’s gone.”
I melt against him as my body deflates. The fear I’ve been trying to ignore evaporates.
