Page 48 of With You Forever

Alone. Vulnerable. Scared.

Where would she go? What if she got into an accident? Images of Lacey, hurt, on the side of the road, flash through his mind.

Christ. If anything happens to her, he’ll kill that woman at theStar. He’ll burn down their goddamn world and then light himself on fire next.

“Cash.” Luke’s low drawl takes Seth from his grim thoughts. Seth glances over. Cash coos as he approaches the coffee table, slapping his chubby hands on the wood, the stack of papers, Lacey’s wedding magazines.

A ping on Luke’s phone. He exhales. “Jace ain’t seen her. Shit.” He leans back on the couch, looking as frustrated as Seth feels. “Where the hell would she go?”

Skirting the edge of insanity, Seth tips his gaze down and shakes his head. There’s a loud burst of bubbly laughter as Cash swipes the papers off the table and onto the ground.

They land faceup. Architectural brochures. Farmhouses sketched on fields of country land.

Theirland.

Realization dawns.

A memory from weeks ago. What could be a lifetime.

I feel safe here. Like I could come to this spot when everything’s wrong and somehow it would all be okay.

Heart pumping hard, Seth sinks into a crouch next to Cash. He stares at the farmhouse sketches. Then he ruffles Cash’s dark hair and grins at the wild, jubilant cry his nephew lets out.

“You found her too, huh, kid?”

Lacey sighs and draws her legs into her chest, resting her cheek on her knees. She lets the silence of the country surround her. The stars above wink like bright SOS signals. No phones. No noise. Just her and her thoughts. Which is probably a bad idea. The worst.

At the sound of movement, the flash of a light, Lacey looks up. A shadow darkens her eyeline. Tall. Muscular. A deep rumble of a voice. “What’re you doin’, princess?”

She sniffs. “Being sad.”

Seth waves a flashlight. “I can see that. I can also see that you’re freezin’ to death out here.”

She lifts her chin. “I’ve been colder.”

“I know you have. Tonight, you ain’t gotta be.”

A blanket’s slipped around her shoulders. Then Seth’s sitting beside her on the dewy ground, the flashlight casting a slow ripple of light as he sets it down. Heat rolls off his body, warming her. A gigantic sigh heaves out of him as he leans back against the tree she’s been using as support. “You scared me to death, you know.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

A slow shake of his head. “That article, Lace. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” she whispers. “It freaked me out.”

“Me too.” He takes her shoulder, gently turning her toward him. “But no more, princess. You can’t do that to me. You can’t run off like that. I damn near had a heart attack.”

She rests her head on his shoulder.

A country quiet falls. Crickets. The rush of the river.

Seth’s deep drawl breaks the silence. “Sal says you never mailed invites.”

Lacey sighs and lifts her face. “She shouldn’t have told you that.”

“Yes, she should’ve.” Seth’s eyes search hers. “Because I didn’t hear what you were sayin’, really sayin’, and hell, that’s on me.” He swears. “I shoulda listened better when you said you were stressed. I was just so damn scared of you pullin’ away from me I wasn’t gonna let you.”

Lacey tucks herself closer. “Everything feels so big right now. Like our entire next year literally blew up.”

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