Page 30 of One Last Touch

I nodded as I sat up and nervously smoothed my hair before taking a much-needed gulp of the water on my nightstand. It tasted stale and I wrinkled my nose as I set it down again. Sage was watching me quietly when I looked back up at him and I bit my lip nervously.

I’d had sex before, I wasn’t a stranger to that kind of intimacy, but waking up with someone—even if they hadn’t been asleep—was new and slightly nerve wracking for me.

“Hi.”

“Good morning.” He closed the book with a smile and I looked at it out of the corner of my eye, trying to check none of the pages were bent.

“What are you reading?”

Sage looked strangely sheepish as he cleared his throat and nudged it towards me. Forgetting about his lack of energy, I immediately snatched it up and held it to my chest before he could even think about picking it up. I glanced down at the cover and a loud laugh escaped me.

“Really? The Haunting of Hill House? What are you, a glutton for punishment?”

“Says the girl in bed with the ghost.”

“Touché.”

I could have easily spent the day in bed with Sage, but my muscles were aching and my bones cracked and popped when I stretched out my arms. I needed to get up, to get away from this place and its tightening tethers for a moment.

“Fancy a walk in the woods?”

* * *

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the quiet in the countryside after being in the city for most of my life, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever get sick of it either. It was a gift I woke up grateful for every day. I’d always thought that the hustle and bustle of the crowds, of being alone but never lonely, that was the life for me, the setting I needed. But now that I was here I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to leave.

Sage looked like he was made for the autumn. He walked at my side, his passage not disturbing the leaves coating the floor at all so I made up for it by kicking and wading messily through every pile I found. The amused smile on his face hadn’t faded as we walked and I found myself glancing at him every few minutes to check that it was still there.

I realised I’d never seen him in anything but his jumper, overall and boots. I guess I’d just thought it was some kind of unofficial uniform or something that he liked to wear. A thousand pairs of the same clothes. I wished it meant they were dirty or rumpled or that he looked sloppy from working in the garden, but the reality was that the sleeves of his thick jumper were often rolled up to expose his strong forearms and the khaki green of his overalls brought out the same colour in his eyes.

“Georgina.” His voice was a rumble of warning and I made a small hum in response at the stern sound. “Stop staring at me like that, unless you want me to do something about it.”

A thrill swept through me at the words even as I looked away. I’d spent a lot of time thinking as we walked, the birdsong an accompanying tune to the melancholy and guilt that churned in my gut as I remembered all the times he’d brought me tea or touched my hands with his. Small slices of comfort or thoughtfulness that now had more meaning when I thought about what he’d risked doing those things. Though he might not admit it, deep down, Sage Williams was a romantic.

“What if we just left,” I said suddenly as we turned and made our way towards the dock. The cold was starting to seep through to me under the layers of my jacket and scarf. Though it had been clear all day, the remnants of the rain and stormy weather seemed to be held within the leaves and the mud, like a chill I couldn’t shake as I remembered the flash of lightning so close to me. “Me, you, Angie, whoever else wanted to come, and just got away from this place. From him.”

Sage looked down at his feet while he walked and I tried not to frown when I realised his smile had finally faded. “I can’t leave the property.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“I know you’ve been here a long time and I get it, it’s like the house has claws that sink into you and the further you step back the tighter they slice. But if we left, he couldn’t hunt you any more. You wouldn’t have to go.”

His hand on mine startled me as he pulled me to a stop. “It’s not that I wouldn’t leave with you if I could.” He pressed my palm to his chest and I fixated on it, feeling nothing where there should be a beat. “I physically cannot leave the grounds. I am bound to Alswell, but you’re not.”

“We’re back to you trying to convince me to leave again? I thought we were past that.” I pulled my hand out of his grip and continued walking on, dodging a muddy puddle neatly and taking a deep breath to soothe my irritation.

“You’ve got the answers you needed. Leave this house and its demons to rot.”

The word demons had me glancing at him sharply. Had it been him who’d left me the message about the devil in the Angela Carter book? “You really think I would just abandon you now? You’re only in this mess because of my—” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word father, was still filled with hope that I might have been brought into this world through the other brother. The good one, in as much as any of us were good anyway. “I’m the reason he’s still keeping you here. I can’t leave you here, trapped, while he sucks away your soul.” Without meaning to, I'd stopped again, stepping close enough to Sage that I could see the gold flecks in his eyes behind his glasses as he watched me with a soft expression that only made me angrier.

“I’m already gone,” he said and I shook my head violently.

“Don’t,” I warned and he clenched his jaw as he looked away from me.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” he explained as I shook my head and started to stride away. “But you’re alive, Georgina. Even if I could leave here, what life would that be? People would think you’re crazy, talking to imaginary figures.”

I turned to face him. “If my life was going to be impacted by what other people thought about me, I wouldn’t get out of bed every morning.”

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