Come Back for Me (Arrowood Brothers #1)(31)

“Ellie, stop. You don’t have to explain anything to me. You didn’t do anything wrong. And stop saying you’re a mess, okay?”

“But I am!”

“We all are. Believe me, I may seem like a hero to you, but I’m not. I’ve made mistakes and lived with the consequences. I think about you, and how, if things had gone differently, that night . . .”

“I think about it too.”

He leans back in the driver’s seat, head back and then he turns. “I was a mess the first time I saw you after I found Hadley. I had to tell myself a million times that you were married and that whatever I felt was ridiculous. My friends were even warning me that I had to fight this urge to be around you because it wasn’t right.”

I’m fighting the same thing. The want to be near him.

It’s hard to describe why Connor makes me feel this way, but he does. There was this undeniable chemistry the two of us shared, and then there was the actual night.

Being around him again has made it confusing and hard to decipher what I’m feeling.

I smile, knowing I have to answer him but not being able to speak that truth yet. “Okay. I’m just so tired and overwhelmed.”

“I understand, but you’re not a mess. Sure, the situation is, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a way through it.”

My eyes start to flutter closed, and I fight to keep them open. “I think the medicine is kicking in.”

He nods and puts the car into drive. “Let’s get you back to the house so you can rest.”

I yawn. “Rest would be good.”

As we ride up the long driveway, my thoughts drift in and out of various things. There’s so much that has happened that it’s as if my life is a series of movie clips I can’t see in one sitting. There are too many.

When we stop, Connor’s hand touches my face and I see him staring at me. “We’re here.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

“No?”

Maybe I did for, what, two seconds? I inhale deeply and open the door before he can get out. I move slowly, careful not to jostle my side too much. Between the drive, the hearing, and not sleeping for two nights, I’m dead on my feet.

I exit the car using all my strength and determination, but when I shuffle forward, I start to sink to the ground. Strong arms wrap around me, and the most gorgeous green eyes are locked on mine.

“Ellie?”

He cradles me, and my head rests on his shoulder as he walks toward his house. “Tired. I’m so, so tired. I’m fine. I can walk.”

“You’re in pain and on medication. You need to rest.”

I need to go back to my house and put my life together. “Home.”

“Take a nap and then we can talk about that. I’ll be here when Hadley gets back.”

I want to open my mouth and tell him everything I’ve been wondering since he came back into my life, but exhaustion overtakes me, and I drift off to sleep.





“That’s not how you play Go Fish.” Hadley’s voice echoes through the small farmhouse, and I smile.

“Yes it is! You have to have two cards of the same color.”

“Noooo,” she chides. “You have to have two of the same number.”

“I think you’re making this up,” Connor says with a laugh. “I know Go Fish, and those are the rules.”

“You’re cheating.”

“Me? Cheating?” He sounds shocked, but I can tell he’s kidding.

“Yes, because I beat you three times in a row.”

I lie here, still trying to wake up as I listen to them.

“I think it’s you who’s cheating, Hadley.”

I hear her soft little sigh. “You’re just a bad fisher. But you’re my favorite hero.”

He laughs, and my smile is automatic. “I’m glad I’m your favorite. You’re my favorite seven-year-old who cheats at Go Fish.”

“I’m going to miss you,” she says with wistfulness in her voice.

“Miss me? Why? Are you going somewhere?”

I slowly lift myself to the edge of the bed, not knowing where this conversation is going and needing to listen.

“Mommy and I were going to run away that night, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again when we go.” Her voice breaks at the end, shattering my heart with it.

This is her home. It’s the only place she’s ever known, and while her protection is paramount, so is her security. I need to repair any damage done.

First, is going back to that house and doing what I can to set it to rights.

I need her to see that we’re okay, and I’m strong. I’m still scared to go there. Even with Kevin in jail, that house is filled with things I want to forget. Still, I want to give Hadley the courage to face things that scare her and prove she can endure.

“Well, if that does happen, we’re going to have to find a way to stay in touch.”

“But I don’t have a phone.”

“True, but you know where I live.”

Hadley pauses, and I carefully make my way to the door, watching the two of them. Connor and Hadley are sitting on the floor at opposite corners of the coffee table with the cards between them. My world shines a bit brighter just watching them.