Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(22)

Shannon didn’t know anything about what had happened, because everybody had decided that her wacked-out hormones had her too emotionally fragile to deal with what Badger had done. She thought he was away from the B&B recovering from a beating he’d taken at Tuck’s, and she thought Adrienne had been hit in the mouth when her car door blew closed on her. She’d believed those stories completely.

Adrienne supposed they were a lot more believable than the reality that sweet Badger was a violent junkie and had hurt her.

Instead of going with Shannon and Lilli, and with the whole day to herself, Adrienne had wandered around Signal Bend and the surrounding countryside, exploring and taking pictures. And then she’d come back and uploaded them to her Mac. She’d ended up going through all the photos she’d taken during the years she’d been coming to Signal Bend. Thousands of them.

A lot of pictures of Badger. He was—he was beautiful to her. It wasn’t just his looks, which were great.

It was the way you could look at him and just feel like you knew him. When he didn’t know he was being observed, when he was simply at rest with himself, his natural expression was serious but still kind and intent. She’d always thought of it as the way somebody would look who was, like, writing poetry in his head or something. Like his mind was always working, like he was always seeing more than other people could see.

She had a lot of pictures of him not looking at the camera, pictures he didn’t know had been taken until after the fact, if then. In her favorite shot, he was leaning against the railing on Isaac and Lilli’s porch, a flowered coffee mug in his hand. He was looking down and to the side, exactly as if he were exploring a thought. His long hair was loose, which was rare, and a gentle breeze blew it lightly around his shoulders.

His beard was full and lush.

Adrienne could look at the photo and see through her camera’s eye that she’d loved Badger long before she’d internalized that truth. Not half-love. Real love.

But she didn’t know what to do with that. He’d always brushed her off, and now, even if he wouldn’t brush her off, he was not in a good place. She felt like she got more confused with every day.

Show came in and sat down on the bed with her. She was about to ask him how he was doing when she noticed that his hand was bruised and scraped. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen evidence that he’d been fighting, but she hadn’t gotten used to it.

“Are you okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, sure.” He followed the trail of her eyes. “Ah. Yeah. I’m fine. Want to talk to you, though.”

That sounded dire. “Okay…”

“I love you, Adrienne. You know that, right?”

She did. There was something safe about being loved by somebody like Show. Big, strong, steady, kind.

She’d seen another side of him, too, but it hadn’t changed that sense of safety and comfort.

“Yeah. I love you, too.”

He smiled and picked up her hand, engulfing it in his palm. “I want you to go home, Adrienne. I want you to leave in the morning.”

All that safe comfort was just gone, knocked out of her with a two-by-four of shock. “What? No! Why?

What did I do?”

“Easy, sweetheart.” With his free hand, the one with the raw knuckles, he reached out and brushed his fingers down her face, a gentle sweep from her temple to her jaw. Then he lifted her chin, his thumb moving over the thin cut that remained on her bottom lip. “You didn’t do anything wrong—that’s the farthest thing from true. I love having you with us. Shannon loves having you here. You’ve been a big help to her this week, and it makes her happy just to spend time with you. Me, too. But it’s not good for you here. There’s too much going on. You’re better off in New York.”

“This is about Badger, isn’t it?” She pulled her head out of his hold, and he let his hand drop to his leg.

But he held on to her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I told you—you need to stay away from him. Things with him are not good. He’s not good for you. He hurt you once, and he doesn’t get a second shot at you. I will not let that happen.”

“It’s not your call, Show.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, little one. It is my call. I make it my call. You’re going home, where you’re safe. I’m not negotiating with you.”

Her heart pounding, she yanked on her hand, but he didn’t let it go. But when she yanked again, harder, he did. “I’m not a kid, Show. I’m not your kid. You don’t have a say. You don’t. I’m not ready to leave.”

“My house, Adrienne.”

“Are you—are you throwing me out?” She jumped up, not sure where she was going, but the adrenaline that was surging into her muscles made her need to move. Had she thought just a minute ago that Show made her feel safe?

He grabbed her wrist and held on. “No. No, Adrienne. You always have a place here. Always. But, for right now, I’m asking you to do the smart thing for you and choose to leave.” He pulled lightly on her arm.

“Sit, sweetheart. Let’s talk it out.”

She sat.

“Let’s put Badger aside for a minute. You’ve been here more than a week. That’s the longest you’ve ever stayed. Shannon’s talking like you’re staying awhile. I’m not throwing you out. I like having you here.