My Kind of Wonderful(84)
And with that, she pulled her head back inside her place and shut the door.
Hard to argue with that.
Hud continued along the path, winding his way until he found 10A, which was the address Bailey had listed as hers. Heart pounding against his ribs, he knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again and would’ve sworn he felt someone watching him. “Bailey,” he said, hand flat on the door. “Listen to me, I was wrong, okay? About a lot of things. But mostly about us. I want an us. I always did, I was just…” He sighed and set his forehead to the wood. “Scared.” He blew out a breath. “Bay, I need you to open up the door now and forgive me.”
Her door didn’t open.
Instead the door across the way did and… shit… Aaron stood there. “Nice on the spilling your guts,” he said, “but typically an apology involves more ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘please’ and question marks, not a demand to forgive.”
Hud ground his back teeth. “Where is she?”
“Not here.”
Hud blew out a sigh. “You all live in the same building?”
“Yes.” Aaron paused and his voice warmed slightly. “When someone you love gets as sick as she was for as long as she did, it takes a lot of care, twenty-four-seven sometimes. She and her mom had to downsize, sell the family house. The medical costs devastated them. They moved here and so did I, to be around to help when she needed it.” He paused. “She hasn’t needed it for a while,” he admitted.
“Where is she now?” Hud asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Hud stared at Aaron, who stared back, eyes clear. “You really don’t know,” Hud said.
“I really don’t know,” Aaron agreed. “She might be mad at you, but she’s even madder at me.”
“If you had to take a wild guess…” Hud said.
“I’d say she was after something she always wanted.” He shrugged. “You’ve seen her list. She could be anywhere.”
“You saw her leave, don’t tell me you didn’t. You see everything when it comes to Bailey.”
Aaron gave a barely there, slight nod. “So?”
“When?” Hud demanded.
“An hour ago.”
Ah, hell. One hour. He’d missed her by one f*cking hour. “Did she have suitcases or duffel bags? Do you know if she had her passport?”
“You mean for a cruise through the Greek Islands, touring the castles in Scotland, visiting the glaciers in Greenland, whale watching…”
The list that had once thrilled him was now terrifying him. “Yes,” he ground out.
Aaron paused and then shook his head. “You know, I really want to be a dick here and tell you yeah, she was packed and loaded for bear, but she only had her backpack. There’s no way she went anywhere on a plane, because trust me, if she had, she’d have packed a huge bag. Or ten.” He paused. “She did say something about having a few things she wanted to say to her last ski instructor.”
Hud nodded. Breckenridge. That he could deal with. “Thanks.”
“Oh, don’t thank me,” Aaron said. “We’re not on the same side, you and me.”
Hud ignored this and drove to Breckenridge.
Chapter 31
Six hours later, Hud had to admit defeat. He’d been to Breckenridge. He’d scoured the entire town.
Not a single sign of her.
Frustrated, out of options, he drove back to Cedar Ridge. It was midnight when he pulled in and parked. He didn’t pay much attention as he let himself inside the place that had always been home to him.
Every light was on.
The first thing he saw was Kenna sitting Indian style on the island eating from a huge pizza box. This was unusual because one, she was actually smiling instead of snarling, and two, she was looking happy, and three…
His entire family was there, crowding in his kitchen, sitting on every available counter or chair—or in Aidan’s case, leaning up against the sink inhaling a huge piece of pizza standing up.
And then his heart stopped because as everyone turned to him in unison, shifting, the person sitting on the table came into view.
Bailey.
“What took you so long?” she asked, and took a bite of her piece of pizza.
“What took so long?” he repeated dumbly.
“Yes,” she said, chewing, swallowing. “I figured out almost as soon as I left here that leaving was a mistake, that I never should have walked away like that without at least giving you a shot at groveling. It’s taken you days.”
Aidan snorted and then turned it into a cough when Hud looked at him. Suddenly everyone was busy staring at the ceiling or their shoes but no one, apparently, was leaving the show.
Hud let out a breath and pushed them all out of his mind, concentrating on Bailey. “I’ve been one step behind you for… Shit.” He laughed mirthlessly and shook his head. He was so stupid. He’d been her last ski instructor. “Hell, Bailey, I’ve been one step behind you for months.”
She swallowed hard, eyes a little wide, and full. So full of things it almost hurt to look at her, but he managed as he tossed his keys aside and walked into the kitchen. He strode straight to the table, took her wrist, and directed the piece of pizza in her hand to his mouth.