Whispers of You (Lost & Found #1)(96)

My fingers dug into Holt’s hand. “You were watching out for me.”

He shrugged. “I figured if someone was going after the victims of what happened before, they’d come for you.” His face hardened. “I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

Slowly, I forced myself to release Holt’s hand and stood. I moved to the couch and sat next to him. Then, I did the only thing I could think to do. I wrapped my arms around the boy. Because that was what he was…a boy. Not even eighteen and scared out of his mind. Yet he’d tried to do the right thing.

“You’re a good person,” I whispered.

Joe’s shoulders began to shake with silent sobs.

“Thank you for wanting to protect me.”

He cried harder. “I’m sorry my brother hurt you.”

“Me, too. But that doesn’t mean you can’t love him. For all he was to you. It’s impossible to turn that off. And you shouldn’t have to. It just shows the type of person you are—loyal and kind.”

“I think you’re the only one who thinks that.” Joe sniffed.

I pulled back, meeting his eyes. “Other people will see that. You just have to give them a chance.”

“He’s going to,” Lawson said. “Joe’s got a scholarship to the University of Washington, and he’s gonna live with a friend of mine. Get a fresh start.”

Pressure built behind my eyes. “That sounds amazing.”

Joe blushed. “It’ll be good. I leave right after graduation.”

I squeezed his hand. “I’m happy for you.”

He studied me for a minute. “Maybe I could email you and tell you how I’m doing? That I’m making something of my life.”

“I’d like that,” I said hoarsely.





I was quiet as Holt drove us back to the cabin. But I wasn’t alone in that silence. Holt’s fingers wove through mine, and he had our joined hands resting on his thigh.

“You have the best heart of anyone I’ve ever known,” he said, his voice thick. “What you gave that boy… Never seen a greater gift. He has a chance because of you.”

My fingers tightened around Holt’s. “You dropping any charges against him didn’t hurt either.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Like I had a choice after you made him your new best friend.”

I chuckled as Holt took the road that led away from the cabin and up the hillside. “Where are you going?”

“You’ll see.”

My chest tightened as he drove past the turnoff for the barn where Amber and Jude had kept me. The SUV climbed higher until we reached a spot that overlooked the lake. The view was stunning.

Holt turned off the engine and climbed out. He rounded the vehicle and opened my door, leading me toward a small overlook.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, leaning against him. “I’ve never been up here.”

He pressed his lips to the top of my head. “This land, do you still love it?”

I understood what was beneath the question. So many hard things had happened here—so many terrifying things. But there was so much more to this place. “How could I not? It’s where you came back to me. Where we fell in love all over again. It’ll always be my favorite place in the world.”

Holt’s expression filled with such tenderness that it made my heart ache. “Good.”

“Now who’s turning into Roan with the one-word sentences?”

He chuckled and then took my mouth in a slow kiss, one that poured all that tenderness into my soul. I swore I could feel his love for me in that touch of lips and tongues.

I came away breathless. “I take that back. You can say it all without a word.”

Holt framed my face with his hands, the rough pads of his fingers soothing everything in me. “I thought we could build a home here. One that’s ours.”

My eyes widened. “This property isn’t even for sale.”

He shrugged. “I had a word with the owner. Made an offer they couldn’t ignore. It would mean we owned the land from here to the lake. We could keep the cabin for guests or as a sort of boathouse for days on the lake. But I want a life with you. Children with you. All the things we dreamed of. And I want us to build it from the ground up. Together.”

Tears spilled from my eyes. “Holt.”

His mouth curved. “Is that a yes? You’re with me?”

I threw my arms around him. “I’m with you.”





EPILOGUE





WREN





TWO MONTHS LATER


Holt spread a blanket out over what I’d come to think of as our spot. We’d had a lot of them over the years. Hideouts on his parents’ property. The massive, overstuffed chair in the house I’d grown up in. The dock we’d spent hours on the moment the weather allowed.

But this one was my favorite. Maybe because of the moments and places that had come before it. Maybe because this was the spot where we would build our lives.

Holt grabbed the picnic basket and gestured for me to sit.

Shadow raced across the blanket and bounded into the field below. Grinning, I lowered myself as a bubble of anticipation floated through me—and perhaps a healthy dose of nerves.