Page 84 of Hard to Hold
Swallowing hard, I tried to come up with a reason he should go. He was stone-cold serious, his eyes hard. I didn’t know him all that well, but I knew Lynx was a protector. He didn’t tolerate anyone messing with the people he cared about.
And to think that he might care about me like family…
The tears began to fall again, but I nodded, resigned to do this no matter the audience. “You can stay.” I looked at Wolfe, then at Rhys. “You might as well pull up a chair. This is a long story.”
Rhys
I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit down, so I didn’t even pretend. I was already tense and that was from Wolfe explaining how he’d arrived to find Amy sitting in her car, waiting for him.
It took everything in me not to rush over to her, pull her into my arms, and assure her that I would never allow anything to happen to her. It was clear from her body language that she wouldn’t believe me.
I shifted my feet outward a bit, crossed my arms over my chest, and tried to keep the anger from reflecting on my face. I was pissed for a number of reasons. The first one being that Amy had been sitting outside the building for God only knew how long, waiting for Wolfe to show up rather than seeking one or both of us out. The second being the fact that I had slept soundly in Wolfe’s bed last night while Amy had been alone.
I wanted to kick my own ass for leaving her last night.
When I first read Wolfe’s text, I'd nearly driven my truck off the damn road. When I was summoned to the shop, my heart had tried to break free of its cage in my chest. Personal or not, I didn’t like not knowing what the hell was going on, and the cryptic message had caused a million worst-case scenarios to flash in my brain. It didn’t help much knowing that Wolfe hadn’t known anything, either.
Wolfe grabbed a chair and dragged it over beside Amy while Lynx hopped up on the table directly across from her. Copenhagen resumed his position at Amy’s feet, his head resting on her shoe as he curled up close to her. The dog was obviously in tune with her pain, her fear. He had set himself up as her protector.
That made three of us. Four, if you counted Lynx, and based on the look on his face right now, Lynx Caine wasn’t going to let anything happen to the woman.
Amy looked between each of us before her gaze came to rest on my face.
“You’re not the sheriff right now,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact. “You’re … my friend.”
Friend, my ass. I was a hell of a lot more than that, but I clamped my lips together tightly.
“I’m telling you this because I need someone to know.” She sighed. “I need to get it off my chest, but I’m not expecting you to … save me. I just want you to listen. To know.”
“I’m still the sheriff,” I told her. “Regardless.”
She nodded, as though she had expected me to say that. “I’m not gonna tell you his name.”
Wolfe growled, a warning sound that had Amy looking toward him.
“I can’t, Wolfe. It’s too dangerous. For me. And maybe everyone in this town.”
I knew we could hold our own, but I wasn’t going to interrupt. There’d be time for that later.
“Tell the story, Amy,” Lynx prompted. “We’ll determine how to handle things after we know what happened.”
Her eyes darted over to Lynx’s face. She seemed to consider that for a moment.
Amy took a deep breath, steeled her shoulders, and clamped her hands together in her lap, her gaze straying toward the door. “My parents died when I was sixteen. Car accident. Four-car pileup on the highway.” She swallowed hard. “I went to school that morning saying goodbye to the two people who meant the most to me, and I came home that afternoon an orphan.”
I noticed her tone was matter-of-fact, but her eyes were sad. As though she had to push forward to keep from thinking about that day.
“At that point, I went to live with my mom’s sister and her husband. They welcomed me with open arms. My aunt and I worked through our grief together. She took me to counseling. Herself, too. We talked a lot, shared memories of my mom and dad… Basically, she got me through it. Mostly.
“I finished the last month of my sophomore year at the high school near my parents’ house, then transferred to the one in my aunt’s district after that. I didn’t make many friends, choosing to focus on my school work. When I graduated, I decided to go to a local community college. My aunt and uncle were footing the bill. They even told me I could stay with them as long as I wanted. I didn’t want to leave at that point. No way did I want to live by myself.” Her gaze dropped to the floor.
“During my second semester at the college, I met a guy in a political science class. I was taking it as an elective because it sounded interesting. Anyway, he was a nice guy. We talked a lot, usually at the cafeteria, sometimes at the coffee shop at the school. He was really passionate about politics, and I liked being around him. During one of those conversations, about a month after we met, he invited me to a fundraising dinner. Not as a date but as a friend. It was a political thing, something he was interested in. I agreed. We went. We had a fun night. He took me home and that was that.”
I listened, cataloging every detail.
“I saw him in class after that, and we had coffee a couple more times, but it was obvious we were never going to be more than friends. We were just too different and the semester was almost over. I was okay with that. I was nineteen years old, and certainly not looking for anything serious. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with my life, and I was still trying to get over my parents’ deaths.” Amy looked up at Wolfe. “One day after class, he pulled me aside and said there was someone who wanted to meet me. I was confused at first, not understanding. He said the guy had approached him at the dinner and he’d been hesitant to tell me. Of course, he didn’t elaborate, but it didn’t matter; I wasn’t interested.”
“This guy you were semi-dating told you about another guy who wanted to meet you?” Lynx questioned, his voice causing Copenhagen to lift his head. “Just trying to make sure I’m on the same page.”
