Page 68 of Back To Our Beginning

I rubbed the back of my neck. “After training her to shoot a taser, that’s next on my to-do list.”

“Anything you need, brother. I’m here for you.”

“Thanks, Kai. That means the world.”

I hung up and went to the kitchen. I poured myself some water and drank it. I didn’t want to lie to her. I went back to the bedroom and climbed into bed, loving how she snuggled right back into my arms. I held her close and kissed the top of her head.

I thought about showing her the Pacific Ocean. She’d look good in a bikini on the beach. I knew she loved it here in Jasper Creek, but couldn’t we build something strong and real? A life? A future? In California?

She shifted even closer, as if she could hear my roiling thoughts, and wanted to comfort me.

Yes. This was definitely possible.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

Chapter Eighteen

It was definitely time for a big sister talk. Trenda could tell by the tone of my voice when I’d called that I needed her. She knew it was serious the second I called. But when I said I’d take a half day off work? That sealed it.

So here I was rummaging around in her fridge like I owned the place while she took baby Drake and picked Bella up from school and then took her to a friend’s house for a play date. I had the best sister in Tennessee.

I paused when I saw a Tupperware container near the back.

Homemade potato salad!

Scratch that, I had the best sister in the world!

I laughed. If Drake had still been in town, there’s no way there would have been any potato salad left in Trenda’s fridge.

I rummaged further and found all the cold cuts I needed. Plus—bless her heart in the good way—horseradish and sauerkraut for the bestest roast beef sandwich to go along with the potato salad. I made sure to leave enough for Simon to have two sandwiches when he came home, because I saw that there was turkey for Bella and Trenda. I salivated as I created a masterpiece of a sandwich.

I happily trotted my tushie to the living room. I set down my treasure on the coffee table and curled into the corner of the sofa. I picked up the remote and grinned when I found Trenda had recorded one of the Real Housewives episodes. I wondered if she made Simon watch it with her. I turned it on. I picked up my bowl of potato salad, then took my first bite and closed my eyes as I savored the perfectly spiced goodness.

The room exploded.

My bowl dropped out of my hands as I covered my ears, trying to drown out the sound of gunfire?

Gunfire!

The glass patio door was almost gone. It had a man-sized, jagged hole in it, and a man in leathers with a bandana over his face was reaching through the hole to the door handle.

Run!

I lurched off the couch and started for the front door, but somebody caught my ponytail, and my head was yanked backward. It felt like my neck was going to snap.

I fell to the ground and cut my elbow on a long piece of glass. It burned. But it didn’t hurt as badly as my neck.

“Bitch, you ain’t going nowhere.”

“You got her?” someone yelled from the back deck.

“Yep. We’re all ready for the trade,” the guy who was pulling my hair said.

“Owww!” I screamed as I was dragged through broken glass toward the shattered patio door. My jeans and boots gave me some protection, but my shirt was short-sleeved—and riding up. My back and arms were getting shredded.

Oh God, he dragged me over a huge piece of glass, I felt it stab me. Deep.

I was crying like a fucking baby and now was not the time to cry. I needed to keep my shit together.