She had been so worried about what he would think, but there hadn’t been even the slightest hint that he was anything but thrilled to be with her again. It was in every word, every touch. When he held her, she swore she could actually feel his love pouring into her, infinite and unconditional.
“I love you, Shane,” she said as they crossed over the final ridge that would take them down into the valley. “Be patient with me, okay?”
He squeezed her hand. “Always and forever, a croie beloved,” he promised.
Lacie found herself thanking God for about the thousandth time for bringing him into her life. He was her rock, solid and warm, anchoring her to everything that was good and decent in this world. And she loved him so much it physically hurt. She hoped beyond hope that once all the dust settled, he would still be there.
*
Lacie’s homecoming was nothing more or less than he had expected. Shane wished he could have made it easier on her, but there was little he could do. Lacie needed her family. Her parents had been worried sick; they’d cut their cruise short and made arrangements to fly home as soon as they’d received Corinne’s call. They rushed out of their house the moment Shane pulled up in the driveway.
Without letting him out of her sight, Lacie held herself together pretty well in front of them as they hugged and cried and hugged again. None of them knew the details, of course. Lacie didn’t want them to. But one look in her haunted eyes and they could probably guess.
The next few hours were tough. The police came out to the house. With Shane watching over her protectively and giving counsel, she made her statement. There was no reason to go into specifics. She kept her answers concise and truthful, based on what she had endured while she was conscious.
There was no point, Shane advised her, in speaking on what she believed happened while she was drugged. Lacie was relieved that she could spare her family that at least. They were still reeling from the realization of how far gone Craig had been. News of his death was met with the numb acceptance that comes with shock.
Lacie was afraid that news crews would be pulling up all afternoon, but Shane assured her that his family had a couple of contacts in the media and that everything would be kept quiet.
The school year was officially over, so Lacie didn’t have to worry about going back into the school and facing everyone and all the questions they surely had. She’d felt bad about missing the year end carnival and seeing her kids before they became “graders”, but agreed that it was probably for the best. This way she had the whole summer to concentrate on taking those first few steps toward healing.
Lacie moved back into her parent’s house temporarily; Corinne took care of retrieving whatever she needed from her apartment. Shane and his brothers had made a complete sweep of the place, finding and removing Craig’s surveillance equipment. Lacie was unaware that Craig had been spying on her, and Shane saw no reason to tell her. If she ever asked, he wouldn’t lie, but it was not information he would volunteer. At this point it would do nothing but provide more fodder for her nightmares, and she had enough of those as it was.
Corinne said she still woke up most nights in a cold sweat, shivering and crying. Shane ached to be the one who was there for her, holding her through the terrors, but knew Lacie needed her family, too. He spent every evening with her, sitting quietly, talking, going for brief walks while she recovered.
Two weeks after their return to Pine Ridge, when Shane was certain Lacie would be fine without him for a little while, he told her he had to go out of town with his brothers for a few days, but that he had something special planned for when he got back. He refused to say any more than that, but he promised her she was going to like it.
*
It was harder than she ever would have thought to let him go. Those few hours spent with him each day had become the center of her universe. She looked forward to it, reveled in it, then ached when he left her with nothing more than a chaste kiss.
She understood that he was giving her the time and space she needed, and she was grateful for that. The intimacy they shared went far beyond the sexual. She craved everything about him – his scent, the warm heat of his skin, the glowing eyes, deep voice and clever wit. The world made sense when she was with him; the rest of the time she was lost.
“Come back to me,” she whispered, clinging to him as he was about to leave.
The way he’d looked at her then, his eyes reaching deep into her very soul, reinforced his words. “I will always come back to you, a croie beloved.”
*
Brian McCain flinched when he heard the heavy door leading into their underground cell creaking open and mentally prepared himself. They had been left alone for so long he prayed his captors might have finally given up, realized they weren’t going to get any useful information out of them, and moved on.