“Matt?” I asked, confused.
“Salinger called us,” he explained, standing next to my bed.
“Salinger?”
Everyone looked toward the door, so I did the same.
There stood Salinger. He was beautiful; it made my heart ache to see him.
“Hey, Little,” his deep voice soothed, making two tears slip through.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked him.
“He’s the one who found you, knucklehead,” Ansen answered for him.
Katie grabbed my hand. “I guess Trace was trying to build a meth lab in his kitchen and it blew up.”
My mouth gaped wide. “What? D-did they make it out?”
Katie looked at Ansen, so I did the same.
“No, Lily, they didn’t.”
“Oh my gosh,” I quieted.
We were all silent a moment.
“What about the neighbors?” I asked them.
“Fine,” Salinger answered, making my heart race. “Everyone seemed to be in bed and not affected badly.”
I nodded at him, wishing I could just stare at him. “Good,” I whispered.
I turned toward Matt. “Do the girls know?” I asked.
“We didn’t want to wake them until we knew what the status was.”
I nodded again. “That’s great. Good. Let’s just keep this to ourselves then.”
“You don’t want them to visit?” he asked.
“No,” I insisted, “let’s not scare them. I’ll just see them on Sunday.”
Matt looked uncertain. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I answered and smiled at him. “If there’s one thing I want for them, it’s that they never know fear again.”
He smiled at me. “They won’t,” he promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“I know,” I told him.
Matt sighed. “What a night!” Everyone laughed. “Does anyone want a drink or a cup of coffee?” he asked.
Everyone shook their heads. “Well, if I don’t have some caffeine soon, I’m going to drop. I’ll be right back.”
I smiled at him as he left. He had to slide past Salinger to leave, as he just stood there, afraid to come in, I thought.
Katie looked behind her, then at me. “Ansen, come with me. You know, now that he mentions it, I could use a Dr Pepper or something.”
“Okay,” Ansen told her, grabbing her hand as they left the room.
It was just Salinger and me at that point.
“You saved me.” I heard him audibly swallow. “Thank you.”
His body was tense, like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.
“How do you feel?” he asked me.
“Just a little sore, to be honest. The pain meds have already worn off.”
He looked alarmed. “Should I get the nurse?” he asked, panicked.
I smiled at him. “No, come here, Salinger.”
Hesitantly he came into the room and pulled up a chair to the side of my bed then sat down, scooting as close as he could get.
“I got your texts,” he said.
I didn’t know how to respond to him so I only nodded.
“What happened?” I asked him.
He stared at the floor. “I need some advice,” he said, ignoring my question.
“Go on,” I encouraged.
“I—” He shook his head, fighting a smile. “I’m in love with this girl.” He looked at me. “You don’t know her,” he said, a crooked smile on his face. “She’s the best friend I’ve ever had; we get along like chocolate and peanut butter. She’s, well, she’s beautiful,” he explained, his face burning bright red and turning back to the floor briefly before meeting my gaze again. My heart started to race when he looked at me. “She dazzles me, actually.”
Then a thought sobered me.
“Are you talking about Lyric?” I asked him.
He looked shocked. “What are you on about?”
My face flamed hot. “I saw her.”
“Saw who?”
He looked perplexed.
“At the tournament, Salinger. She was in your room.”
He went from confused to amused within two seconds. “We traded rooms. There were these really obnoxious morons partying next door and I wanted to get some sleep, so we switched.”
I nodded. “I see and so this girl?” I encouraged.
“Yeah, so this girl, she’s talented. Never met anyone who could challenge me like she does.” He looked at me; his face turned sad for a moment. “She’s been through a lot, you know? And, you see, this is where I’ve been struggling, because I told her I was someone who had integrity. I’d promised I would help her without her feeling vulnerable to me. I wanted her to know she could rely on me.”
I began crying. “I think she knows, Salinger.”
He studied me. “Does she, though?” he asked.
“I know she does.”
“I think I have to tell her how I feel then.”
“I think you should.”
He leaned back in his chair, looking more relaxed than I’d seen him in a very long time. He exhaled hard. “I’m going to,” he said, smiling at the ceiling.
“When?” I asked him.
He looked at me and bit his lip to keep from smiling. “I’ll let you know, Little.”
EPILOGUE
IT’D BEEN THREE MONTHS since the meth lab accident and I’d had the windows replaced, fixed the damaged fence, and repainted the back of the house. It had only taken me a couple short days to get everything back to par.
Trace had died that night. I would never condone what he’d done to me, but I wouldn’t have wished death on him either. He’d made national headlines due to the nature of his death and the sensationalism of the story. His house had literally burnt to a crisp. Not even the grass remained in an even circle around what used to be that home. There’d been two other victims, but they weren’t local and so none of us recognized them when they were finally identified.
I’d put my house up for sale for a mere hundred grand and it’d sold in two days. Ironically, to one of my nearby neighbors.
I’d been visiting the girls regularly and they were thriving, and when I was in town to see them once a week, I’d also stop by a counselor’s office to work out the issues I had about Mama’s death. I’d been searching for places to rent around my sisters so I could be near them, but had yet to find any.
Salinger left Bottle County as well as the market, as did I. I’d joined a couple online classes and was sort of bumming around random cities, exploring them, trying to find a good fit.
Salinger came with me.
Right in that moment, that very second, I was taking my Scout up to Banner Elk, North Carolina, to a cabin called Big Bear Lodge because it was an hour away from this year’s National Open, a million-dollar cash prize, and I was joining twelve other master chess players, including one Mr. Salinger Park.
As I’d been recovering, selling my house, and visiting a therapist, Salinger hadn’t made one single move on me. I knew he’d been talking about me as I’d laid there that night. I knew he was in love with me. He was biding his time and I tried to respect that, as I’m certain, he tried to do with me.
I’d given Salinger the reins and he was aware of it. He was careful around me, respectful. He took care of me before he took care of himself. I’d never been around a guy like that before. Most of the time I’d had to peel them off to set them aside, it was annoying.
I didn’t dare touch him; though I’d wanted to, really wanted to. When he smiled, it sent me over myself. That’s what the tension did for me. I’d given him the reins and I was letting him determine the course and I’d discovered that boundaries could be unbelievably sexy. There is nothing like the feeling of earning something you actually want, and I wanted Salinger Park.
I pulled into the lodge and parked between four others, lifting out my bag, and scaling the winding shallow stone walk to the front door. I walked in and saw seven of the guys we were meeting up there sitting in the large, expansive living area, including Peter Aurek and Tao Zhang.
“Lily!” they all shouted.
I threw my bag in the foyer and started walking toward one of the couches. I squealed when someone sideswiped me, surprising me, and lifted me off my feet.
The guys started taunting Salinger, ordering him to put me down, but he ignored them. Instead, he swept me through a pair of open doors between the kitchen and the living area in the back of the house.