Sobs rolled over my body as I fought to speak.
“You’re here. You made it in time. You saved us!”
His lips were all over my face as I felt someone else releasing my hands from the handcuffs. The moment my arms fell free, I wrapped them around Grayson’s neck and cried like I had never cried before.
“You’re here,” I whimpered out as I buried my face into his chest.
“Shh . . . it’s okay, baby. You’re safe now and I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
All the pain vanished as I let Grayson pick me up and carry me out of the cabin. I kept my eyes shut for fear of what I would see walking out.
“Please tell me this was all a nightmare.”
Grayson held me close to him as he set me down inside of his truck. “We need to get you to the hospital, baby, to be checked out. Did he . . . did he . . . hurt you in any way?”
I shook my head. “It’s just my head and my ribs hurt from where he hit and kicked me.”
Sucking in a breath of air, I felt my hot tears run down my face.
“The baby,” I whispered as everything began to spin and all the light slowly drifted away.
“Gray, our baby . . .”
My entire body ached as I slowly opened my eyes. Looking around, I smiled.
Home.
With each painful movement, I sat up and looked around my old bedroom. Everything was the same as it was when I moved out.
Letting out a deep sigh, I swung my legs off the bed and stood. I could hear talking coming up through the opened windows in my room. Walking over to them, a warm feeling rolled over my body as I heard familiar voices.
I closed my eyes and thought back over the last few days. Grayson had been my knight in shining armor as he rushed into the cabin and literally saved me and the baby from the monster. After a quick stop by the hospital to make sure I was okay, he went straight to the airport to bring me home to Texas.
The whole ordeal pretty much knocked me out the whole flight to Texas and the drive to Fredericksburg. My body was exhausted and aching.
With my hand over my stomach while I walked to the bathroom, I silently said a prayer of thanks that our baby was okay. I had two bruised ribs, which felt more like ten broken ones, a good size cut on the back of my head, and the side of my face looked like it had been used as a punching bag. Every time Grayson looked at my face; I could see the anger in his eyes. Thank goodness Melissa was so understanding in letting me take a few weeks off to recover.
After cleaning up, I changed and headed downstairs to the front porch.
“Thank you for bringing her home, Gray.”
The rocking of the chairs was a soothing sound as I listened to Grace talking to Grayson. “It was a no-brainer for me, Grace. The last place I wanted her to be was somewhere she was not going to feel safe.”
My heart felt as if it would burst. Grayson told the station he was taking a leave of absence and I knew how hard that had to have been for him. He was still so new and for him to just swoop in and fly me off to Texas was the most unselfish thing anyone had ever done for me.
“Good morning,” my mother whispered as she leaned her chin on my shoulder. I smiled as I took her hand in mine.
“I love him so much, Mom.”
Her hand gently squeezed mine. “He loves you so much too.”
My body trembled at the idea of what could have happened. “Mom, I could have . . . what if he had . . .”
Turning me to face her, my mother shook her head and put her finger up to stop me from talking. “No. There are no what if’s. The only thing that we have is our future and I have a grandbaby to start thinking about.”
My heart felt as if it cracked a little as I thought about raising my child so far from my mother. Everything was so different now. The look on my parents’ faces when Grayson and I told them last night I was pregnant. I was scared to death they would be upset with me, but it was the opposite. I’d never seen them both so happy and of course thankful that the baby was okay.
“Hey, how are you feeling, babe?”
Grayson had me wrapped up in his arms with a soft kiss on the forehead before I had too much time to think about the baby and Colorado.
“Better.”
Grace walked up to me and as my eyes traveled down to her stomach. “Your baby bump!” I said as I placed my hands on her and started crying.
Letting out a giggle, Grace teared up and said, “Welcome to hormone hell! I cry at everything now.”
I pulled my best friend into my arms and lost it. “Oh my God, I’ve missed you so much,” I said as we held onto each other for dear life.
When we finally pulled back, Grace gave me a wink. “Do you feel up to going somewhere with me?”
“Yes!” I said without even thinking. Glancing over to Grayson, I asked, “Do you mind?”
The smile he gave me caused my stomach to drop and my heart to fall even more for him. “Of course not. As long as you’re feeling up to it.”