Midnight Rose (completed)

Chapter 18

Clutching the sheets in my fingers, I waited until the quiet settled throughout the house. A ping on my window broke the silence. Peeling back my sheets, I raced to the window and saw Wes below. My heart ached. This would likely be the last time I saw him. I branded the image of him in my head, standing there, eyes glimmering and a mischievous grin.

I snatched up my grandpa's jacket and tiptoed down the stairs, my heart pounding nervously as I passed my parents' closed bedroom door. I was tempted to leave them a note, feeling guilty if they woke and discovered I wasn't home, but I didn't.

"Hey." I smiled nervously as I approached Wes. Trying to steady my heart was harder than I imagined. I didn't want him to suspect anything, but I was a horrible liar. 

He looked at me strangely. "Hey, yourself." He stepped into me, grazing his nose and lips along the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply as he always did. I sucked in a breath, my neck tensing.

"I missed you," he whispered close to my ear, still nuzzling in my hair. "I was worried."

My fingers crawled up the back of his neck, entangling in his hair, gripping tight. Every time we touched, I was on the precipice of his world and mine, teetering on the border, ready to cross, but not knowing to which side.

"I missed you, too," I replied softly, stretching my neck, inviting him in. He kissed it lightly then pulled away, studying me closely.

"You were with him." Blackness was swirling in his eyes.

"It's not what you think. He commandeered me when I was on my way to see you." I paused. "That didn't come out right." I tried to take back what I said, but it was too late.  Wes' hands tightened around my arms, the darkness consuming him.

"He what?" His lips peeled from his teeth as he hissed.

I grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look at me. To stay with me. "I'm fine. Look, I'm not harmed. It's not what you think. He just wanted to talk. He's not going to hurt me. I promise. He really is here to help me."

"I don't trust him, Abby. And I think it's a mistake you do."

I let go and tugged at the cuffs of my long sleeves, pulling them over my hands anxiously. "Can we go somewhere, please?" I was torn between a promise of silence and honor to tell him the truth. It was making me physically sick.

He leveled down, his eyes returning to their magnificent beauty. "Of course." He pulled me in close, comforting me and then leading me to his car at the bottom of the driveway.

"When do you need to be back?" he asked blankly as he started the convertible.

"Sunrise."

"You look upset," he observed.

I shifted my glance his way. "It's been a long day," was all I could say.

He placed his free hand on mine, my body instantly relaxing.

"I know just the place." He smiled.

I was grateful when he turned away from the lake. I didn't need to add to the list of bad things associated with it and saying goodbye was going to be monumentally bad. We drove up into the hills where large estates sprinkled the hillsides situated on large acres of land. They had the most magnificent view of the lake. My dad and I hiked up here once, but I hadn't been back since.

There was a well-traveled dirt road that led up one of the hills to the site of a fire where a house had been lost. Only the bottom half of the brick fireplace remained intact.

"Wow, what happened here?"

"It burned down just after we moved here. William helped save the family that lived in it."