She kissed his neck, his cheek any part of him that she could reach. He rolled to his back, afraid that he was crushing her. She rolled to her side and laid her hand on his chest. His hand covered his eyes. His fingers rubbing hard into the sockets, hoping to ease the tears that wouldn’t stop. Danni pressed her lips to his chest and he held her there. She laid her cheek against his chest.
“It will be okay,” she promised.
“Will it?” He asked.
She nodded against his him.
Walker was quiet after that. He got under the covers while she went to the kitchen for a drink of water. It didn’t take him long to go to sleep.
Chapter 18
Wednesday morning Walker had legal business to take care of for his mother’s estate. He dropped her off at the garage and took the truck to the county courthouse in Georgetown while she had a backlog of clients to take care of since they were going to be closed on Friday for Artemisia’s funeral.
Jackson stopped by on his way out of town. It was over now. He was ready to leave. She went out back with him for a few moments to say goodbye.
“It was nice to see you again,” she told him trying to be polite.
He snorted. “No, it wasn’t.”
She laughed. “Actually, it was. I realized I’ve grown up and moved on. That is a nice feeling.”
“Not for me,” he replied.
“I’m sorry, Jackson.” She really was sorry for him. She didn’t like how he was feeling right now.
He leaned over on his knees. She was sitting beside him on the picnic table, so she patted his back trying to comfort him.
“I can’t believe it’s over.”
This is how she felt all those years ago when he left Sherwood. It wasn’t a pleasant way to feel. Shocked. Unsure of what the next step was. Alone. Lonely.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated because she didn’t have the right words to say. “I started falling in love with Walker a year ago. It was natural for it to happen between us.”
He glanced at her. “Honestly, Danni I think you’ve had some sort of weird crush on him since you were a girl.”
She smiled. She didn’t need to agree with him because she wouldn’t diminish what they shared and make him feel worse than he did.
“I’d better get going. I have a long drive back to Louisiana.”
Jackson stood. Danni looked at him for a moment then she got to her feet too. The moment was awkward and unsure. She didn’t know what to do. They weren’t the same people that they were when they were eighteen and nineteen.
So many things had made them what they were today, shaped their dreams and given them the goals they wanted in life. She no longer loved him, and she didn’t think that he really loved her either. He loved who she was at eighteen. He was clinging to the girl that he had left behind.
Danni was happy how things had turned out and she knew that one day Jackson would find his dreams too once he let go of their past. He had been holding on like she was for a very long time.
Jackson leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Goodbye, Danni.” His tone was emotional which broke Danni’s heart. She didn’t like to make anyone feel bad.
“Goodbye, Jackson.”
She watched him walk around the side of the building. In her head, she would have wished him well, but the words just wouldn’t come out. She took a step towards the door when a hand clamped over her mouth. She was being dragged backwards. She tried to fight it. She tried to scream beneath the hand that covered her lips. She turned her head a bit and the hand sl
ipped. She bit down hard on the soft spot between the thumb and finger.
“Goddammit, Danni.” She knew then that Jesse had her. “I won’t hurt you.”
He popped the lid on the trunk of the car he was driving. Gone was the truck he had the day Artemisia was killed. He tossed her inside, zip tied her ankles before she could fight him off then her hands. He gagged her just as she heard the mechanics at the back door. They had heard her screaming. He slammed the trunk lid down and drove away before any of the men who worked for her could rescue her.
Her phone was lying on the desk in her grandfather’s office, now hers and Walker’s. She was alone with Jesse Wild. She didn’t know what he wanted.