You Belong With Me (With Me in Seattle 14)

“Hey, I’ve been working out.” He flexes, showing me his fourteen-year-old muscles. “And no matter what, I’ll always keep you safe, Elena. The family won’t let anything happen to you.”

“My father might,” I admit in a small voice. “He’s not very nice.”

“Does he hit you?”

“No.” I shake my head and shiver when the sun slips behind a cloud, making the woods cold. “No, he just says mean things sometimes.”

“My dad says your dad’s an asshole,” Carmine admits. “I overheard him. At least you can always come here with us. And you can be away from there for a couple of months.”

“This is the best time ever,” I agree. “I’m getting tired. Where are we going?”

“Almost there.”

His hand tightens around mine as he leads me into a clearing. Suddenly, I’m not a child anymore. I’m a woman.

And in the clearing is scaffolding with a hanging rope.

Archer stands behind the rope with his hands tied behind his back.

“What’s going on?” I demand, staring up at Carmine. “What are you doing?”

“He’s taking your punishment,” Carmine says grimly, staring up at Archer. “For running from us. For staying away.”

“Grandma—”

“Is dead,” Carmine says, cutting me off. “She can’t protect you anymore.”

I stare in horror at the man I love. His blue eyes are full of sorrow as he mouths, I love you.

I love you, too, I mouth back.

“Please don’t do this, Carmine.”

“It’s already done.”

He flicks his hand, and suddenly, Archer’s neck is in the noose, and he’s hanging, jerking about.

“NOOOOO! No no no no!”

I run toward him, but it’s pitch-black now, and I’m falling. Falling and falling. Into what, I don’t know.

“Archer!”

“He’s not here,” Carmine whispers in my ear. “He can’t save you, Elena. Only we can. Only the family can help you.”

“The family is a disease,” I stammer as I cry out. “And I want nothing to do with it.”

I sit up, dripping with sweat. Cool air blows in through the window and across my skin.

“Baby,” Archer says, kissing my cheek. “It’s okay. It was only a dream. You’re safe.”

“I need some water.”

“I’ll get it.”

“It’s okay.” I kiss his cheek and then hurry from the bed, anxious to get out of the bedroom and away from Archer. “I’ll be right back.”

I snag my robe off a chair as I walk out to the kitchen. I pull it around me, tighten the belt, and rather than stop at the sink, I keep walking out to the deck to lean on the railing of the balcony.

I can’t see the water. There’s no moon tonight.

But I can hear it, and it soothes me.

I take several deep breaths, willing my heart to calm down. Archer was right, it was only a dream. He’s alive and well, and so am I.

Everything’s fine.

I hear the door behind me, but I don’t turn to him. He slips his arms around my waist from behind and kisses the top of my head.

“Wanna talk it out?”

“No.” I turn and bury my face in his chest as I wrap my arms around him, holding on with all my might. “I just need you to hold me. Out here, like this.”

“For as long as you need, sweetheart.”Chapter 14~Elena~Margie, my boss at the wildlife sanctuary, is never at work when I am. She comes in to relieve me, working the swing shift.

But when I’m only halfway through my day, the woman comes walking into the nursery, dressed for work.

“Am I being fired?” I ask, wondering what in the world she’s doing here.

“Hardly,” Margie says with a laugh. “I just got this place fully staffed, and you’re a dream. You’d better not be going anywhere.”

“Then why are you here?”

She smiles in a way I’ve never seen before, confusing me more. “I’m giving you the next four days off.”

I blink, sure I’ve heard her wrong. “Why?”

“Now that, I can’t say. But from right now until Tuesday morning, you’re off. With pay, I might add.”

“Did I win the lottery?” I wonder, glancing around. “Hit my head on something hard? Is this dementia, and I just don’t know it?”

“Follow me,” she says, laughing at me. She leads me to our locker room where we keep our personal things and clean clothes.

Baby animals love to pee, poop, and throw up on people.

I stop short and frown. “What are you doing here?”

Archer grins that cocky, self-assured smile that never fails to hit me square in the gut.

“It’s a surprise.”

I inhale sharply, remembering those were the same words Carmine used in my dream last night.

“What kind of surprise?”

“This is where I go,” Margie says and winks at me. “Have a great time.”

She leaves the room, and I turn back to Archer.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re getting out of here for a few days. Away from Oregon and all of the ghosts that haunt you here. We need a vacation, babe.”

“So you just arranged it with my boss?”