He moved to her door and leaned against it. “You’re going to suffer just as much as I will tonight,” he called out to her.
“It will be well worth it,” she called back.
With a groan, Cam crossed the hall to his room. Hot damn if she wasn’t the sexiest woman he’d ever known. There was no way in hell he was letting her get away from him.
Grace should have felt better, should have felt some sense of peace. After all, she’d finally gotten one up on Cam. But her victory was hollow. She’d spent just as much time as she was sure he had in just the same way—aching, lonely, needing to feel something.
So her victory had been short-lived. There was now no doubt in her mind that she was on a fool’s errand, trying to fight against the man who had stolen her heart so long ago. But what did time matter, when it seemed so endless?
After throwing on some clothes, she made her way down the stairs of his impressive home, all the while listening for the sound of his voice. It was soon obvious that she was here alone. Her shoulders sagged in relief as she walked into the kitchen and made a fresh pot of coffee.
After a few hours, she paced Cam’s place restlessly. This was ridiculous. She certainly wasn’t a prisoner. Just because he’d insisted on her coming there, that didn’t mean she had to stay. Her best friend would soon be home, and she could go there if she couldn’t return to her apartment.
For that matter, she was sure that Sage would let her stay at her place even though she wasn’t home. Why hadn’t she thought of that sooner? Putting on a jacket, Grace stepped onto the front porch and looked at the sky, seeing clouds gather in the distance.
A spring storm seemed to be brewing. No matter. She’d been through many of those before. After making her way to her car, she slipped her key into the ignition and turned. Nothing. She tried again. Again nothing.
“Dammit!” Hitting her hands on the steering wheel in frustration, she pulled her cell phone from her purse and dialed Cam.
“I hope you slept as poorly as I did last night” was how he answered.
“You tampered with my car? Really, Cam? Was that necessary?” There was no time for pleasantries.
“I didn’t touch your car, Grace. Maybe it’s just old and the battery died.”
“I don’t believe you. For some reason, you’re trying to keep me trapped at your place.” With that, she hung up, knowing it wasn’t going to do her any good to argue with the man.
But she wouldn’t be held captive. Stepping from the car, she looked again at the sky. Yes, it looked ominous, but she’d been born and raised in Montana, and a little rain wasn’t going to kill her.
Sage’s property couldn’t be that far away. They’d driven from her house the week before and it hadn’t taken them long to arrive at Cam’s. She looked in each direction, smiling when she spotted the road she was sure they’d come in on.
She began her walk, too stubborn to wait for a mechanic to come and fix her car. She noted the trees were starting to change from ugly brown to new green, buds reaching for the sun, wanting to open, and animals peeking out from the burrows that had kept them safe during the snowy months.
Montana winters could be harsh and cruel, but the spring, summer, and fall were full of wonder and activity, and out of all the places she’d lived over the past ten years, no place had felt like home as much as this sleepy country town did.
Looking around at the scenery as she walked, her body fighting off the cold suddenly ripping through the air, she enjoyed the sight of a flowing stream, a source that ran year-round and kept the cows hydrated while also nourishing the plant life.
The farther she moved from Cam’s house, the more she was able to focus on the sounds of the woods. She kept going, listening for the chirping of the birds and the scratching of chipmunks in search of food.
A chill ran through her, and Grace looked around as another layer of clouds covered the sun, making the shadows deepen and sending a streak of fear through her. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea she’d ever come up with.
No, it was fine. As long as she followed the road, she would reach Grace’s house. And by doing this she was letting Cam know that he couldn’t control her, couldn’t tell her how to live her life or where she was supposed to be.
When the first touch of cold settled upon her nose, Grace looked up, and a new shiver of fear raced through her. It was spring, a time for birth, for new beginnings, for the ice of winter to melt away. But as she stood there in amazement, snow soon dotted her shoulders, and Grace knew she needed to hurry this up.
How long had she been walking? She wasn’t sure. It had to have been an hour, maybe a little more. She’d been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t paid attention. Her only goal had been to reach Sage’s welcoming house, where she could go inside, warm up, and have a nice hot cup of coffee.
That plan had failed. Grace turned around and began following the road back, fear a constant as the path that had been laid out before her quickly filled with new snow. Within fifteen minutes, she stopped.
The road was covered, as was the forest floor around her. She could no longer tell where the road ended and the forest began. If she stepped off the pavement, she’d be lost in the woods. But if she didn’t keep moving, she had no idea how long it would take someone to figure out that she’d gone walking toward Sage’s house.
She knew it didn’t take long for frostbite to set in. She had to forge ahead. The road was a winding one, though, and without being able to see it, she might go straight instead of making a necessary turn. She might wander farther inside the woods and end up making them her eternal home.