Heavier and heavier.
Triggering a need in me that I hated. That made me sick. That could destroy so much more than I already had.
Muscles twitching.
Rage pounding in my veins until my thundering heart was all I could hear.
“Fuck!”
Dropping to a crouch, I dragged my fingers through my hair again and again before gripping at the strands.
Ten. Nine.
“Breathe,” I said through clenched teeth.
Eight. Seven.
I sat roughly on the ground and then fell to my back. Looking up at the overcast, winter sky that was tinged with red before closing my eyes.
Six. Five.
“Fucking breathe.”
Four. Three.
I forced my fingers from my hair and begged my body to stop trembling. To relax. Begged my chest to move regularly.
Two.
One.
My eyes opened sometime later, heavy and searching.
Searching out the night sky that didn’t seem right. That didn’t match the familiarity of waking up with the body pressed to my side and the intoxicating smell of sugar and vanilla surrounding me.
The combination disorienting me until I remembered coming to the plantation house. Until I realized that Savannah was actually there, asleep on the ground and curled up against my side with a thick blanket covering us both.
“Savannah,” I murmured as I twisted to look at her. Lifting my hand, I eased the hood of her sweatshirt back enough to trail my fingers along her jaw, my gaze taking in her relaxed features.
This girl who had been changing my world and stealing my heart since that first day.
“I’m sorry for everything,” I whispered, voice thick and rough with emotion. “I . . .” My throat worked as I struggled to voice my greatest shame. Choking over the words when they finally escaped. “I slept with Madison. She left because I wanted to tell you. Everything—all of your pain—is because of me, and I’m so sorry.”
The backs of my eyes burned, and my hand trembled against her skin as my chest wrenched open wide.
“I’ve hurt you in ways I swore I never would. I don’t deserve you . . . I never have. But for the rest of our lives, I’m gonna try like hell to be worthy of you,” I promised. “No more arrests. No more fighting—nothing. Never again, I swear.”
I dropped my head against hers and closed my eyes tight when the tears built, savoring the way her body moved against mine as she burrowed closer and let out a contented sigh in her sleep.
“I love you, Savannah Riley,” I said softly. “With every last breath.”
I’d just started gathering everything from the kids’ rooms and the room my parents had stayed in to clean them when Emberly and Rae walked into the house the way everyone always did. Announcing themselves much the same way they had a couple days before.
“This house always smells like heaven,” Rae moaned.
“If it’s those muffins again, I’m stealing them,” Emberly added, their voices drifting up the stairs before they started climbing them.
I started coming out of the hall just as they reached the top, both wearing identical, expectant and determined looks on their faces before Rae gestured to Emberly. “This is all her idea, but I won’t apologize for it.”
“The kids are already gone, yes?” Emberly asked, looking like she was ready to start delivering instructions. Before I had the chance to answer, she looked pointedly at the sheets in my arms. “What needs to be done?”
“Excuse me?”
“Put us to work,” she said, nodding quickly like she was in a hurry.
A startled laugh left me. “I’m . . . no. This is nothing. This is what I do, Emberly.”
“Right, but we have things to do, and we can’t get to them until you’re done with all this. So, let’s go.”
When I just stared at her for too long, Rae released a sigh. “Try to remember who we’re dealing with. She got her new place completely fixed up in a week and a half.”
Emberly nodded and lifted a brow, her plum-painted lips lifting in a victorious smirk.
“Um . . .” I used the big bundle of sheets in my arms to gesture toward the room just behind me. “This bathroom and the kids’ bathroom need to be cleaned—and the kitchen. I’m starting the laundry and then I’ll put new bedding on and clean their rooms. I did all the other rooms yesterday.”
Emberly let out an amused huff and turned, descending the stairs as she called out, “Bathrooms.”
Rae’s eyes went wide with panic as she turned to follow. “What if I burn down the kitchen?”
“It’s cleaning,” Emberly yelled back, “not cooking.”
I stood there for another second, trying to wrap my head around what was happening before trailing after.
When Rae and I were finishing putting the laundry away in the linen closet a few hours later, Emberly came in, forehead creased in confusion.
“How do you make this work?”
“What?”
She held up the phone in her hand. “Your speakers. The ones that are always playing music in your kitchen.”
“Oh, you have to—” My head jerked back. “Is that my phone?”
Her stare drifted to the side for a moment before sliding back to me. “Possibly. I had to put a new playlist on there.”
Rae held up a hand. “Remember who you’re dealing with. She’s a force.”
A stuttered laugh left me because I knew that, I’d just never had it directed at me. “You just—”
“Em?”
I lifted my hands at the sound of Cayson’s voice. “What exactly are we doing today?”
Emberly just backed out of the closet, smile all kinds of giddy. “One second.”
“Force,” Rae repeated as we followed her out, but her tone was pure adoration.
We rounded into the entryway just as Emberly slipped up to Cayson, already pressing up on her toes to steal a kiss.
“How you feeling?” he asked, voice soft as he pulled her closer with one hand while keeping the other outstretched. Grasping a coffee and bag that boasted the Brewed logo. His stare flickered to us as she answered before his head lifted, his brows pulling tight. “Now I really feel like I picked up the wrong order.”
Emberly laughed as she pressed another kiss to his mouth before reaching for the drink and bag. “Nope, this is it, and I appreciate it.”
“There’s three of you,” he said slowly when she started backing away.
“Yeah, but this is an emotional intervention,” she explained as if it should’ve been obvious.
“A what?” I asked dully.
The corner of Cayson’s lips slowly lifted in a smirk. “Dixie Chicks?”
Emberly lifted a shoulder, her face all wry amusement. “Of course.”
“I love you,” he said simply, then looked to her sister, his head dipping in a nod. “Rae.” His stare shifted to me, his shoulders shaking as he fought a laugh. “Savannah . . . just let it happen.”
“Let what happen?” I asked, but he turned to leave, glancing over his shoulder at Emberly one last time as he slipped out the door.
She sighed when she faced us, eyes and smile dreamy.