Page 32 of Forever Found
“Did Kane call?” I asked reluctantly, knowing he would have.
“He did, but Ash didn’t tell him where we are. He just assured Kane that you’re safe. He’s shut his cell off now so Kane can’t track it.”
“You think he’d do that?” It was a stupid question really, considering how insanely protective Kane had been since we arrived back home weeks before. I doubted there was anything he wouldn’t do to know exactly where I was. Part of me was grateful to know he cared that much at first, but it had become almost an obsession for him and it had begun to feel suffocating. That last call I had with him had been the last straw. I couldn’t handle anymore. I loved him. I had no doubts about that, but I just needed him to back off and be the Kane I knew again. If hecouldn’t do that, then I wasn’t sure I could handle the obsessive Kane he had become.
“I think the idea of losing you has sent him a little crazy right now, Addy,” Eli replied.
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“Come on. You don’t need to worry about him right now. How about you take a break from all of that stress going on in your head, and we just enjoy being here, okay?” Eli suggested.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I agreed. I was pretty sure it would be impossible to shut down the thoughts and images constantly running through my exhausted mind, but I was definitely willing to try it, desperate for just a little stillness in the chaos.
“Good. Stay there a second. Asher stopped to get some supplies, and he bought you a new coat and some boots.” I looked down at my feet and winced a little when I realized I was wearing flip flops. Not exactly ideal for the bitter, snowy weather.
“Sorry. I wasn’t really thinking straight when I got dressed.” I tried to explain.
“It’s alright. Ash picked up some clothes for all of us too, and some food. He even managed to get us all new, prepaid cell phones. We should be good to stay here for a few days if that’s what you want.”
“I’m honestly not sure what I want right now, but thank you…for bringing me here. I just…I felt like I couldn’t breathe in the house any more. ”
“You have to know there’s nothing Ash and I wouldn’t do for you, Addy. We love you, shortcake.” He placed a kiss on the top of my head before he got out of the car, closing the door behind him.
Eli helped me pull on a brand new pair of thick, wool socks, along with the new pair of boots and a thick black puffer coat Asher had picked up for me, then I was out of the car and moving almost magnetically towards the beautiful lake.
Eli was right on my heels when I turned to glance at him, pulling on his own new coat, which Asher had been required to buy when I forced them to leave the house without giving them the time to grab a single thing.
I hated the state I found myself in right then. I hated the way things were between me and the men I loved, and I hated even more the fact that I didn’t feel strong enough to face them head on and find out what was truly going on. I hated that I was now dragging my brothers into the mess I had created because I was just too pathetic to handle any of it alone. I hated everything about myself and the person I had become over the last couple of years, not that I’d ever truly been happy with the person I was in the first place.
“I forgot how much I love this place,” Eli sighed as he came up to my side where I had paused at the edge of the lake. The water was moving in and out from the bank edge, and the sun was shining down and warming my face. It truly was the most beautiful and tranquil place I had ever been.
“You used to come here as kids, you said?”
“Yeah. Our mom, she suffered with crippling depression, but sometimes she’d have good days, or even a few of them in a row. When that happened, she’d usually want to get away from our father, and this is where she’d bring us. We used to swim in this lake in summer, and in winter we’d run through the woods, pelting snowballs at each other and just being kids for once. We loved it here,” Eli explained.
“It sounds magical.”
“It was, I suppose. It was definitely a haven from our father for Ash and I. My mom too, I guess,” he shrugged.
“Hey!” I turned and saw Asher jogging around the side of the house. He ran over to us and swept me up in a hug right away. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“I’m okay. Better,” I replied as I hugged him back, so grateful as always to have him and Eli in my life.
“Did you find anything?” Eli asked.
“No, but I called the attorney who handled mom’s estate when she died. Apparently, when mom left this place to us in her will, she hired a company to take care of it until we were old enough to take over. I have the access code to get in.”
“Access code?” Eli questioned.
“Mom had a ton of security put in about a year before she died. There are cameras, a security system and code access locks on the doors,” Asher explained.
“Mom? Why would she do that? She never thought about anything as trivial as security.”
“I don’t know. It does seem odd, but I’m glad to see the place is still standing and solid.”
“Maybe she wanted a safe place to run to, if she needed it,” I suggested. “Maybe she was thinking about leaving your father?”
“That would make sense actually. The attorney said when he read mom’s will, that our father seemed surprised to learn about this place. Maybe he didn’t even know she owned it? He certainly never came here with us,” Asher mused.