Page 25 of Montana Freedom
Charlie didn’t laugh. “I appreciate that.”
It was good he’d be by tomorrow. I wanted a chance to warn Emma he was coming and make sure she didn’t fall apart.
* * *
The next morning when I visited, Emma’s face went pale, even though she was safely ensconced in a blanket on the couch.
“Today?”
I nodded, sitting down on the coffee table in front of her. “He’ll be here soon. We’ll bring you to the main lodge. I won’t ask you to bring him into this space. I want you to keep feeling safe here.”
Some of her color came back at that statement, and I wondered again what she hadn’t told me. And I knew she was holding back. No one survived a brutal month as a prisoner and didn’t have things to get off their chest. Her story of events so far was very clean and simple; I doubted the reality was the same.
“I promise I’ll be there with you the entire time. If you want Kate or another woman present as well, we’ll make it happen.”
“No,” she said. “That’s okay. I trust you.”
The guilt came flooding in, and I did my best to push it back. She shouldn’t trust me—no one should—but I was going to do everything in my power to make sure she could.
“Thank you for that.”
Her smile lit up the room. Like the sun coming outagain,even though it was fully bright outside.
“There was something else I wanted to ask. While you’re here, if you want to, we work with a therapist. Completely private. No one would know anything about what you said but her. However, I thought I would offer it to you in case you felt you needed it.”
That smile faded. “I…I appreciate the offer, but I’m already so much of a burden. I have no money to pay you for my general room and board, much less anything else. Everybody must think so poorly of me.”
I shook my head. “No, nobody thinks that. And you don’t need to worry about money. Not right now. Part of our mission here at Resting Warrior Ranch is to help provide for people even if they can’t pay.”
She didn’t respond.
“Just think about it. I’m going to go.” I stood up. “I’ll come back when Charlie’s on his way.”
“No.” She sat up, halfway reaching for me. “No, stay.”
That good kind of tension spun between us again, and I smiled, sitting back down. “All right.”
“I like you being here,” she said, looking down at the blanket. “I know I’m safe here, but you make me feel safer. It’s why I liked having dreams about you so much. Even when I didn’t know who you were or why you were there, you were still the man who saved me.” She smiled, though she still wasn’t meeting my eyes. “I never said thank you for it.”
“There’s no need to thank me.”
“I want to, though.” She looked at me now, and she suddenly leaned forward all the way, capturing my hand where it rested on my knee. “Truly. Thank you. For everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
We stayed in the breathless moment, hands touching, and I thought about all the ways you could interpret the wordsyou’re welcome.
Emma was welcome here. She was welcome to so many things. I didn’t know her well, but every moment I’d spent with her so far had been refreshing. She was honest and kind, even through her fear. And she was far, far braver than she knew.
The heavy sound of footsteps on the porch pulled us apart, and Jude knocked on the doorframe a minute later. “Camera on the far west wall busted. I don’t have what I need to replace it, so Lena and I are heading down to Missoula. We might spend the night, but we’re not sure yet.”
I nodded. “Call if you need anything.”
He smirked, knowing he wouldn’t. Jude knew exactly what he was doing, and though the camera might have been busted, we had plenty of cameras. They might not have been the exact model to replace the one that broke, but it would be sufficient while he ordered another one.
The man wanted an excuse to spoil Lena, and I wasn’t about to stop him from doing that. After pining for each other for so long, the two of them deserved every happiness they could find.
“Does everyone here let you know when they leave?” Emma asked. She was smiling as she did it, teasing me.