Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
I’m her safe place.
I always have been.
The torment that Dani Lexington went through at the hands of her father was something no child should have had to endure. But I was the lucky one she turned to.
Our age difference and the fact that her brother was my best friend kept her off-limits, even though something was always there, lingering under the surface.
But when she was old enough, she left Bitterroot Valley, and I was forced to move on with my life.
I got married and had my little girl. Now, I’m a single dad, focused on my job as fire chief and making sure my daughter stays healthy after a mysterious illness has plagued her for the past year.
But after Dani’s father dies, she returns to Bitterroot Valley and is now living across the street from my daughter and me.
Dani’s no longer a child. No longer off limits.
This time, I won’t let anything or anyone stop me from being her safe place again.
Dani
I’ve been in love with Bridger Blackwell for as long as I can remember.
He’s a smoke show, kind, and gives the best hugs in the world. But best of all? He’s everything my sorry excuse for a father wasn’t.
Now, I’m back in Bitterroot Valley, living across the street from Bridger and his adorable daughter.
It doesn’t take long for all those old feelings to come rushing back, and every cell in my body knows that I belong with them.
That they’re mine.
Bridger’s arms are where I feel safest. They feel like home.
I’m growing to depend on him, to truly love him and his daughter. But I have deep-rooted baggage, and Bridger’s past has decided to rear its ugly head.
Will we survive this, or is our relationship doomed from the start?
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
DANI
Twelve Years Old
“DANI!”
Oh, no. No, no, no.
I made him mad. Again.
My heart is pounding in my ears, and I think I’m going to throw up.
Hide, Dani.
No, I can’t hide. It’ll only make things way worse if he has to look for me.
I poke my head around the side of the living room, looking into the kitchen, and swallow hard when Dad’s eyes narrow on me.
“You didn’t do your chores this morning.”
“I d-d-did. I just forgot the eggs.” By the time I utter the last word, it’s hardly audible, and he’s stomping toward me. Oh, God. Please don’t do this, Dad.
I cringe when he takes me by the shoulders and gives me a shake. How I wish Holden was here.
“You’re worthless,” Dad spits into my face. I can smell beer on him, even though it’s before nine in the morning. “You’re nothing. I should kill you, just like I did your fucking whore of a mother.”
I can’t stop the sob that comes out of my throat, and that only makes him madder.
“Oh, are you going to cry? Of course, you are, you stupid bitch. Well, then I’ll give you something to cry about.”
“No!”
He stops, and I cringe. Talking back is the absolute worst thing to do. He tugs me even closer, his nose almost touching mine.
“You think you can fucking sass me, you little cunt?”
I whimper, and that horrible smile slithers over his face. I might die today. I almost wish I would because then this wouldn’t happen to me again.
“Guess it’s time to teach you a lesson.”
I want to plead, to beg for him not to do this. But it wouldn’t do any good because my father is a monster. He’s worse than anything that could be thought up in movies or books.
He’s the devil.
With something between a snarl and a laugh, he grabs my hair and yanks me, striding fast through the kitchen.
He’s not going to just run the faucet over my face this time?
Oh, God. Mom, if you’re in heaven, I think I’m coming to see you today.
He busts through the back door, still dragging me. I can vaguely hear my sisters crying. I don’t know where they came from. My eyes are wild as I try to see, to look around us. I think that’s Darby running toward the barn, and I hope with all my might that Dad doesn’t see her because she’ll get it next.
We’re not allowed to go to the barn.
Dad’s yelling, but I don’t understand the words through the rushing of blood in my ears. I can see the pond now. The pond that’s so dirty, so filthy and full of snakes and bugs that none of us will go near it. But right now, my choice has been taken away. Again.
The next thing I know, my head is being held under the water, and all I can hear is the bubbles in my ears. I hold my breath as long as I can, and just when I think I have to take a breath, I’m pulled out, and Dad’s face is in mine again.
“You stupid little fucking bitch!” I’m gasping, struggling to pull in enough air because I know I’m about to go back into that water.
But suddenly, I hear the horse, and then Holden has punched Dad, knocking him on his butt, and I’m being gently urged away from the water as Holden punches Dad again.
“No!” I scream, reaching for my brother. “He’ll kill you!”
Oh, God, what have I done? Dad will kill my brother. We can’t lose him. We’d never survive.
I hear the crunch of bones, and my heart drops in terror.
“You fucking rat—”
Whack!
“You’ll never lay another fucking hand on them, you hear me?” Holden yells.
And then there’s a terrifying thump, and I’m too scared to look. But Dad’s knocked out, and then Holden’s in front of me, holding my face in his hands. “Are you okay, baby?”
I nod, and then I wrap myself around my brother. Oh, God, what if he killed Dad? What would we do if Holden went to jail? As much as I hate him, please don’t let him be dead.
My sisters are with us now, all crying. Darby’s the oldest, and she’s trying to comfort us. I feel horrible because I’m so wet, and I don’t want them to get wet, too. But no one seems to care about that.
Clinging to each other, Holden herds us to the truck, grabs a towel out of the back seat, and wraps me in it, before getting us settled. There aren’t enough seats for all of us to have belts, and we have to sit on laps, but he’s driving away from our ranch and over to the Blackwells’.
We always go to the Blackwells’ ranch when we need to escape.
I don’t know why, but Dad never follows us here. It’s the place that we feel the safest.