Run to You (25 page)

Why couldn't he get her out of his head?

They'd been broken up for over a week, and yet the thought of going to Rowdy's to pick up some random chick held about as much appeal as getting a root canal. He wanted Gabby. Only Gabby. Forever Gabby.

And
fuck
. Ryan was right. He needed to get his ass over to her house and beg for her forgiveness. Why had he ever thought she was just another girl he could date and leave before things got complicated? Things with Gabby had been complicated from the moment they met. Gram had seen it. And Gram was never wrong.

He rolled out of bed and into a hot shower to make himself presentable, then popped two ibuprofen and chased them with a glass of water and a candy bar. Breakfast of champions.

And the whole time, he was thinking about Gabby. Her smile. The way her eyes gleamed like warm honey when she was excited. The honeysuckle scent of her hair. The way it felt when her arms were around him—like nothing else in the world mattered.

Because she was everything.

He grabbed his keys and raced out the front door. The wind whipped in his hair as he drove the deserted early morning streets of Haven. Maybe he shouldn't show up at her front door at seven o'clock in the morning, but dammit, he couldn't wait another minute to see her.

Except when he got to her cabin, she wasn't there. The lights were off, and her SUV wasn't parked in the driveway. And disappointment turned into flat-out panic that she'd already left town.

But he tamped it down. Chances were she'd gone out for breakfast with Emma, and if she had left town, well, he could look up her parents and track her down that way if he had to.

He turned the Jeep toward Off-the-Grid. Without Gabby, the only way to tame the emotions churning inside him right now was the pool. He pulled into the lot, went inside to change into a pair of trunks, and dove in.

The water hit him like a cold slap to the face. A much-needed cold slap. His legs started kicking, his body falling into familiar rhythms as he swam. His first few laps were fast and furious as he worked out all the extra adrenaline, then he slowed to a steady pace until his body had cooled.

But not even the chill of the pool could cool the fire raging in his heart.

Gabby couldn't explain why she was sitting in front of Dixie's grave at seven o'clock in the morning. She only knew she hadn't been able to sleep, and for whatever reason, in death, Ethan's grandmother seemed to have become her most trusted confidante.

She sat with her elbows hooked around her knees against the chill of the early morning mountain air. A whole summer in Haven, and she still hadn't gotten used to that. In Charlotte, the temperature never cooled once summer hit. Two o'clock in the morning and it could still be eighty-five and muggy.

Her boot had been downgraded to an Ace bandage yesterday, and Gabby had decided that was good enough. “I've got something important to do this morning,” she told the grave in front of her. “I needed to do it a while ago, but I'm really good at putting stuff off. I've spent my whole life putting things off because it was just easier that way.”

A hummingbird darted out from the nearby bushes, and this time Gabby smiled. “So cute. I wish you were here to see it. But I came here this morning to tell you something. You never got to do the last thing on your bucket list, right? You wanted to ride Ethan's zip-line more than anything. And that thing scares me silly. But I'm ready to get over my fear of heights.”

She paused and watched as the hummingbird was joined by a friend, zipping about together in search of fresh nectar. “Actually, I'm ready to get over fear in general, and I think the zip-line is a good place to start. So I'm going to ride it this morning. For you, Dixie, and for me. If you're up there somewhere, watch over me and make sure the rope doesn't snap, okay?”

Gabby blew out a breath and stood, shaking off the dirt that had gathered on the back of her yoga pants. Off-the-Grid didn't open until ten, but she was planning to have been and gone before the guys showed up for work. She was doing this for herself, not for Ethan. But he'd showed her how to work the harness that other day when she'd almost jumped, and she knew the combination to the lock on the gear box.

So she would harness up and zip across to the second platform. She didn't need to ride the other four sections of the zip-line. One would be enough to scare a few years off her life and hopefully fling her right past her fear of heights.

She waved good-bye to Dixie and climbed into her SUV. Off-the-Grid was only a five-minute drive from the cemetery, which was good because any longer and she might lose her nerve. No, that wasn't true. Nothing was going to deter her today. She was doing this.

Ethan's red Jeep was parked in the lot. Gabby felt the air whoosh from her lungs. She hadn't counted on him being here so early, hadn't wanted to see him, not with those cold, angry eyes replacing the vibrant blue ones she'd fallen in love with.

Oh yeah, she loved him.

And she'd stick around Haven until he'd healed from Dixie's death enough to know if he might love her back. But this morning, she just wanted to ride the zip-line and be on her way. With a sigh, she pulled in next to his Jeep and walked up to the house.

It was dark inside, the front door still locked. She walked around back and heard a faint splash from the direction of the pool.
Of course.
He'd come here early to swim, as he so often did. Perfect. He couldn't see the zip-line from the pool so he'd never know she was there, but he might actually hear her scream if the line snapped and she plummeted to her death, so that was good. At least she wouldn't lie out there on the forest floor for hours waiting to be found.

She laughed at herself. She was
not
going to die this morning. She wasn't even going to get hurt. Nope. Not happening.

She limped down the path toward the zip-line, her heart pounding. A cold sweat popped out on her forehead and slicked her palms. Her knees shook like Jell-O as she climbed the steps to the platform.

Don't look down.

Ethan's advice came back to her. She looked straight ahead, all the way to the platform at the other end of the line. It was far, but not so scary as long as she kept her focus on it and not the ground fifty feet below.

She went to the box where they stored their gear, punched in the combination she'd watched him use before, and opened it. Carefully, she fastened a harness behind her thighs and around her waist, snugging it as tight as she could get it. No wiggle room to fall out.

All right then.

She inched her way forward to the middle of the platform and reached up to clip the harness onto the line. And she looked down.
Oh God.
Her head swam as she took in the ground so far below. Had the platform started to sway, or was that just her legs?

Oh.
She slumped to her knees with an embarrassing squeak. Her heart felt like it might burst out of her chest at any moment. Her head spun. A sour taste filled her mouth.

No. Nope. She was not giving up. Not this time.

She sucked in a deep breath and held it as she climbed to her feet. Dammit, she was doing this, and she was doing it now.

The clasp on her harness clamped on to the metal trolley with a solid clink. She squeezed her eyes shut and tensed her legs to kick off.

Here goes nothing…

“Gabby, wait!”

She opened her eyes to see Ethan sprinting down the path wearing nothing but wet blue swim trunks. And at the sight of him, her knees gave out again, dropping her in an ungraceful heap on the platform.

E
than could hardly believe his eyes when he got out of the pool and saw Gabby up on the zip-line platform, ready to jump all by herself. He raced toward her, hardly feeling the sticks and stones on the path beneath his bare feet.

Gabby was here. And holy shit, she was about to jump. And she was
here
.

He took the steps three at the time, bounding onto the platform. Gabby sat there, pale and shaky, staring up at him with wide eyes. He gripped her hands and tugged her to her feet, wanting desperately to crush her in his arms, but he was soaking wet and ice cold, and he owed her an apology first in any case.

“I wanted to do this before you saw me,” she said, nodding toward the zip-line behind her. The zip-line she was attached to—backward.

“And I am so fucking proud of you, but unless you're certified, you should never jump alone.” He held on to her fingers lest she get any ideas.

Her chin went up. “I paid attention when you showed me the gear last time.”

“I see that, and you did a great job. But”—he ran his hand up the line attaching her harness to the trolley overhead, showing her the twist in the nylon—“you attached yourself backwards, and I don't recommend trying it that way. Not on your first run anyway.”

“Um…” She looked up at the cable, and he could practically see the courage leaking out of her.

“You should always have one of us inspect your gear before you jump.” He slid his hands over her harness, checking all the buckles and straps, trying not to feel her up while he was at it. Gabby sucked in a breath regardless. “But once I've inspected you, I assure you this ride is a hell of a lot safer than your drive over here. Nothing's going to happen to you up here. Got it?”

She nodded.

“Now I need you to stay right here on the platform while I go back down and run over to the next platform to catch you, okay?”

She frowned. “I don't need anyone to catch me. That's why I wanted to do this by myself.”

“You're going to jump by yourself, and that's the important part. I'm just here to make sure you don't get hurt on the other end.” He thought of the way she'd gone down on the climbing wall, trying so hard to make it over by herself instead of leaning on her team. “Gabby, some sports are team sports for a reason, right? The idea isn't to play every position on the team, just your own. And right now, your job is to jump off this platform, keeping your hands right here.” He wrapped her fingers around the hand hold at the top of the harness. “Hold on tight, and have the ride of your life, and I'll catch you on the other end.”

She looked into his eyes, her gaze hitting him like a jolt of adrenaline. Her caramel eyes gleamed with emotion, that warm, sweet spirit that made Gabby so special. His heart was pounding like a jackhammer, but the empty, aching void in his chest was gone. Just standing here with her filled him with this weird, warm feeling he had no name for.

Love.
Holy shit. He was in love with Gabby. Of course. Of course he loved her. Gram had been right all along. Hell, the rest of the town had been telling him for weeks how much they all loved her. Why had he been the last one to figure it out? And was there still a chance for them? He'd been an ass, pushed her away when he'd needed her most.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

Her eyes widened. “For what?”

“For everything. I was an idiot. I screwed things up, but I'm not going to ruin this moment for you. You jump, and then we'll talk.” He gripped her fingers. “Wait for me. I'll give you the all clear, and then I want you to count to five and jump, the bigger the better. Wait for me,” he repeated as he let her go.

She stood still as a statue, watching as he raced back down the steps and over the path to the next platform. He stubbed his toe on a rock and held in a swear because it would all be worth it when Gabby came soaring toward him over the line.

He raced up the steps and stood at the edge of the platform looking back at her. Gabby was just a tiny figure at the other end of the line now, too far away to see the expression on her face, but he had every confidence she was going to do this.

“Whenever you're ready,” he called.

On the other platform, Gabby didn't move. Had she heard him?

“All clear!” he shouted.

She took a tiny step forward, and then, if he wasn't mistaken, she started shaking her head.

Hell, no. She'd come too far to back down now. “You got this, Gabby.”

“No, I don't,” she shouted back.

“There's something I really need to tell you when you get here,” he shouted.

Gabby shook her head again. “What?”

“There's something I need to tell you!”

“I can't.” She reached up as if she was going to unclip herself from the line.

“I love you.” The words just slipped out, ricocheting through the trees from his platform to hers, but he didn't want to take them back. He loved her so much that he wondered how he'd ever not realized it, how he'd ever thought he could give her up and go back to living without her.

She froze. “Wh—what?”

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “I love you! Now please get over here so I can finish apologizing for being such an ass these last few weeks and beg for your forgiveness.”

Gabby was silent for several long beats, long enough that he started to worry he'd waited too long to come to his senses. He'd been too big of an idiot. And then she jumped. She twirled out into the air, her feet kicking as she let out a wild cry—half scream, half whoop.

He stood rooted to the spot as she zipped over the woods toward him. As she came closer, he saw that tears streaked her cheeks. And she had a white-knuckled grip on the harness. But she was smiling! She soared onto the platform, but instead of putting her feet down for a landing, she lifted them. Her body slammed into his, nearly knocking him off his feet.

He wrapped his arms around her as her legs went around his waist, anchoring him to her. He reached up and unclipped her from the line before it yanked them off balance. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips.

Gabby pressed her forehead to his. “I love you, too. So much.”

He wound his fingers into her hair and kissed her, slow and fierce. “I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out and for all the many ways I was a total jerk these last few weeks.”

She shook her head, fresh tears streaking her cheeks. “You had every right to be mad. If Dixie hadn't already figured it out, I might have really upset her, and right before she died. I don't know how I would have lived with that.”

“Luckily, she was smarter than the both of us.” He tightened his arms around her. “I feel like I've spent my whole life running away from my past, but I never could get away from it.”

She met his eyes. “I don't think anyone ever does.”

“Probably not. But now that I let it catch up to me, it feels…okay.”

“I'm glad.” She pressed her lips to his. “I don't want to run away from things anymore either. From now on, we only run to each other. Deal?”

“Gabby, I would run to you any damn day. Every damn day for the rest of my life.”