Safe with You (31 page)

I turn my head and smile back at him. “Well, let’s go.”

We walk to the barn hand in hand. J opens the door to the barn, letting me walk in first.

He tells me about each horse and their names. Lady is a beautiful horse. They all are really, but Lady attracts me more.

Reaching up, I pet her gently. She must like it because she leans her head into my hand.

“You want to ride Lady?” J asks, watching our exchange.

“I’ve never been on a horse before.” The thought of riding one is a little scary.

“That’s not what I asked.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I reply “Yes, I want to ride her.”

J chuckles. “That’s all you had to say.”

J saddles up Lady and I stand back, watching him. Really, it’s more like ogling him. It’s really hard not to stare at J with how handsome he is.

“You ready?” J asks glancing over his shoulder at me with a knowing smile.

He caught me staring at him.

J starts instructing me on how to mount a horse. “Really, all you have to do is place your foot in the loop then hoist yourself up and swing your leg over. Piece of cake.”

Piece of cake…right.

It takes me a couple tries, but I am finally seated on Lady’s back. Holy crap…I’m on a horse.

“Ready?” J asks, as he grabs the reins.

“Yeah. Just go slow,” I tell him, sounding a little scared.

“I got this, Cass.”

I freak out a little when Lady starts moving, but the longer I ride her, the calmer I get.

J walks the horse around the field for several minutes before he stops then surprises me by climbing up and sitting behind me. “Want to go a little faster, Cass?”

“Not too fast,” I remind him. I still fear I’m going to fall off the horse and break a bone.

J kicks the horse into gear and she starts trotting. J has one arm around me while the other hangs on to the reins. My hands grip his thighs, trying to keep myself from falling.

“You okay, Cass?”

“Yep,” I squeak, causing J to chuckle.

We ride around for a while until the sun starts to set. We head back to the barn with the orange glow of the sun behind us.

I lean back against J, resting my head against his cheek.

“So, how was your first horseback ride?” J asks as he steers Lady into the barn.

“A little scary, but fun.”

He kisses my cheek. “You can ride her anytime you want since Mom doesn’t ride her as much as she used to.”

“Okay.”

J hops off of Lady. “Now, it’s time for s’mores.”

I swing my leg over, just like I did when I hoisted myself up. J has his arms out, ready to catch me if I fall.

“Let me put her up real quick then we can head back to the patio.”

When we arrive back to the patio, a small fire is already ablaze in the fire pit. J’s parents and Bo are already seated around it, talking amiably.

J and I take a seat in the two remaining chairs around the fire pit. J hands me a utensil to place my marshmallow on so I can roast it. When it’s heated like I want it, I pull it out of the fire and blow out the flames. J hands me two graham crackers and a couple pieces of the Hershey’s chocolate. I put it all together then take a bite. I haven’t eaten a s’more since I was a kid. Yet, another thing I haven’t done in a long time. Shaking my head of the depressing thoughts, I fall into conversation with Jane.

Today has been amazing. I had so much fun that I literally pouted when it was time to go. I hug everyone goodbye, hating that I have to leave this wonderful family.

Maybe things will work out in my favor. I can only hope.

Chapter Thirty- Eight

Cassie

It is dark by the time J drive’s me home. My body is exhausted after the fun adventures I went on today. I am nestled against J with my head lying on his shoulder. My eyes are heavy so I close them for a moment. I know we’d be home any second so it wouldn’t make sense for me to fall asleep. As soon as I hear the tires crunching the familiar gravel, I sit up and freeze. All the air leaves my lungs when I notice who is standing on my front porch. Zack is leaning against the post watching us.
What is he doing here?

J tenses next to me. “What is he doing here, Cassie?”

“I-I don’t know.” All I know is it can’t be good. I notice my parents’ car is gone.
Where did they run off to?
Something about this just seems all wrong.

“I’m going to walk you to the door.”

“No, it’s fine. Let me see what he wants so he can leave.” I give J a quick kiss and jump out. My stomach is twisting in knots as I walk up to him.

“What are you doing here, Zack?”
Haven’t you caused enough problems already?

He stuffs his shaky hands in his pockets. Is he scared? Nervous? His dark, hollow eyes regard me passively.

He shrugs. “I’m here for you. I came to get you.”

“Come to get me for what?”

“I’m taking you back home, Cassie.”

My heart slams in my chest. “I’m not going back with you.” I start to back away, but he grabs my arm, stopping me.

“Cassie, I miss you so much. I want you back in my life.”

The hairs on my neck stand. My eyes glance at his hand clamped around my arm before focusing back on his dark, hollow eyes. Zack’s appearance has gone downhill bad.

“Go pack your stuff so we can go,” he demands.

“I’m
not
going with you! Brilliant is my home now.”
Why does he not understand this?

I try jerking my arm free, but he just digs his fingers deeper into my arm.

“I suggest you get your hands off my girl before I break your arm.” I sag in relief when I hear J’s voice. He walks up and stands in front of me protectively.

When Zack doesn’t let go, J pries his hand off my arm.

J looks to me. “Cass, go get in the truck.”

I sprint back to the truck and jump in. I watch as all they argue back and forth for a few minutes until finally, Zack marches towards his car, gets in, and then tears out of my driveway like a madman.

When J gets back in, I wrap my arms around him, clinging to him. Tears well in my eyes, but I force them down.

J sighs and kisses my hair. “You’re alright, Cass. I won’t let him hurt you, I promise.”

Unable to form words, I nod.

When we arrive back at J’s, he keeps a protective arm around me as he guides me in the house.

Jane sees me and starts to speak, but J cuts her off. “Not now, mom.”

A look of concern flashes over her face as she closes her mouth. J leads me to his room and shuts the door behind us. He pulls the covers back for me to climb in. I do, but he doesn’t get in beside me like I want. He covers me up then crouches down so he is eye level with me. He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear before speaking. “I need to know what all he said to you, Cass.”

I relay every word of my surprise conversation with Zack. J blanches when I mention the part where Zack had come to take me home.

“Zack’s not the same person he was two and a half years ago. Granted it has been two years and people change, but he’s never acted like this. Not once did I see him lose his temper like that. I’m scared, J.”

J grabs my hand and lifts it to his mouth, planting a kiss on my palm.

“Don’t worry about Zack. Bo and I will make sure he leaves you alone. I’m going to talk with Bo for a few minutes. I won’t be long.” He kisses me sweetly before walking out, closing the door behind him.

J

My blood is boiling at an exaggerating temperature. After talking with Cassie, I’ve come to the conclusion that something is not right about this situation and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.

I walk into dad’s office and take the seat next to Bo. Dad is sitting behind his desk looking at something in a vanilla file. He looks up when I sit down. “What did you find out?”

I relayed the conversation to dad exactly how Cassie had told me. He leans back in his chair looking lost in thought. “Hmm…that’s strange.” He shakes his head. “I’m going to do some diggin’ around on him to see what I can find. Give me a description of this guy and his car so I can identify him.”

“Well, he’s about our height, skinny, dark hair, dark circles under his eyes, and he wore a red polo shirt and blue jeans. Oh and he drove a black Ford Taurus.”

Dad shuffles through the papers he had in the file before sliding a photo towards me. “Is that him?”

I studied the photograph for a second. “Yeah, that’s him,” I say bitterly tossing the picture down on the desk. There is no denying that the guy in the photo is Zack.

“The new kid I told y’all about, right?”

“Yeah,” I confirm.

“I’ve been keeping my eye on him over the last week. I got a tip from the Birmingham Police Department that he has been involved in some drug deals up there and they have yet to catch him. At first, all I had was a description of him until earlier when they faxed me a photo of him with a name. He is also the prime suspect in Ellen’s death.”

I knew from the beginning Zack was involved in some questionable stuff, I just wasn’t sure what or how bad it was. “I thought Ellen overdosed?”

“She did, but he was her supplier and it’s been said that he was with her in the woods just before she died. J, you need to talk to Cassie. Get her to tell you everything she knows about him. Also, did Cassie happen to mention why she moved here?”

It would explain why Zack wanted Cassie to leave suddenly.

Where is he going with this?

“No, she never really talks about her past.”

Bo clears his throat. “I know why Cassie and her parents are here.”

I cut my eyes to my brother. “How do you know and what do you know?”

“Remember the night Cassie’s parents were having a party and she ran all the way here and I took her home? Well, I snuck her back to her room and something felt off so I climbed through her window after her. You could smell the weed the moment your head was in the room, it was that strong. Anyway, we argued about it for a moment until we heard someone coming down the hall. Cassie shoved me in her closet and told me not to come out no matter what I hear. Her dad knew she left and he knew right away she ran to us.

“He spouted off stuff like, “Do you want them to find us?”, “If they find us we’re all dead,” or something like that. When he left she told me that her parents owe money to some people they bought drugs from and they split. She said they have moved eight times in the last two years.”

I clench my fists. “Did you not think this is something her boyfriend should know?!” I feel so betrayed right now.

“I wanted to bro, but I promised her I wouldn’t. She took a big risk telling me! We’re lucky she has stayed here as long as she has!”

“I still should have known!” I roar at Bo.

“J, calm down. Being mad at your brother is not helping Cassie,” Dad reasons.

“He’s only doing what I asked him to, J,” Cassie says from the doorway. “I didn’t have a choice. I was taking a huge risk by telling Bo. If my parents had even the slightest idea I said something to him or anyone else we would have packed up so fast I wouldn’t have had time to blink.”

“Cassie,” I breathe as she steps toward me.

“It’s not that I didn’t trust you, J, it’s just I’m taking the chance of putting you and your family in danger. The less you know the better.”

I grab her hand and tug her to me. She falls in my lap and I kiss her temple. “I wish you weren’t in the middle of all of this.”

“Me too, J.”

“Cassie, I need you to tell me everything you know about Zack,” Dad says.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know much about the person he is now. Zack and I went to the same school back in Indy and we even dated for six months before my parents packed us up and left. I’ve had no contact with him for two years until he started school here. I hadn’t seen him or heard from him.”

Dad leans back in his chair and sighs. “What was he like then?”

“He was a perfectionist. Everything had to be a certain way, from his hair, to what he wore. He was like the golden boy, always hung out with the popular students.” I used to be like that too, until my parents’ downhill spiral.

“No offense, Cassie, but I can’t see you with a guy like that. How could you stand to be with him?” Bo asks.

“None taken, though I used to be that person. I used to hang with the popular crowd. I was this vibrant, outgoing girl back then. My parents’ addictions ruined that life, that part of me. Zack and I used to be the ‘it’ couple of the school.”