“That may be true, but we aren’t taking the chance. Let’s go.” Gavin cocked the gun. “Now!”
“Alright, just calm down.” Hunter turned towards Ashley, his eyes a pure blue and she saw the truth in them clearly, he knew that these men were going to kill them both. “It’s okay, just don’t fight them. Take my hand, come on, take my hand.”
Ashley reached her shaky hand forward and took his warm hand.
“Good girl, now just stay close to me.” Hunter talked softy to her. “I will get us out of this, you hear me.”
“Let’s go, lovebirds.” Gavin taunted. “We have places to go.”
The men pushed Hunter towards the door, but they did not separate Ashley from him. They stayed hand in hand as they were forced from the bedroom, down the stairs, and out the back door. The rain was still falling hard and the sun had completely gone down. The moon was barely visible through the dark clouds, so all Ashley could see was Hunter’s face and the fear in his eyes totally terrified her. He knew these men, he knew exactly what they were capable of.
“Where are you taking us?” Hunter asked through the downpour of rain.
“I think you know where.” Gavin smiled, it was the same evil grin that Ashley had seen in her kitchen the day she let him in her house. She had felt there was something sinister behind his grin, and she had no idea how right she had been.
“Don’t do this!” Hunter pleaded with him. “She doesn’t deserve this. Take me, but let her go.”
“What kind of sense would that make?” Cory asked. “She saw our faces. She saw Tony’s face that day in the bank. It’s pretty ironic that you were there though. You have to admit that is some twisted fate. He was just there at the wrong place and wrong time.”
“That was crazy seeing you there. Remember when I promised I would get you back for attacking me in the bank for that whore? Well, here I am,” Tony, the man Ashley had maced, said. “Payback is a bitch.”
“Just get them in the car,” Gavin said. “Tied their hands up first.”
Ashley squeezed Hunter’s hand. It was her last chance to tell him she was sorry and show him she still loved him. She hoped that her touch was enough to give him comfort in their last moments. But Hunter suddenly let go of her hand and she feared that it was the last time she would ever feel his touch.
As Tony walked towards Hunter with a satisfied smirk on his face, Hunter hit him in the stomach and then kneed his face.
“Run, Ashley!” he yelled to her.
She turned and ran towards the front of her house but she barely made it twenty feet before she was tackled by Gavin.
“Nice try, but you aren’t going anywhere. Get up.” He yanked her off of the ground by the back of her shirt and pulled her towards the car.
“Get off her!” Hunter screamed as two men held him back. Before he could say another word Tony punched him in the mouth. He could not defend himself since the other two men were holding his arms, allowing Tony to beat him.
“You know what. Let’s just end this here,” Gavin said. “Shoot him.”
“No!” Ashley pushed and pulled at Gavin but she was too weak to even make a difference.
As Tony pulled a gun out and stuck it against his head, Hunter looked directly at Ashley. Blood was coming from his mouth and his eyebrow was cut, but she could still see those beautiful eyes, and they were peering deep into hers. His last moments would be spent not much differently than how they met, and he would still be her hero.
She closed her eyes, because she could not watch him die. Tears fell from her face as she heard the shot go off. Her body collapsed as she let her legs fall out from under her. But instead of hearing the men go to her next, she heard them panic and more gunshots followed.
“Ashley, run!” Hunter’s voice was close. She opened her eyes and saw his beautiful face. “Hurry, we have to get out of here.”
Pulling her to her feet, he rushed her away from the gunfire and behind a nearby shed.
“I thought you were dead,” she cried as she buried her head in his chest.
“So did I.” Hunter kissed the top of her head. “Someone shot Tony before he could shoot me. Now they are shooting at the others.”
“Who is it?” Ashley looked up from his chest.
“I’m not sure, but whoever it is just saved our lives.”
The gunfire stopped and Ashley feared that the men might come looking for them again.
“We need to go, they are going to find us,” she whispered.
“No, I think they are all shot to the ground. I don’t see them moving.” Hunter peeked out from behind the shed to get a better look. “I see cop cars coming.”
“Thank God!” She leaned back onto the old wooden shed and felt relief wash over her.
“Ashley!” she heard someone yell. “You can come out, it’s safe now!”
“Henry!” Ashley ran from behind the shed and into Henry’s arms. “It was you? You saved us?”
“Yes. It looks like I got here just in time.” Henry nodded at Hunter who came walking up behind Ashley. “I got your call from your cellphone and heard everything.”
“I didn’t call you,” Ashley said.
“It was me. I called with your cellphone in my pocket,” Hunter told them. “Thank you, Henry. You saved my life.”
The men nodded at each other. There was a sudden unspoken acknowledgement between them.
“I have to go talk to the other officers and the ambulance should be here any second. I will need reports from both of you. And you might want to get that gash on your eyebrow checked out.” Henry walked away from them and over to the other officers who were now checking on the wounded men and observing the scene.
“I thought you were dead,” Ashley said as she took Hunter’s hand in her own. “I thought we were both dead.”
“We could have been, you almost were, and it is all my fault.” He shook his head. “I am sorry, Ashley.”
“Hunter, look at me.” She pulled his face to hers. “I believe you. I should have believed you before.”
He smiled at her as the rain finally stopped. His wet skin was gorgeous in the moonlight, but there was still a sadness in his face, an unspoken regret. Leaning to her, he kissed her with a passion of a thousand storms, his mouth fierce like thunder and with sparks like lighting. When he pulled away, he simply smiled again, and then walked to the officers to write up his report.
He was gone before she finished hers.
Chapter 12
There were no more mornings waking up with hope as she saw Hunter beside her. Ashley hadn’t seen him since that night in the rain. The robbers had all survived being shot since Henry had done his best to wound the men, not kill them. They were all arrested and charged not only with the robbery in her town, but also the one that Hunter had gone to jail for his part in. They were also being charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, breaking and entering, and assault. It was reassuring to know that they would not be out on the street anytime soon and Ashley felt safer in her home than she had in a while. So why did her house still feel so haunted? It felt like it was filled with the ghost of what should have been and she could never have again. Each time she went into her living room and saw the paint that Hunter had patiently rolled across the surface, she felt his presence. When she stood in her kitchen she could still see him in the reflection of the new window he replaced. But the worst room was the bedroom, because he was everywhere there. She would fall asleep feeling the absence of his arms around her and wake believing he was beside her, only to find out her mind was playing cruel tricks on her once more. He hadn’t been killed that night outside of her house, but it was still as though his spirit had stayed there and was haunting her heart.
This morning was worse than most because she didn’t have to work. At least when she went to work she was too busy to miss him. Now, she got to sleep in with the spirit of the man who got away. She stretched out across the sheets and waited for her body to catch up with her alert mind. Maybe
she should get up and do something? But what was there to do? Henry was her only friend and he was away with Kim on a honeymoon since they had remarried. She was happy for them, and she was glad that he had become a part of her life again. It had been a month since Henry had caught the robbers at Ashley’s house and his relationship with Kim was going great. It seemed as though he had let go of his feelings for Ashley, which allowed him to fully devote himself to his wife, while still being a friend to her. It was great, her life was back on track, but still not where she wished it had gone.
Sitting around and feeling sorry for herself would get her nowhere, her grandmother had always told her that if you don’t take a step forward you will always be in the same place, so with that in mind she jumped out of bed and got dressed. She needed to move on and get out of her slump, the grocery store was hardly a huge step, but it was a small start.
As she drove into town she remembered her grandparents and how in love they were. It was hard for anyone to live up to that love story but she still wanted her own sparks, like the ones she felt when she kissed Hunter. She pushed his image out of her mind. He was gone now. Not only had he left that night without saying goodbye, but he also had come and got his things while she was not home. It was as though he had never even been there, yet her life was torn apart without him. She had to stop thinking about him. Enough. He left.
Turning into the parking lot of the small grocery store, she parked her car and took a deep breath. He was gone and she needed to move on.
She went inside the grocery store and began filling her cart with comfort food and useless calories. Food was always a friend to her when she was not feeling great.
“Ashley,” Suzanne Murray called out her name. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Hello, Mrs. Murray. Sorry I haven’t come over to see you. I have been really busy.” Ashley smiled at her grandmother’s friend.
“I saw you on the news and heard all about that horrible mess with those robbers. You poor thing. I hope you are doing alright. I left you a few voicemails but never heard back from you.” The old woman looked worried. “You have been through a lot.”
“I’m sorry. I had so many voicemails I couldn’t keep track. I should have stopped by or called you, but I am fine. I am doing alright.”
“Good, you know Hunter has been worried about you too,” Suzanne said.
“Hunter? When did you talk to him?” Ashley looked at the older woman expecting her to be confused or misspoken.
“He came over to fix my plumbing the other day. He is such a sweet boy. Even if he made some mistakes in the past.”
“What do you mean? I thought he moved away.” Ashley was beginning to flush with heat as she realized that Hunter was still around somewhere.
“No, Mr. Logan talked him into staying at least another month or two. We all believe in second chances and there are a lot of us around here who need help fixing things so he is staying in Mr. Logan’s extra trailer on his land until he decides to move on.” She smiled at Ashley.
“I have to go.” Ashley walked away from the woman and the cart and went outside.
He was here. He hadn’t completely left town. Should she go to him? Tell him how she still felt? No, she would not do that. He had chosen to leave her. She would not beg him to come back. But as she walked to her car she couldn’t fight the urge to see him one more time. Maybe she would just go to get her real goodbye, she deserved that, right? After all, you can’t move forward without taking a step, so she went to Mr. Logan’s in search of the man who had been haunting her home for the past month.
Mr. Logan didn’t live far from the store. He was on the opposite side of town than her, and she supposed that was one of the reasons that she hadn’t seen Hunter all this time. As she saw Mr. Logan’s house up ahead her heart sank. Hunter was right there in the front yard mowing the grass. He was shirtless, soaked in sweat, and even more gorgeous that she had remembered. She pulled her car in the driveway and watched him as he stopped the riding mower and came her way.
The air was hot, but it wasn’t the weather that was igniting a flame inside of her, it was the man walking towards her when she got out of the car. He was magnificent, in every single way, with honest blue eyes and strong heroic muscles. She knew that she would miss him for the rest of her life.
“Why did you leave?” she said when he got close to her. “How could you just leave without saying goodbye?”
“I knew it would be too hard.” He leaned against her car as he spoke. “Ashley, I am no good for you. Don’t you realize that?”
“Isn’t that for me to decide?” She shook her head. “What happened was horrible, but it’s over and done. It is the past. Aren’t you the one that told me the past doesn’t define the future?”
“I wanted to stay. Leaving you was torture. It was harder than anything I have ever done before, but you deserve better than what I can give you.” His voice was deep and radiating through her. “Can’t you see that I did it for you, so you can have a better life?”
“That is a cowardly thing to do. You should have stayed. You should have fought to be the man you want me to have.”
A car drove by and distracted their conversation. Ashley sighed and opened her car door.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t know what I was expecting.” She turned away from him.
“Ashley, wait.” He walked close up behind her and she could feel his breath warm on her neck. “Don’t go like this.”
“Just tell me goodbye,” she said with her back to him. He didn’t speak so she demanded again. “Tell me goodbye.”
“I can’t,” he whispered. She felt his arms around her waist as he embraced her in his arms. “I say it because I am afraid I will never see you again and that is not what I want.”
Ashley turned around to face his blue eyes. He looked into hers and she could see the truth in them.
“Do you love me?” she asked.
He ran his fingers through her hair and touched her lips softly.
“I will always love you.” He leaned in and kissed her. It was stronger than any kiss they had ever had. There were a million words unspoken but heard in that kiss.
“Will you come home?” she said when they parted.
“Only on one condition,” he told her. “If you accept my apology.”
“Accepted.” She kissed his lips once more and as she looked up at the man who had saved her life, she knew that he would always be her hero. He was the one for her, and their past was only the beginning to their story.
About Emily Walters
Emily Walters lives in California with her handsome husband, three daughters, and two dogs. She began writing after high school, but it took her ten long years of writing for newspapers and magazines until she realized that fiction is her true passion. Emily likes to create a mental movie in her reader's mind about charismatic characters, their passionate relationships and interesting adventures. When she isn't writing romantic stories, she can be found reading a fiction book, jogging, or traveling with her family. She loves Starbucks, Matt Damon and Argentinian tango.
The Stolen Heart (Contemporary Romance) Page 8