“No, you don’t.”
“Do, too.” She stood and strode out of the room.
Although small, there was a bit of fire there. Because she had her back to him and wouldn’t see, he smiled. He lost his smile when she froze as soon as she stepped outside.
“I can’t do this,” she said as her eyes darted around.
He put his arm around her shoulders. “There isn’t anyone out here. You’re safe, Kens.” Keeping her tucked next to him, he walked her to his truck.
The drive back to Myrtle Beach was quiet, with Kendall staring out the window lost in her thoughts.
They reached Myrtle Beach at dinnertime, and Cooper went through a fast-food drive-through, getting a bucket of chicken and some sides. Once inside his apartment, she went straight to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He put her suitcase in the room she shared with Livie, then went to the kitchen and set out plates and silverware.
“Come eat,” he said when she appeared.
“Not hungry.”
“I am, and you can at least keep me company.” When she turned—likely to shut herself up in the guest bedroom—he caught her arm. “Please. Just sit with me.”
She sighed but went to the table.
He didn’t know what was going on in her mind because she refused to talk about it. The man who’d taken her as a child had come back like the worst bogeyman ever. He did know what it was like to be terrified and fearing for your life. She was crumbling the biscuit he’d put on her plate. She wouldn’t talk, so he did.
“When I was kidnapped, I thought I was going to die. Grayson and Liam came from money, and when their ransom was paid,they’d get to go home. Me?” He laughed, but it wasn’t a funny laugh. “The joke was on the kidnappers. Money was something other people had. Even if they’d asked my father for only a hundred dollars and he had that much money in his pocket, he would have laughed in their face. Then he would have gone down to the corner bar and stayed there until the money was gone and he got kicked out.”
“Were you scared?”
“Terrified out of my mind.” Her attention was on him now and not whatever dark thoughts she’d been having, so he continued. “There were two men, and they kept us in a room for two weeks, only giving us enough food to keep us alive.” He’d told her a bit about that time, but not any details. He wasn’t even sure she remembered the little he had shared.
“How did you get away?”
“That’s where Liam and I got lucky to have been kidnapped with Grayson. His father had been a Navy SEAL, and he called in a favor. Sent a couple of former SEALs to rescue us.”
“You rescued me.”
“I’d give anything if I’d found you sooner, Kendall, before he hurt you.” He took the half-destroyed biscuit away from her and dropped it on the plate. “Come here.” Not giving her a chance to refuse, he pulled her to him so that she was sitting on his leg. He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned against him. “I know about dark places in the mind because I spent a lot of time there, even after I was safe. Tell me about yours.” When she stayed silent, he rested his chin on her head. “Talk to me,” he softly said.
A long moment passed, then, “I thought I died. I wanted to die.”
He flinched at hearing she’d wanted to die. There was more, so he just held her and waited.
“I wanted to disappear, to fade into nothingness and escape the nightmare I was in. If I was dead, the monster couldn’t hurt me anymore.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she lifted her face to his. “I was being selfish, not caring if Livie lost her mother. I’m so ashamed.”
“You listen to me, Kendall. You aren’t selfish. You were a victim trying to survive a nightmare no one should ever have to endure. You’re a survivor, and that takes strength beyond measure.” A tremble traveled through her, and he tightened his hold on her. “I thank God that you did survive.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks, and he held her as she cried. Her tears seeped into his shirt, her body racked with sobs. He hadn’t seen her cry since she was rescued, and she needed this. He didn’t know how long he held her while she fell apart, but when her cries subsided, he put his finger under her chin and lifted her face so he could look into her eyes.
“You’re not alone in this. You have your father, Livie, me, my brothers and their ladies to lean on. To listen to you when you need to talk. I’ll hold you when that’s all you need.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I think that’s enough talk for tonight, though. How about I run you a bath, bring you a cup of tea and then I’ll hold you through the night so you know you’re safe. In the morning, we’ll go get Livie. All that sound good?”
She swiped her hands over her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “Yes, it sounds nice.”
“Good.” Careful not to hurt her shoulder wound, he lifted her to her feet, then took her hand and led her to the bathroom. He believed she’d had a breakthrough tonight, but there would be other dark days. What happened to her wasn’t going to just disappear like a miracle, so he’d convince her to talk to the psychologist that Dr. Croft had recommended.
The next morning, Kendall chose not to go with him to get Livie, saying she wasn’t ready to talk to anyone. That was fine. He wasn’t going to push her into doing anything she wasn’t ready for. He thought—hoped—that Livie would be good medicine for her mother.
He arrived at Grayson’s to find his daughter, his dog, Tyler and Einstein the cat inside a blanket fort in the living room. He wanted to talk to Grayson and Harlow for a minute before Livie knew he was here, so he motioned them to follow him to the kitchen.
“How’s Kendall?” Harlow asked, keeping her voice low so the kids in the living room couldn’t hear.