True Love Hunting

Chapter 23

I stood out on the log deck that overlooked Forêt Mystique, a place I had wanted to call my home. My heart felt sick as I clung to the phone at the center of my chest. I would never be able to escape my past. Why had I even tried? I should never have come here; I had put them all in danger. Aurora, the Barretts, and Spencer. Spencer. What was I going to tell him? How was I going to be able to say goodbye to him? The breeze whipped my hair around me and pulled at the thin fabric of the oversized shirt of Spencer's that I had slipped on to make the phone call. Tears pricked my eyes.

I heard him come out on the deck behind me. What was I going to tell him? I had no idea. I swallowed as I felt him come up next to me and lean on the railing. I loved him. How was I ever going to be able to leave him to protect him?

The tears gathering in my eyes finally welled to spill over my lids and down my face. A warm blanket was wrapped around my shoulders, and Spencer turned me to face him. I bit my lip as our eyes met. I saw such pain in his yellow eyes that I knew he had heard.

"I guess you heard," was all I managed to say. He framed my face with his hands as he looked into my eyes.

"I won't accept it, Lenny. I won't let you leave."

"I have to. I should have known better than to settle anywhere and put roots down. I should never have come here. I'm so sorry. The longer I stay, the more danger I put you in. I will speak with Cassius, but then I will leave." I reached up and gently ran my fingers down the side of his face and jaw, trying to memorize it. "I don't know how I will live without you in my life," I whispered.

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Spencer was dying inside. He had finally found the woman he wanted to share everything with, and now she was going to run away? She had shared her life's story and told him that she couldn't love another because she loved him, and now she wanted to just pick up and flee? He wouldn't stand for it. What had she seen precisely?

"What did you see, Lenny?" She took a steadying breath and told him all that she had seen.

"It's why I have to leave. I can't put you in danger. I love you too much."

"Lenny, I'm not going to just let you leave. I'll go with you if I have to." I shook my head at him.

"You can't leave. You have a home and a job."

"So do you; need I remind you."

"I'm putting you in danger. If I leave, then you will be safe," I said.

"I'd follow you, and you know it. I'd still be at the same risk. You're safer here with all of us around you, Lenny. You can't run forever and still have that life you wanted to leave them to find. If you run, he wins," he said. I sighed. He was right. He continued, "There was no indicator of when he would come, and if you leave, it only opens up the possibility that it happens when you truly are alone."

"So I'm to just live with an ax over my head?" I asked him.

"If you run, you live embracing that. No. Live life, be smart about things, listen to your gift and embrace having some of us in your life that want to protect you. I think the Barrett brothers will share my opinion on that in particular." He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close, and laid his head on mine. "Come on, let's go back to bed. You need to sleep on it anyway."

He led me back into the house and back into his bedroom. I laid the blanket over the end of the bed and crawled back in beside him. He pulled me against him, wrapping an arm around me. I couldn't shake the horrible feeling the vision had left me with, but being held by Spencer made me feel better.

The following morning Spencer was missing when I woke up. I rubbed my eyes and slipped from the warm bed. I padded down the hallway barefoot, looking for him, when a delicious smell hit my nose, making my mouth water. I came around the corner to find him cooking us breakfast.