Chapter 21 - The Shadow in the Sun
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My feet barely touched the hardwood floor as I tore down the front hallway and threw open the front door. The bright afternoon sunlight hit my face, but my eyes were fixed entirely on the man standing beside the dark blue sedan at the end of the long driveway.
He hadn't changed. The broad shoulders, the slight tilt of his head, the deep, searching eyes that had haunted every single one of my dreams for six agonizing months.
"Ethan?" my voice cracked, lost in the quiet breeze.
He took a step forward, his eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Clara," he whispered, his voice as rich and grounded as I remembered.
I didn't think. I sprinted across the gravel. In a second, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, lifting me slightly off my feet as I buried my face into the crook of his neck. The familiar scent of cedar and rainfall filled my senses, shattering the cold reality of grief I had worn like lead armor. He was warm. He was real. He was breathing.
"You're alive," I sobbed into his sweater, clinging to him as if he might vanish if I let go. "They told me you burned in that car. They gave me a casket full of ashes!"
"I know, sweetheart. I know," Ethan murmured against my hair, holding me so tightly I could feel the rapid thump of his heart. "I had to let them believe it. If Victor Vance or your father thought I survived that plunge into the Boise river, they would have finished the job—and they would have come for you and the kids next."
Footsteps crunched heavily on the gravel behind us. I pulled back slightly to see Logan standing near the porch step, his hand instinctively resting inside his jacket where his sidearm was holstered. Noah was still perched on his hip, looking wide-eyed at the stranger, while little Lily tugged on Logan's pant leg.
"Ethan?" Logan asked cautiously, his voice hard with protective instinct. "Is that really you?"
May you like
Ethan gently set me down and looked at Logan with a solemn nod.
"It's me, Logan," Ethan said softly. "And I'm sorry for putting you through hell. But the storm isn't over yet. We have hours before Vance realizes I'm back in Seattle."
