Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) (30 page)

Eric, once again seeming to read Lily’s mind, said, “Don’t. Don’t feel bad. He fired that gun at you.” He

breathed in through his nose as his jaw tensed. “It could have been you.”

“I’m so sorry.” Lily hated seeing Eric upset. Especially when it was her fault. She shouldn’t have come

here and brought her past to Hope Falls.

“
You
don’t have anything to apologize for, Lily.” He leaned over, his thumb tracing her jawline. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have been there. I should have protected you.”

She leaned her face into his large, warm hand. “You were. You did.”

He shook his head, his face still filled with guilt and tension.

“Well, you at least helped Shadow save me,” she grinned, hoping that it would lighten his mood.

His lips turned up, and she hoped he wouldn’t feel responsible for any of this. But from what she’d

seen, Eric
always
felt responsible for the people he loved. Not that he loved her. She didn’t know why she’d thought that.

“I'd better let Agent Stone come in. I had to call in a few favors just so I could be the one waiting with

you. Alone.”

“Favors?”

“You’d be amazed at who Judge Pattinson knows.”

Eric stood to leave but Lily stopped him. Something was still bothering her. “How did Rizzo find me?”

“Oh.” Eric shook his head in irritation before he reached beside his chair and pulled out several

magazines, all of which had her picture right on the front page.

“Oh my gosh!” Lily exclaimed.

“Yep, looks like you’re famous,” Eric said dryly.

The pictures were all from the day she and Karina had left rehearsal and been bombarded by paparazzi.

They were walking arm and arm, and the headlines read, “The Woman Coming Between Karina and Ryan,”

“Mystery Woman Karina Black Spends Her Days With,” “Can Karina And Ryan Survive Gay Affair?” and

“Karina Black Cozying Up To A Latin Beauty In Hometown.”

Lily had been part of a scandal before, but never like this.

Eric looked at the magazines. “Rizzo saw the picture and recognized you.”

The door opened and Agent Stone walked in, his eyes steel cold as always. “Glad to see you’re up and

about.” Then, icy even for him, he turned to Eric. “I need to speak to Karla alone.”

Eric looked like he really wanted to say something back to him. Something along the lines of he wasn’t

leaving until he was damn good and ready. But maybe not quite that polite. Lily smiled.

“I was just heading out.” Eric’s tone sent a little shiver down her spine. She watched as Eric stared

down Agent Stone until the Marshal nodded and looked back at Lily.

Wow. Eric had just had a pissing contest with a badass US Marshal and won. That was hot. Everything

he did was hot.

Leaning down, Eric kissed her on her forehead. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

As much as she appreciated it, she didn’t want him to feel obligated. “I’ll be fine. You can—”

“I’ll be right outside.” His tone left no room for argument. She just nodded as he walked to the hospital

room door.

Watching him go, she realized that, even though she was lying in a hospital bed after having been

attacked, even though her identity was now known by everyone in the world, and even though she had

absolutely no idea what her future looked like, she’d never felt more safe and protected in her life.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Eric’s boots squeaked as he walked down the sterile halls of the hospital. Brushing his hands through

his still wet hair, he walked quickly. Last night, after Agent Stone and Doctor Tillman had seen Lily, she’d fallen fast asleep.

Eric had stayed with her again, just as he had the night before. She hadn’t woken or really even stirred

the entire night. The nurses woke her up this morning as they were taking her for an MRI and several other

tests that they needed to run. They told Eric she wouldn’t be back in her room for at least an hour. So he’d gone home to quickly shower and change.

Opening the door quietly, not wanting to disturb Lily in case she was sleeping, he stepped carefully into

the room, finding a very awake Lily. She was sitting up in bed, eating red Jell-O, and looking like she’d

gotten some of her color back.

She smiled, and his heart broke wide open. He’d known for a while now that he loved Lily, but at this

moment, he knew that she was it. He’d never love another woman again. There was just Lily.

“Good morning,” she said, looking bright-eyed and gorgeous.

“How are you feeling?” he asked in hopes that it wasn’t just him imagining that she was doing better. He

needed to know that she
was
doing better.

“Good. Really good.” Her smile was genuine, and for the first time ever, he felt like he was seeing her

completely relaxed. “The doctors said that they will probably keep me one more night to be on the safe side, but if my MRI comes back clean, I can head home tomorrow. And they’ve only restricted my activity level

for one week so I will still be able to go on the tour.”

“I love you,” he blurted out. He didn’t know why he’d said it like that. He’d planned on getting her

home and telling her over a nice dinner. But he just couldn’t go one more minute without her knowing that

he loved her.

Shocked. That was what she looked like—like she was completely shocked. He didn’t need to be a

body language expert to figure that one out.

Moving beside the bed, he sat in the chair and pulled her hand up to his mouth, pressing his lips to the

soft skin on the back of her hand before placing it against his cheek, the same one he’d felt her breath

against as he’d held her unconscious body while he waited for the ambulance.

Her face softened from shock into a slow smile, and he saw tears filling her eyes. “Eric, I—”

The door flung open. “Knock knock! You have some deliveries.” Sally, one of the nurses that had

taken her for her tests, held open the door while several delivery people with their arms filled came in with flowers, balloons, gift baskets, and even a few stuffed animals.

He looked back at Lily, who was staring wide-eyed. “Those are for me?” she asked in disbelief.

Sally smiled brightly. “Sure are.”

Lily’s brow furrowed and she shook her head. “From who?”

“Well, I only peeked at a couple of the cards, but I think I can safely say pretty much the whole town.

Once word got out about your situation, everyone wanted you to know that they were thinking about you.”

After unloading all of the goods, the delivery people left the room, with Sally following them out, talking about a softball game she would be playing in later that week.

When he looked back at Lily, she was staring at all of her gifts, but she didn't look delighted anymore.

In fact, she looked downright pale. “The whole town knows about my situation?” She sounded almost sick

to her stomach.

“That’s my fault,” Eric sighed. “When I went to go find you, I asked my receptionist to call the US

Marshal’s office and forwarded her your file so she would have any information they might need. Well, she

found your case fascinating and proceeded to talk to everyone in town about it.”

Lily’s head dropped back on the pillow and she closed her eyes.

“She’s been fired.”

Immediately, she sat back up. “No, Eric, don’t fire her over that. I’m just embarrassed. And it's...you

know... It's going to be hard to get used to it being safe for people to know who I am. I've spent so long

with the idea ingrained in me that telling the truth equaled danger, you know? But that's not her fault. It's fine.”

“She
is
fired. It’s not fine. And
you
don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Or scared. Ever again.”

As she bit the inside of her lip, Eric could tell that she really wanted to say something. He waited. He

would wait forever to hear whatever she wanted to say.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “I didn’t have the best childhood.”

“I know.” Eric looked deep in her almond-colored eyes, wanting her to see herself the way he saw her.

“And you not only survived it, you thrived, Lily. You didn’t let that break you. You kept going. Other

people who haven’t been through half of what you have would have given up. Crawled into a hole to hide.

But not you. Without anyone. You did it by yourself. You are the strongest, bravest person I know.”

She shook her head, looking down at her hands lying on her lap, dismissing what he’d said.

He lifted his hand, cradling her jaw. Her eyes rose up to meet his and he continued., “You are brave.

And you are strong. But now you’re not alone. You never have to be alone again. I love you and—”

“Knock knock,” Sally said as she once again came through the door. “You have some very special

visitors here to see you.”

Seriously
?!

“Hi, sweetie,” Eric’s mom whispered as she tiptoed into the room.

“She’s not asleep, Mom,” Eric said.

“I know.” Irritation rang in her voice as it returned to normal volume. “I was just trying to be

considerate.”

“Hi, Mrs. Maguire,” Lily sweetly greeted his mom.

Moving over to the side of the bed, his mom reached out and grabbed Lily’s hand, patting it as she

asked with great concern, “How are you feeling, sweetie? Do you need anything?”

“I’m actually feeling much better. Thank you.” Lily looked genuinely touched by his mom’s concern.

“Good. You had us all so worried. This one most of all.” His mom gestured across the bed to where

Eric was seated. “He wouldn’t leave your side. They couldn’t get you out of his arms so he rode in the back of the ambulance, holding you the entire way to the hospital.”

Lily turned her head to him. “You did?”

He nodded.

At his admission, tears once again filled her eyes.

“Oh now, shh shh shh. Don’t cry, sweetie,” his mom shushed her.

“Are you ‘bout ready in there then?” His dad’s loud voice rang out from the hall.

Lily looked up at his mom with question in her face. “Ready for what?”

“Well, someone very special wanted to come see you.” His mom’s rounded cheeks turned up in a smile.

“We’re ready!”

The door opened, and Shadow came bounding in, not missing a stride as he jumped up in Lily’s bed.

“My handsome boy!” she exclaimed happily as he licked her face. “Thank you for saving me.” She

threw her arms around his neck and Shadow pressed his body to hers.

“It was the darndest thing. We told him to be a good boy and not bother Laverne and Shirley while we

visited Lily in the hospital and he barked and ran to the door,” his mom animatedly explained. “So I asked

him if he wanted to go and he barked again. Well then, you know your father he was saying that they

wouldn’t allow him in here and it was unsanitary so I just called Clarabelle at reception and the whole thing was approved in less than five minutes. He can stay with Lily as long as she wants him to.”

“Thank you,” Lily said, still hugging Shadow tightly. “Thank you so much.”

The door opened again and Karina came in, holding a huge bouquet of flowers. She smiled widely

when she saw Shadow on the bed.

“Hi Lil… I mean Karla,” Karina stammered. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thanks. And you can still call me Lily. My middle name is Liliana, and one of the only memories

I have of my mom is her calling me her Lily Bud. It’s the reason I chose it when I was able to pick my own

alias.”

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Karina said as she set the flowers down. “Well, I just wanted to stop by and make

sure you were okay.” Then, motioning down at Shadow, she said, “Which I see you are.”

Everyone smiled down at Shadow, who lay down beside Lily, his head resting on her lap.

“Call me if you need
anything
,” Karina instructed as she stepped up and gave Lily a hug. “And all the girls wanted me to say hi and make sure you knew that they are just a phone call away.”

Lily nodded as she hugged Karina back.

“You take good care of her.” Karina patted Shadow’s head as she straightened then turned to leave.

Shadow barked in response and everyone chuckled.

As she was walking out, Karina said, with a studied, casual tone that made it clear she was only trying to

make it
seem
as if this was some throwaway afterthought, “Oh, and we all have, like, a million questions for you. So as soon as you’re up to it, we are calling a book club meeting.”

Lily let out a little laugh. “Okay. Tell the girls I said hi.”

As the door shut behind Karina, Eric's parents said their goodbyes as well, leaving Shadow, Eric, and

Lily by themselves.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, noticing that she was a little pale—not that he would point that out.

He had learned his lesson.

“I’m a little tired,” she admitted, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe all that had happened. He

knew the feeling.

“Why don’t you try and get some sleep?” Eric suggested, not wanting her to wear her out.

“No,” she said firmly, even though her eyes were already drifting closed.

“No?” he asked.

“Not before I tell you…I love you.” She blinked slowly. “I love you so much.” She was able to get it

out just as she lost the battle and her heavy-lidded eyes shut.

Eric glanced down at Shadow, who was more than content resting in Lily’s lap. He said quietly, “Well,

boy, we got her to ‘not date’ us. Now all we have to do is get her to ‘not marry’ us.”

Shadow barked.

Eric’s eyes shot to Lily to make sure Shadow hadn’t disturbed her. She still slept, and Eric noticed she

had a small smile on her face. Leaning over, he kissed her forehead. His heart expanded in his chest, filling with more love than he ever thought was humanly possible.