Ellie gave up her struggles as they reached the bedroom, her body already craving his touch.
True to his word, Zane got up early and packed her orders, loading them into the back cargo area of his vehicle so he could drop them off before he went to work.
Ellie wasn’t surprised. She’d learned that Zane never uttered anything lightly. For a guy who proclaimed that he wasn’t romantic, he was pretty damn thoughtful. For Ellie, the fact that he thought about her needs was pretty heady, and really, Zane’s actions were just about the most romantic thing she could ever imagine.
Spring had come to the Colorado mountains, which really meant that a person never knew whether they were going to need a heavy jacket or shorts.
On this particular day in Rocky Springs, Gabe Walker was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, his veterinarian wife dressed similarly as she sat on the ground beside him as they watched the water in a small creek that ran through his property trickle along the rocks and continue to move downstream.
“It’s so good to be back,” Chloe said wistfully. “Traveling was amazing, but I missed my family and our home.”
Gabe was pretty sure she missed the horses a lot, too, but he didn’t mention it. He had too much on his mind, and he was terrified of putting a wall between him and the woman he loved more than anything or anyone else in the world.
Chloe had healed from most of the emotional pain James had put her through, but her wounds had been deep, and the last thing Gabe wanted was to tear any of them open again.
Maybe I should have told her.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t considered it, but for several reasons, he hadn’t. He’d broken the news that James had committed suicide a while ago, knowing she was strong enough to handle it. But he hadn’t shared the one other thing that he knew meant everything to Chloe: that her best friend was alive and recovering.
“Chloe, I have something to tell you, and I hope you’ll hear me out,” he started haltingly.
She turned her head and looked at him, her expression concerned. “Is everything okay with you?”
“It’s fine. Really fine. But I have some news.”
He watched as her worried expression grew bleak. “About Ellie?”
Gabe swallowed hard and nodded.
“Did they find her body?”
The sorrow in his wife’s voice nearly broke him. “Yes and no.” Holy hell, he couldn’t keep making things worse. He needed to just spit out the truth and stop making his wife anxious. “Chloe, she’s alive. Zane found her.”
“Oh, my God! Is she okay? Where is she?” Chloe jumped off the ground like her ass was on fire. “I have to see her, Gabe.”
He grabbed her shoulders to keep her from running back to her mare and galloping away to find her friend. They’d ridden to this spot and he’d deliberately stopped here to take a break so he could be completely alone with her to break his news.
“Listen to me, sweetheart. She’s fine. She’s with Zane, and they won’t be here until this afternoon. They’re flying in from Denver.”
Chloe frowned at Gabe. “Where has she been all this time?”
It was one of the hardest questions Gabe had ever had to answer. “She was kidnapped by James and held prisoner in a remote hunting cabin. Chloe, she was in pretty bad shape when Zane found her. If he’d found her any later, I’m afraid she wouldn’t have made it.”
“But James has been dead for months,” Chloe muttered irritably.
“Zane found her soon after we left,” Gabe confessed.
Her expression filled with hurt. “He never told me. In fact, he pretty much lied.”
“I know. We all did. Blake told me after she was found, but I knew you needed time to heal. Besides, Ellie didn’t want you to know.”
“Why?” Chloe asked tearfully. “She’s my best friend.”
He nodded. “That’s why she didn’t want you to know. She was in pretty bad shape, and she didn’t want you to blame yourself for what happened to her.”
Chloe shrugged Gabe’s hands off her. “That’s the way Ellie is—concerned about everyone except herself. But you all knew. Anybody else could have said something. God, she needed me. After that many months gone, she must have needed help.”
“Zane took care of her, Chloe. She didn’t need anything.”
“It doesn’t matter. I should have been told. God, you let me keep believing she was dead! How could you? Do you know how badly I was mourning her loss?”
“I knew. But I didn’t want you to blame yourself either.”
Chloe turned her back to him and leaned against a nearby tree. “Of course I blame myself. I got her the job with James. I led her right into his big fat web of evil.” She took a deep breath before adding more calmly, “Tell me the whole story.”
As he stared at his wife’s back, Gabe explained as much as he knew about what had happened to Ellie. He knew Chloe was listening intently, but she didn’t speak.
When he’d finally spilled every detail that he knew, she turned to face him, her expression filled with betrayal and hurt. “So you all decided that poor little Chloe wasn’t strong enough to deal with the truth.”
“We all thought it best to not stress you, sweetheart, yes.”
“What did you think was going to happen? Did you think I’d crumble? I wouldn’t have. I would have been happy, dammit.”
“We knew that. But you’d been through hell. I didn’t want you eating yourself up over Ellie’s condition. She didn’t want that either.”