Princess (American Princess #1)(48)
Author: Courtney Cole

Stephen grabbed her and pulled her close, as she buried her face into his shirt, inhaling his familiar scent.

“Sydney, listen to me.  This is over.  I’m not dead and you’re safe now. I promise you, I will hold you every night for the rest of your life.  You’ll never need to be afraid again.”

His voice was assured and strong and she didn’t argue with him.  Instead, she changed the subject.

“Is Tom okay?  I haven’t seen him.”

“He’s fine.  He’s awake now and chatting with the paramedics while they check him out.  The man is a talker.  And he seems completely unfazed by all of this. What a remarkable guy!”

Sydney nodded.  She couldn’t agree more.

“Will you take me to him?”

“Of course.”

Stephen guided her lightly with his hand against her back, keeping her within an arm’s reach at all times.  Sydney felt confident that he wouldn’t allow her very far out of his sight for awhile and that was perfectly fine with her.

The paramedics had Tom reclined in the living room, resting comfortably on a couch.  He had an IV tube running into his arm, but other than that, appeared normal.  His wrinkled face lit up in a grin when he saw her.

“Sydney!  I’m happy to see you safe and sound.”  He reached out for her hand and she took it, enjoying the warmth of his large gnarled mitt.

“Tom, I’m so sorry that I got you involved in all of this.  I am so grateful to you.  I’ll never be able to repay you.” She squeezed his hand as he looked at her with twinkling eyes.

“Oh, yes you can.  You’ve got connections, little girl.  Maybe you could talk to your father about increasing tax breaks for farmers.”  He laughed.  “Oh, I’m only joking.  Kind of.”

Sydney laughed, delighted that she was still able to do so.  After the horror of her day, it wouldn’t be unheard of if she didn’t find anything funny for quite a long time.

“Tom, do you need anything?  Should we send someone out to your house to feed your animals or anything?”

Tom shook his head. “Nope, little girl.  They’re telling me that I can go home here in a bit.  I can take care of everything myself. But thank you kindly, just the same.” He paused for a moment, his eyes gleaming kindly.  “I’m very sorry about your mother.”

Sydney felt a pang in her heart and bent down to hug the wrinkled man, whispering in his ear.

“Thank you.  For everything. Any time you need anything, you call me.”

He nodded.  “Sure will.  And Sydney, that works the other way, too.  Call me anytime.  I get lonely sometimes, so you can even just call me to talk.  I don’t text, though.  Never could figure out the fascination with that.”  He shook his head in annoyance at the thought and Sydney smiled.

“Okay, Tom.  I’ll call you in a couple of days to check up on you and I promise that I won’t text you.”  She smiled at him again before making her way across the room to where Stephen was waiting for her.

“Syd, Agent Briggs just spoke with the hospital.  Your dad was just admitted for surgery.  He’s in critical but stable condition. They think he’s going to be just fine.”

Relief surged through every cell in her body as she processed the information.

“Thank God,” she whispered.  She leaned up to kiss Stephen on the cheek.  She looked down at her blood covered clothing.  It was even dried into her hair in clumps.

“I’m going to take a quick shower and then how about… we go up to the hospital?”

He smiled gently down at her.

“Sydney, I would follow you to the ends of the earth.  I hope you know that.”

She smiled back before she walked away.  She knew.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Only three more hours until I get to see you again.”

Stephen’s deep, husky voice filled Sydney’s ear and she smiled into the phone.

She was sitting in her new apartment with her long legs draped over the side of an overstuffed white chair, staring out her living room window.

Lucky for her, her father had been in total agreement that she could live off-campus in an apartment rather than living in a dorm at Notre Dame.  She wasn’t sure that dorm life would agree with her now.  She valued her privacy too much.  After everything that had happened, she had chosen to attend Notre Dame rather than Columbia, because Indiana was so much closer to home. It was only an hour and a half drive, if she drove fast- which of course she always did.   

“Only three hours, hmm?” she murmured into the phone.  “I wish you were here right now.”

“I do, too. But I’m on the toll-road now and I’ll be there soon.  I’m sorry that I had to go on this book tour, sweetheart.  I wish you could’ve come with me.  You should see New York!”

She smiled again at his enthusiasm and didn’t bother to mention that she had seen New York numerous times.  And all of the brilliance of the lights of the Big Apple didn’t compare to how she felt when she was with Stephen.

“I finally got everything unpacked.  And I hung all of your clothes in the spare bedroom closet.  I’m sorry, but I took up all of the space in ours.”

She laughed lightly, because she knew he wouldn’t care.  On their first night in the new apartment, they had eaten cold Chinese on an overturned moving box.  Stephen had told her right then and there that he didn’t care what happened in life but that he wanted to spend every moment with her.

“I also took the liberty of turning that bedroom into an office for you.  I hope you don’t mind. You need somewhere to write if you’re going to keep me in the lifestyle that I am accustomed.”

She grinned even though he couldn’t see her.

He laughed huskily into the phone. “Woman, I miss you.  You’re too good to me!”

She was just about to jokingly agree when the doorbell rang.  She glanced up in surprise.  She wasn’t expecting anyone.

“Stephen, someone’s here.  I’ll have to call you back, okay?  I love you.”

She tossed her phone onto the couch as she crossed the room to the front door.  She peeked through the peephole, only to find Christian Price standing in the hallway with flowers in his hand.  Her breath froze in her throat as old emotions came rumbling back.  They hadn’t exactly parted on the best terms.  She opened the door.