“You don’t know what I think!” I retorted.
“Yes, I do, and it is not going to be you.”
“That is our mother!”
“Peter has been very kind to me, I will not leave him,” Cade said.
“Then I’ll stay with you.”
“No.”
“No! You can’t tell me no!" I took a deep breath and managed to gain a little more control of myself before I continued to speak. “You can’t make my choices for me.”
“Bethany,” Abby whimpered.
I glanced helplessly at the others gathered within the room. Even if I hadn’t told anyone else about it, they seemed to have guessed that I planned to stay. They all knew me well, yet I felt it was Cade that had first discerned the fact that I had decided to stay with my mother.
I read the truth In Cade's relentless stare. He wasn't going to budge on his decision. It had been alright when I had decided that I would stay. I had been in control, I had been accepting of the fact that I would be alone. But the thought of Cade staying here was terrifying to me. I couldn’t leave him here. I would never be able to live with myself if I did.
“It has been decided,” Cade said firmly.
“By who? When?” Jenna asked as her eyes flitted around the room.
“By us,” Bret answered. He took hold of my hand, clinging to it when I tried to pull free. “Last night when you were asleep.”
“You knew last night you were going to do this?” I breathed, unable to tear my gaze away from Cade’s.
I had just found him, I barely knew him, but I couldn’t lose him. I simply couldn’t. I would be empty without him, I didn’t know how I knew that, but I did. I would be hollow, broken, a shell of myself without him. It startled me how certain I was of this when just yesterday I hadn't spoken to him in a year. But a lot had changed in twenty-four hours. He'd reawakened memories and feelings I'd buried over the years. Feelings that I couldn't bury again now, no matter how much I tried. I may have been too young to realize it at the time, but Cade had owned a piece of my heart as a child. A piece of my heart that I'd never gotten back. Perhaps he'd even owned my whole heart, and that was why I'd never been able to feel anything more than friendship for any other man.
Cade Marshall had stolen my heart when I was five but I was only just realizing it now.
“Yes,” Aiden answered. “We have to go now Bethany.”
“No. I’m not leaving.”
“Please Bethy, please,” Abby pleaded. “Don’t leave me.” I opened my mouth to protest. I was astonished by the revelations rolling through me. It was more than just Peter, I knew Cade was doing this for me, to keep me safe, and I couldn’t let that happen. “Bethany.” Abby’s hand tightened on my arm to the point that it was bruising. “Bethy please,” she whispered.
“Abigail...”
“Don’t leave me. We can’t leave mom, and you, behind. Please Bethany I can’t lose you both.”
I closed my eyes, groaning inwardly at her heartfelt plea. I bit on my bottom lip as I fought against the tears that burned my eyes. This was awful, just awful.
“Bethany…” Aiden’s voice trailed off. He hadn’t stopped because he didn’t know what to say, but because a low rattle had begun to shake the store. Abby pressed closer to me as she started to tremble. The ground beneath my feet vibrated; the merchandise on the shelves started to clink together.
I held my breath as my heart pounded deafeningly in my ears. A thumping bang shook the store and caused me to stumble a little. A sob tore from Abby as her nails dug into my arm. The windows shook within their panes as the glass rattled more forcefully. Somewhere within the store something slid off a shelf. I jumped and bit back a scream when it shattered upon the ground.
Abby buried her face against my chest as something else fell to the floor and broke on impact. I barely managed to bite back a scream as the store lurched violently. Jenna wasn't able to do the same as her startled cry rang out. Cade slid his hand over her mouth, pulling her against his chest as the store shook and heaved again. We waited breathlessly to see if Jenna’s scream had been heard over the growing noise.
The earth beneath my feet seemed to disappear for a second as the floor rolled. I staggered to the side as boards began to splinter from the powerful upheaval. The front windows shattered and glass splayed inward. I ducked over Abby, covering her with my body as I tried to protect her from the cutting shards. Bret grabbed hold of us, pulling us back as another forceful thump knocked shelves over, and caused one of the light fixtures to fall. Abby sobbed loudly as a cry escaped her.
“Shh Abby,” I whispered frantically. “Please be quiet, please.”
Beams flashed over the windows and danced over the broken frames before moving on. “What’s going on?” Jenna squeaked.
“Quiet!” Cade commanded.
Another rattling bang shuddered through the building swaying us all back and forth. Though I had never experienced an earthquake, I imagined that this was what it felt like. There was a heaving, rolling, sensation that staggered me to the side. The world was completely unstable beneath my feet, and the ground felt like it was going to plummet out from under me at any minute.
A loud twisting screech filled the air. I cringed, clutching Abby as the noise grew in intensity and pierced the night with its shrill sound. Abby’s moan was drowned out by the ever growing din. Bret pushed us back, keeping us behind him as light flared through the store once more. A twisting, heaving, drop caused the floor to fall out beneath us and more boards to splinter and crack. This time I couldn't bite back my startled cry as we were lurched to the side. I staggered, struggling to keep hold of Abby as I fought to keep my balance on the rocking floor.
“We have to get out of here!” Bret hissed.
He pulled me back as more windows shattered and the shelves at the front of the store began to tumble like dominoes. The whole store was going to come down on our heads if we stayed in here. The crashing shelf behind me caught the back of my leg. I stumbled awkwardly forward, nearly dragging Abby down with me as my legs gave out. Bret and Abby managed to keep me on my feet, but just barely.
“We have to go! We have to go!” Jenna screamed.
Cade was pulling her toward us, his jaw locked and his nostrils flaring as another rousing crash shook the building. It wouldn’t be long before the whole thing toppled in on us. This wasn't the west coast; this building wasn’t built to survive the shaking jolts that it was receiving. It wasn’t built to survive anything more than a moderate hurricane. If even that.