Novels by Holywaterhoney

Tamara's POV For a moment, nobody moved. The wine glass trembled on the table, and I realized my own hand was the one shaking it.Amy stood at the top of the stairs with her rabbit hanging from her fist, and her wide eyes went from my face to David's and back again.I rose from the arm of the couch and made my voice soft, the way I did when she woke from a bad dream."Honey, you should be asleep.""I heard you shouting." Her chin wobbled. "You said Nicole's name. What did you do to her?""Nothing, baby." I smiled, though my lips felt stiff."Nicole is fine. Mommy and Daddy were only talking about grown up things."Amy looked at David, waiting for him to say I was lying. I saw his jaw tighten, and I saw him look at her small face and swallow whatever he had planned to say. He crossed the room, climbed three steps, and crouched in front of her."Hey, princess," he said gently. "Mommy is right. Everyone is safe, and nobody is in trouble. Come, I will tuck you in.""Promise?""I promis

Tamara's POV I got home a little after three in the morning with mud drying on my heels and river water soaked into the hem of my dress.The nanny had left a lamp on in the hallway, and the whole house was quiet.Amy was asleep upstairs. I stood in the doorway for a moment, listening to the silence, and then I smiled.After all those months, Nicole was gone.I climbed the stairs two at a time and locked the bathroom door behind me. The dress went into the sink, and I scrubbed the stains from my arms until my skin turned pink.I let the hot water run over my hair and watched the brown swirl down the drain, and I did not feel a single pang of guilt. I felt light, like someone who had just put down a very heavy bag after carrying it for years.When I stepped out, I chose the black dress David used to love, the one with the low back and the thin straps.I brushed my hair, applied red lipstick, and dabbed perfume on my wrists.I looked at myself in the mirror, and a woman who had won lo

Emma's POV"Mommy!"Jayden's small voice cut across the porch, and my body moved before my mind caught up. I dropped to my knees on the steps and caught him in both arms just before he reached Nicole, then pulled him against my chest and pressed his head down under my chin. His hair smelled of milk and baby shampoo, and his heart thudded against my ribs like a trapped bird.I looked up at Ethan and made myself smile."My son," I said.My own heart began to pound faster than it ever had. Please don't look too closely. I held Jayden tighter and prayed that this stranger, who was still dripping river water onto our doorstep with Nicole asleep in his arms, would not notice anything strange.Ethan looked at us for a long moment, and then a slow smile spread across his face."He is a cute boy," he said. "He looks just like you."The air left my lungs in a rush. I laughed, and it came out thin and shaky. "People say that all the time."I kept one hand on the back of Jayden's head and pre

Ethan's POV I looked at her closed eyes and the slow rise and fall of her chest.A damp strand of hair lay across her cheek, so I took a deep breath, reached over, and gently moved it behind her ear before putting my hand back on the wheel."I'm sorry, Nicole," I whispered.Then I turned my focus back to the street. She was in no state to be alone, and I had no idea where else to take her, so I decided to drive her to my place.I had not gone far when something buzzed against her side.It was her phone, vibrating inside the pocket of her wet dress. I kept my eyes on the road and stretched out one hand, patting along her hip and her waist until my fingers closed around it. The car swerved when I pulled it out, and the wheel spun under my other palm. I gripped it tight and steadied us before the tires touched the curb, and my heart pounded for a few seconds with the phone still shaking in my hand.When I calmed down, it was still buzzing. I looked at the screen, and the name Emma g

Ethan's POVI drove down the empty road with my hands steady on the wheel and tried to watch Nicole out of the corner of my eye. The heater hummed, the streetlights slid across the windshield in long yellow flashes, and for a few minutes nobody spoke.Then her head turned toward me."How did you know I was in need of help?" she asked quietly.I almost flinched. I had not expected her to ask so soon, and I tightened my grip on the wheel while I blinked several times to buy myself a second.She kept her eyes on my face and waited, and I searched my head for an answer that did not exist.I could not tell her the truth, because the truth started a few months ago in an airport.I had been standing at a hotel counter in the arrivals hall with my suitcase at my feet and my phone pressed to my ear, arguing with a booking system that insisted I had never reserved a room.The line behind me was growing, and a baby was crying somewhere near the gates. I was tired and angry, and I was about to

Nicole's POV My eyes cracked open, and I stared at the person who had saved me.He quickly pulled the gag from my mouth."Ethan?" I whispered.He knelt in front of me, soaked to the skin, with river water running down his face and dripping off his chin onto the canvas.His shirt was soaked against his body, and his fingers shook as he held the bag open."How did you get here?" I asked.He said nothing. His eyes moved over my face and tied wrists before he suddenly pulled me against his chest, leaving me gasping for air.His heartbeat raced against my cheek. A moment later, he held my shoulders and gently pulled me away."We don't have much time," he said.His fingers found the knot at my wrists and worked it loose, then the one at my ankles, and the rope fell away with a wet slap. The blood rushed back into my hands so fast that they burned. I looked around the riverbank for Tamara and the three huge men, searching the dark between the warehouse wall and the water, but the fire had