The McEllis Boys

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The pain was nearly unbearable but the fear was worse and it gave Cavanaugh the strength he needed to drag his worthless leg behind him as he made his way to the house he had hand built for his family.

It was so quiet. Too quiet. Susie should be giggling with her dolls and Timothy should be laughing as he ran through the chicken coop while Leah hummed a song in the kitchen.

The silence was like a ten ton weight in his heart. Surely nothing had happened to his family. Who would hurt two helpless children and an innocent woman? Leah didn't even know how to fire a gun. She couldn't defend herself or the children.

Cavanaugh was leaving a trail of blood as he made his way into the house and called out for his family, his voice weak and raspy.

He was met with more of that oppressive silence. He draggged himself into the kitchen and his heart stopped beating. His stomach turned. His world stopped spinning.

This wasn't Leah, Timothy or Susie.... Lying in a pool of her own blood with her clothing ripped and torn and her throat slit was his Nicole. Cavanaugh yelled out. It was an animalistic sound more so than a human one. A heart wrenching cry full of pain and anger.

He went to her and fell beside her, pulling her soft body against him as he wept into her soft golden hair.

"Why you?" he whispered as tears ran down his face. "I can't live through losing you too, cowgirl."

Cavanaugh held her a long time, rocking back and forth as he wept until his eyes went completely dry. He had failed. He had failed again. He hadn't kept her safe just the same as he hadn't kept Leah, Susie or Timothy safe.

Cavanaugh had survived through the death of his first family, though he had lived in a catatonic state until he had met Nicole and she had saved him. Her touch, her laugh, her smile, her sarcasm and the way she seemed to be able to put him and his brothers all in their place.

He couldn't survive this. Nicole was his angel; his saving grace. Without her he wanted to die. He pulled his gun from his hip as he laid her body back down.

He pressed a gentle kiss to her cold lips and then rested the barrel of his .45 tight against his temple. His finger squeezed the trigger slowly and he was looking deep into Nicole's lifeless green eyes when the gunshot roared inside the tiny kitchen.....

Cavanaugh sat bolt upright in bed with a gasp and he heard a sleepy groan beside him before a hand lightly touched his bare back, "Lay back down, Cavanaugh. It's barely five in the morning."

Cavanaugh looked down at Nicole, her eyes were still closed and then he saw a crease form between her brows. "Why are you all sweaty?"

He looked at her and felt his heart fill with so much relief and so much love he was afraid that it was going to blow apart right in his chest. Then guilt replaced it as he thought of his dream. Suddenly he shoved himself from the bed and left the room without saying a word.

Nicole jumped up as well and followed him. She caught him in the hallway and grabbed his arm, "What's wrong?" she demanded in a hushed whisper, trying not to disturb anyone else. She knew that Madeline was still asleep in her room and Andrew and Bethany were asleep in theirs. She assumed that Leslie was in her room and Ian was probably on the couch or out in the barn since he'd been sleeping both places lately.

"Just let me be," he stated harshly and he limped away from her. Nicole stood in the hallway suddenly feeling cold and lonely as she heard the back door open and close. She stood there for a long time with her arms crossed over herself.