Chapter 447
She already knew why he was calling.
The bomb in the theater last night? There was no way he hadn’t seen the news, even though he was in Prineville.
“Hadley? Oh, thank God! You picked up!”
His excitement made her chest tighten. She could picture him pacing, hair disheveled, struggling to keep his emotions in check.
During the chaos last night, mobs had seized her phone, leaving her unable to receive his calls. By the time the police returned it to her and she tried calling Denver back, she couldn’t get through.
She hesitated. “I guess you saw the news?”
At the moment, Hadley was alone in the hotel room. Elissa remained in the hospital, still recovering from her injuries.
“Hey, I’m okay now… You must have been out of your mind with worry all night, huh? I tried calling you back, but—”
“I know.” Denver exhaled, his voice laced with both relief and frustration. “I saw everything. I was mid-flight when it all happened—couldn’t answer even if I wanted to.”
Mid-flight?
Hadley’s breath hitched, her heart stuttering in her chest as warmth spread through her.
She hesitated. “Wait… Denver, are you…”
The words caught in her throat. Had he really flown all the way to Blathe? A low chuckle came through the line, edged with exhaustion and unmistakable relief. “I’m almost at your hotel—five minutes out.” He had come straight from the airport.
Hadley’s hand flew to her mouth, a sharp breath escaping as tears welled in her eyes.
A five-hour flight from Prineville to Blathe. The moment Denver saw the news and couldn’t reach her, he had dropped everything and boarded a plane.
So this was what it felt like—to matter to someone?
Once, when Hadley had been stranded in Blathe with Joy, she had felt like she didn’t exist. Like no one would care even if she disappeared.
But now… someone had crossed cities just for her.
How often in a lifetime does a person find someone like that? Hadley didn’t know about others, but for her, there had only ever been one.
The second she ended the call, she bolted downstairs.
At the hotel entrance, she scanned the street, her heart hammering. Then, a taxi pulled up. The door swung open. And there he was.
“Hadley!”
Her breath hitched. “Denver!”
He strode toward her, dragging his suitcase behind him, eyes locked onto hers. Hadley looked up, and the first thing she noticed was the exhaustion etched into Denver’s face—deep shadows under his eyes, the kind only a sleepless night could carve.
“You… didn’t sleep at all, did you?”
“Not a wink.” Denver let out a small, weary chuckle and shook his head. “How could I? I couldn’t reach you. My mind kept running in circles, imagining the worst…”
He exhaled, and then met her gaze, his expression shifting—hesitant, vulnerable.