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mad,” I mutter petulantly, after Airen signs off.
    “You’re still scared,” he corrects. God,
he’s infuriating, especially when he’s right.
    “That too. Can we go home now?”
    “Not just yet. Look familiar?” I look up
from the leaf strewn ground to see the dilapidated barn where we once took
shelter when we were trapped by a violent thunderstorm. We spent the night
talking about our fears and hopes before curling up together in a pile of hay
to sleep. It was a long time ago, before Joseph joined our relationship, before
the cult, before our first kiss.
    “Let’s go inside,” I suggest. Everything
is just as we left it. The cool of the barn feels heavenly after our hike
through the thick heat. Our pile of hay is intact, still covered by a saddle
blanket, and Joseph regards it with a soft grin.
    “That’s where it happened.”
    “Where what happened?” He’d held me, and
it was comforting, but nothing happened between us.
    “Lying in the hay with you in my arms, I
couldn’t quit staring at you, at how sweet and innocent you looked asleep. That
was the moment I knew I was in love with you.”
    His soft confession nearly brings me to my
knees. It takes me a moment to reign in my emotions and swallow the lump in my
throat. How am I going to survive losing him? “That…that long ago?” I whisper.
    “Yes. I knew it was wrong, that you were
with Airen, but I couldn’t help it. I think Airen knew, though he never
confronted me about it until his trip to Indy.”
    “Because he knew he could trust you.
Because he’d fallen for you, as well.”
    “God, I love him, Abigail.”
    “I know.”
    Soft green eyes gaze solemnly through the
gloom. “Does it ever bother you? The way I’ve intruded on your love, your marriage?”
    And he accuses me of being thick-headed.
“You didn’t intrude on anything.” I slip my hand into his hair, stroking over
the fuzz on the nape of his neck. “I thought I knew what love was, but what I
considered love now seems weak and shallow. I’m overcome by your kindness and
compassion, astounded by your strength and selflessness. Your love makes me a
better person. Nothing in my life has prepared me for how I feel about you and
Airen. No one has even come close. I love you, and I love him. I’m thrilled
beyond words that you love each other. Do you realize how amazing that is? How
hard this would be otherwise?”
    “My girl,” he whispers, his lips brushing
softly across mine.
    “I don’t know exactly when I fell in love
with you. You snuck into my heart when I wasn’t looking.”
    “And now you’re stuck with me.”
    My hands slide under the back of his shirt
to feel his smooth sweaty skin as his lips worship my neck. “I hope so.”
    “Forever, ladybug.” The soft patter of a
sudden rain shower on the barn roof makes us both smile. “Now that has to be a
sign,” he murmurs.
    “Make love to me.”
    He scoops me up and places me on the
blanket while I love every hot inch of his mouth with my tongue. He takes me
with such tenderness and passion, moving with such skill and grace, loving me
right out of my mind. Instead of pushing until I crash into orgasm, he guides
me gradually through the pulsing waves that roll through me, on and on, until
all I can do is moan and cry his name. It’s intense and emotional, powerful and
tender, affectionate and completely devastating.
     
    * * * *
     
    Airen asks Carson to join us in the living
room after dinner. “What did I do?” Carson sighs, flopping into the recliner. I
don’t know how to tell him.
    “Your father’s here,” Airen blurts. Okay,
I guess that’s one way to do it.
    Carson frowns. “What?”
    “Jon’s here. He showed up a couple of days
ago, asking to see you.”
    “Why didn’t someone tell me?”
    “I’m telling you now.”
    “Carson, I know it’s a big shock, and you
don’t have to see him if you don’t want to,” I assure him.
    “He got the letter,” he says, grinning at
Airen.
    Airen