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anyone foolish enough to care about me. And then she spit on me.
    “Your father brought me back here and said I could stay as long as I wanted.”
    Zeb looked at her again and saw the tears that streamed from her eyes. “That stuck with me. What she said. I guess I figured maybe she was right. And maybe I didn’t deserve love. I killed my own father, Willa. What kind of man does that make me?”
    “You were a child,” she said softly and reached out to lay her hand on his shoulder. “Zeb, what you did – it wasn’t out of malice or hate. You thought he was going to kill your mother. You and she – you were both abused your whole life. And if you hadn’t …well, I remember my mama saying once that if you hadn’t done what you did, you’d probably not have lived to see fifteen.”
    “Your mother was a good woman,” he said with a ghost of a smile.
    “She loved you, Zeb. The whole family did.”
    “And I loved them. I loved being here. But my mother found out she needed me. She couldn’t keep the place up by herself so she let me come home. Well sort of. I slept in the barn but she fed me.  A couple of years after that she remarried – a drunk named Clyde Willis. Clyde hated me so she told me to get lost. I came here, as always. A month later, Clyde got drunk one night and shot her dead.
    “But that’s not the point. The point is that curse – maybe it’s real. I’ve never found love and maybe that’s why. And maybe it’s a real big mistake for you to take up with me, Willa.” He looked back down at his clasped hands, both of which were white knuckled from gripping so tight.
     
    Willa was heartsick for that young boy. She had no idea what Zeb had suffered. All these years she’d held him at fault for not loving her and the whole time he was scared to love anyone. She felt ashamed, and loved him all the more for what he’d had to bear.
    She scooted over closer, reached out and forced his clenched hands apart so that she could twine her fingers with his. “That curse doesn’t scare me. Zeb, look at me.”
    He did and she smiled. “Zebediah Childress, I’ve loved you as long as I can remember. Remember what I told you that day – the day I was swinging and you pushed me so high I felt like I was flying?”
    Zeb’s brows came together in a slight frown. “Honestly, no. Can hardly remember a time back then you weren’t pestering me to push you on that swing.”
    “You have a point,” she agreed with a smile and reminded him of that special day. “I told you that you were my ever after and I meant it with my whole heart.”
    “You were ten, sugar.” A smile finally appeared on his face.
    “Nine.” She corrected. “And I loved you with my whole heart. I always have, Zeb. I’ve loved you my whole life and I don’t know how to not love you. That’s what scares me. I was thirteen when you left and it broke my heart."
    “You were just a kid, Willa and I was—I was a boy with a lot of growing up to do.”
    “Yes, but I’m not now. And my heart can’t take you leaving me again.”
    His hand tightened on hers and his gaze sought hers and held. “I won’t leave you, Willa. Not ever.”
    “You hate it here, Zeb.”
    “Yes, but…”
    “No. It’s too soon—don’t Zeb.
    “Not saying it won’t change how I feel, Willa.”
    “Still…”
    “Okay,” he gave in. “I understand. Words are cheap. That’s fine, honey. I’ll prove it.”
    She nodded and gave his hand another squeeze. “But,” he said, “there’s something we can’t put off and that’s the mess with Ellis. We have to get you somewhere safe. The rangers have a team at the Newell ranch and if they find evidence that ties the Ellis clan to the crime, they’ll be arrested. But until then I’m worried that you were seen and if you were he’ll know you’re the one who called the law.
    “That being the case, I don’t think it’s safe for you here.”
    “This is my home, Zeb. I’ll not let him drive me off my own