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then. “How about we all help?” she said to James and smiled at me.
    Take it slow. Feel each other out first. See what our boundaries are, if there are any.
It was the method Bray and I both used that day, without actually coming out and saying it.
    We spent the next couple of hours helping my mom and James unload the van. After all of the heavy stuff was moved into the house, Bray and I left together in my gray Dodge Charger. We didn’t talk much while moving boxes or even when we were finally alone in the car. We were both nervous, both worried about the same things:
Is she single? Does she have a family? Is this our last and final good-bye?
    I drove her to my apartment. Mitchell was as shocked as I was when he saw her. “Holy shit,” he said when we walked through the front door. “Brayelle Bates. What are you doing here?”
    “Hi, Mitch,” she said and strolled over to give him a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
    “You too, girl.” He took a step back and looked her over, bringing one hand up to push his bangs away from his face. “Still smokin’ hot, I see. You haven’t answered my question.”
    “Mitch,” I said dropping my keys on the coffee table, “do you mind going out for a while and—”
    “Say no more.” Mitchell put up both hands. “Privacy. I understand. I’m outta here in five seconds.”
    When he finally left, the silence that fell over the room between Bray and me was like the calm before the storm.
    “Sit down,” I encouraged her, taking her by the elbow and leading her to the oversized chair. She wore a pair of tight jean shorts and a white cotton top. A thin silver chain with a pink pendant hung from her neck. A mess of tan, black, and green hemp bracelets, some with beads, and others with intricate braided designs, were wrapped around both wrists.
    I sat down on the ottoman, facing her, my hands folded together and hanging between my knees.
    She broke my heart when she started to cry.
    I could tell she was trying really hard to contain the tears in those final few seconds as I looked at her. But she couldn’t. She buried her face in the palms of her hands and cried so hard, all I could do was reach out and grab her, try to pull her onto my lap. But she pushed my arms away gently.
    “No, Elias, listen to me first before you give in to my shit this time.
Please!
” Tears choked her voice.
    I was crying on the inside, my chest a twisted knot holding down a full-blown tear-fest with all the strength I could muster. I placed my hands on her bare knees instead.
    “Why are you crying?” I reached up with one hand and tucked her hair back behind her ear. This was fucking killing me, to see her like this.
    Sobs shuddered through her body, as if hearing my voice just made her cry worse. And for a moment I saw sitting in front of me that little girl I had met in the pasture that night.
    “Bray, I’m here. You know that. I’ll always be here for you.”
    I was beginning to lose hope, thinking maybe she just needed me for a shoulder to cry on. Maybe she’d just had a bad breakup with some guy and needed me to talk to about it. I hoped I was wrong.
    Finally her sobs eased enough that she could look me in the eyes and she said, “I-I just wanted to say that… I’ve loved you all my life. I know I screwed up, Elias. I made the worst mistake of my life by leaving you and for staying away for so long.” She began losing control again. So did I. “I know you’ll probably never forgive me, but I had to come here to tell you how I felt! I
had
to!” Tears were shooting from her eyes again, her body was going rigid under my hands.
    She went on:
    “I was so afraid of you. I was afraid of losing you. I don’t know what made me do the things I did. I-I was stupid and crazy and, and I don’t know! But I was really messed up, Elias. I know I’m too late. Mitchell told me you fell in love and for the longest time I didn’t want to come here because I didn’t want to interfere with your