Page 18 of Bones

If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was remorse in his expression. His voice stayed just as soft as when he’d said my name. “Everything I do, Aurora, is for God and for you. To protect you in my service of Him.”

It wasn’t an apology—I would never get one of those—but it was better than nothing.

“I know. I appreciate all you do.”

But even as I said the words…

I knew I didn’t mean them.

CHAPTER THREE

DOES A MOOSE STAND IN THE WOODS?

AURORA

Iwas in Maine.

And it was… anticlimactic.

Devastatingly so.

To be fair, I hadn’t seen much of it. After a long flight delay the day before, we hadn’t gotten in until late afternoon. I’d hoped we’d see something that would explain my brain’s excitement for the state, but the airport, car rental counter, and hotel hadn’t offered any answers. Since that was all I’d seen, I was anxious to get out of the room.

After a sleepless night, I’d been up before the sun and had showered, gotten ready in my best dress, and taken time to do my hair and makeup just right.

Ryan didn’t seem to be feeling the same urgency. He’d already gone out the night before to meet the representative from Beacon of Absolutions’ headquarters who would be traveling with us, so he’d seen more than blurs out a car window. I still thought he’d be chomping at the bit to get to services and thrive on the pulpit, but he’d done everything he could to stall that morning.

When time was nearly up, he finally set aside his notes and gave me his attention. “Maybe it would be better if you stayed here.”

No way.

“Why do you say that?” I asked instead.

“It’s a lot of new. New place. New people. It’ll be overwhelming. If you say the wrong thing, it would be disastrous. It would ruin everything.”

“I won’t say anything, even to you.”

It’s an easy promise to make.

“The guy they sent is…” Hesitating, he rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s intense. Stoic and old-school. He makes Gideon seem like a teddy bear. I don’t want you alone with him, and you would be while I’m working.”

I chose my words carefully since bruising his ego wouldn’t help. “But if I’m not there to see anyone, your sermon?—”

“Will be fine,” he snapped with a cruel glare, making it clear I hadn’t chosen well enough. “I was a pastor long before I met you and a damn successful one. I don’t need you. It’s the other way around.”

‘I don’t need you.’

Ouch.

He gathered his notes and leveled me with a scowl. Whatever indecisiveness he’d been experiencing was gone. “You’re staying here.”

I thought about pushing, but something stopped me. The urgency I felt was to get out of the room. It had nothing to do with the church.

Keeping the peace, I smiled. “Okay. Maybe we can go out to dinner later to celebrate the first day of your tour.”

I knew that was the right thing to say by the way Ryan’s chest puffed out. “It’ll likely be a long day, especially if the church is in the kind of disarray they mentioned. I’m only here for a fewdays, so I have a lot to fix in a short time.” He approached and squeezed my shoulder. “Stay in the room while I’m gone.”

“Right.”

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