Page 73 of After You

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They startedacross the backyard without a word, taking the old familiar path between the two houses that included cutting through yards rather than using the sidewalks and streets. And if that walk didn’t bring memories back for Hannah, he didn’t know what would. He never had been able to smell lilac bushes without thinking about stealing kisses from her in the far corner of her grandmother’s yard before it turned into Mr. Carlson’syard.

The big old oak that took up most of the southwest corner still held the swing that he and Hannah had sat on, holding hands, stargazing and talking so many summer nights. At least, that’s what Alice thought they were doing back here. And they’d done a little bit of all of that. But Hannah had also lost an earring, a button, and a pair of panties back here. Not all at the same time. And she’d come back and found the earring and the panties the next day when the sun came up. A lot more than hand-holding had gone on backhere.

But a lot more than sex had too. They’d been in love. Yeah, it might have been kids’ love, a little unrealistic, and a lot full of dreams, but it had beenreal.

“Oh, wow.” Hannah headed straight for the swing that Kyle had been hoping to walk right past. She sat to one side, leaving room for someone else, and pushed off with her foot. “I haven’t been on this thing in forever.”

Kyle propped a shoulder against another tree and tucked a hand in his pocket, watching her. She looked…different. It was the same yard, the same swing, but she was different. And his heart ached a little with that thought.

She smiled at him. “Come sit withme.”

He shook his head. “You’re fine withoutme.”

Her smile faltered, and he cursed his choice of words. But then…they weretrue.

“You don’t have to swing with me because I’m not fine without you. Maybe just because you want to,” she finallysaid.

It felt like there was a lot of meaning there, and he paused.

“Does everything you do with anyone else have to be about helping them or doing something for them?” she asked. The swing came forward and she pushed off again with a toe in thedirt.

He shook his head. “Of course not. I go to games with my friends and have dinner with my family and sit at the Come Again andchat.”

She nodded. “Good. It’s okay to do things just for fun. For no real reason except that you wantto.”

“Thanks, Dr. Phil,” he said dryly.

She didn’t look offended. “I’m just saying that it’s okay to not always be everyone’shero.”

“I like being everyone’s hero. That’s what I want.” And up until she came back to town, he’d felt pretty damned good aboutthat.

“But if you wanted to sit and watch a game on TV and eat a pizza, but a friend needed help digging fence posts, you’d be digging,” shesaid.

He sighed. “Yep.” And dammit, that was a good thing.

She just nodded at that. Then she hopped off the swing. “Okay, let’sgo.”

She started across Mr. Carlson’s yard and Kyle followed, falling in step by the time they got to Carlson’s clothesline. She ducked under the line. “I haven’t seen someone hang clothes out to dry in forever,” she said. She shot Kyle a smile. “Nothing smells better than sheets and towels just in off theline.”

Kyle would beg to differ. That spot just behind her ear, the one that made her moan like no other, smelled better than anything.

They kept going, rounding Carlson’s house and hitting the sidewalk. Hannah turned west when they typically headed straight across the street and through Mrs. Perkins’ sideyard.

“You lost your way?” he asked.

She swung around, but kept walking backward. “I want to make a stop on theway.”

“If you’re going that direction, it’s not really on theway.”

She shrugged. “I can meet you over at Dad’s. Or, you can come withme.”

He didn’t know what she was doing, but he found his feet turning in her direction, almost as if they couldn’t help it. Wow, big shock.

* * *

Hannah was surprisedby the easy silence between them as they walked. And by how easily he’d just fallen into step beside her when she changed direction. Maybe there was hope forhim.

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