Page 122 of Heartbeats & Highways

“About everything.”

“Everything, like, what does that entail? Did you tell him about your past?”

“What? No!” Cream splashed into her coffee mug.

“Then you didn’t really talk about everything,” I said.

“Does Savage know about your past?” she countered.

“We’re not talking about me.”

“Ah, so he doesn’t.”

“He knows I was married. And he knows it wasn’t a happy marriage.”

“But there’s more, right?” Cozy asked. “With women like you and me, there’s always more.”

“No,” I lied. “There’s no more. He died. I started over.”

“Uh-huh . . . right.” She looked at me. “Does he know about your parents?”

I squirmed. “I don’t like talking about my past.”

“Obviously. I don’t either. What if we . . .”

“Yes?”

“Make a pact,” she said. “A ghost-sister pact or whatever. You can tell me things, and I can tell you things, and we keep each other’s secrets.”

I couldn’t tell her the truth about my marriage or my parents. It would open up a can of worms that could never be contained.

“Okay.” I nodded. “But you can’t judge me.”

“As long as you promise not to judge me.”

“Deal,” I promised.

“You go first,” she said.

I took a deep breath and told her how I’d met Savage and the illegal fighting ring.

Her mouth dropped open. “Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“And you believe him? That he walked away.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I do believe him.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he just said he walked away and that was that?”

“Well, sure. Why would he lie to me? It’s not like he can hide the truth. He tells other people he bare-knuckle boxes at the club’s gym. But he told me the truth. I have no reason not to trust him.”

“Even after your bad marriage? You trust Savage to tell you the truth?”

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