Page 110 of Love on the Run

“I know you don’t, but I do. Hop to it, Mr. Lawrence.”

The party was a circus of kids running around screaming. Did they have to shout all the time? The boys had a paintball war in the backyard while the girls stood off to the side with their heads together whispering to each other. Every once in a while, they’d point and giggle at the boys.

“Aren’t they cute?” Lyric asked as she glanced out the window into the backyard.

Asa watched the kids with his arms crossed over his chest. “Jacob is going to be one solid bruisetomorrow. He can’t stop looking at the girls long enough to keep from getting shot by the paintballs.”

“I think the girls can’t stop looking at him either,” Anna said, pointing to a girl who tossed her hair whenever Jacob looked her way.

Olivia joined the viewing party and rubbed her hands together like an evil mastermind. “Looks like the guys are out of ammo. Time to stir the waters.”

“Hide-and-seek!” Dawson shouted as he burst into the backyard.

Olivia grabbed Beau and Anna’s hands and pulled them toward the door. “Let’s get in on the action.”

“No thanks. I’m just here to eat cake,” Beau said, pulling back on his sister’s hold.

Olivia tightened her hold on his hand. “Shut up and quit being a buzzkill.”

Anna leaned over and whispered, “She won’t let you out of it. Ask me how I know.”

Outside, Dawson and Olivia gathered the kids and explained the rules of hide-and-seek as if it were an Olympic sport while Beau formed a game plan.

When the kids scattered, Beau took Anna’s hand in his before she had a chance to run off after them.

He jerked his head in the opposite direction. “This way.”

He kept a tight hold on her as they approached an old shed close to the tree line. Olivia had deemedthis section out of bounds, which meant it was the perfect place to “hide” with Anna.

“Ten seconds in, and you’re already breaking the rules,” Anna said.

“I don’t care about Olivia’s rules.” He reached behind a bush near the door and fumbled around until he found what he was looking for. A black box with a key inside.

“Is Asa going to be mad at us for breaking and entering?” Anna asked, glancing back over her shoulder as if the officer himself would appear with handcuffs.

“I’m not breaking anything. I’m using the door.” Stepping to the side, he let Anna enter first.

Faint light drifted through the dirt-caked windows, and dust floated in the cold air, mixing with the cloud of Anna’s warm breath.

“No one will find us here.”

He didn’t have to see Anna’s face to know she was smiling. She radiated happiness over small things all the time, and he could tell when she was smiling even on phone calls now.

Beau reached through the dim light until he found her hand. Pulling her to him, he skimmed the tip of his nose over her jaw and up to her ear to whisper, “Found you.”

Her hands slid up his chest and around his neck to pull him down to her. Their mouths crashed together in a rush, leaving a roaring in his ears thatdrowned out everything except the feel of Anna in his arms. The world could crumble around them, and he wouldn’t notice. Anna was his new center of gravity, and he was more than happy to be locked in her orbit.

Was this it? Had God jerked Beau out of his content life to place him beside Anna? It was improbable. Impossible. Yet, his world had shifted, and he didn’t want to set things back in order.

When she broke the kiss, Beau rested his forehead against Anna’s. There was a hungry lion in his soul that settled whenever he could hear the steady rhythm of her breaths.

“I have a surprise for you,” she whispered into the darkness.

“What is it?”

She quietly laughed. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Why did you tell me about it then? That’s just mean.”

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