Page 109 of Distant Shores
Brave girl.
“I’m glad I have someone who knows what it’s like. There isn’t anyone else I could talk about this with. Not really.”
I tried to smile, but it was wobbly at best. “I’m here. I’llbehere.”
That was what I’d desperately needed to hear from someone last year. From someone who meant it.
She looked me over for a long moment and then nodded. “Good.” Then, after a quick check of her makeup in the visor’s mirror, she slipped out of the car, offering me a little goodbye wave through the window.
The quiet left in her wake was sudden and stifling, theair thick with everything I’d brought up and pushed down. Here in the Cadillac, and just… here, inside me.
AndGod, it was a lot.
I clicked a destination at random, and the projector flicked to life. Pushing back the seat, I curled into a ball, my loose T-shirt riding up behind me.
I made it through a scenic drive featuring fall in Vermont, the foliage striking even on the dulled projector image.
The screen went black as the projector flickered out.
Just a few more minutes, and I would be strong again.Seemstrong again.
But then the passenger door opened.
I should’ve startled, maybe, but instead I just watched, the skin of my cheek soothed by the cool leather seat.
Long, muscular legs covered by green scrubs.
A crumpled matching top creasing as the man wearing it leaned inside.
Messy hair, dimpled chin, full lips, dark glasses, and hazel eyes that seemed greener as they lingered on me.
Morethan lingered, actually. Like a physical thing, Adair’s gaze was heavy on me as itsearched.
He folded his large frame into the seat and shut the door softly.
Pine and fresh mountain air.
I breathed him in deeply.
“You saw Delly?” I asked quietly.
“I did,” he answered, his voice deep, but hushed. “She’s okay,” he added, answering my implied question.
“And Pops?”
He smiled sadly. “The same.”
“Adair,” I said eventually, keeping my voice low. “Is your Pops the reason you got hurt?”
There was the tiniest flinch at the question before he took a deep breath and answered. “Yes.”
“And Delly doesn’t know?”
“No.”
I nodded, the side of my head rubbing against the seat.
Still, our gazes remained locked, soul-deep understanding passing between us.
