Page 62 of The Way Back Home
It was going to be a media circus, and everyone knew it.
Tom captured her hands in his. “You stay for as long as you want.”
She smiled gratefully and thanked him. He led her over to a table reserved for staff. It was toward the back corner, out of the way, and afforded more privacy than any other spot in the place.
Teagan sat down with her coffee and sipped it appreciatively.
“Janice, bring some of those rolls over here,” he commanded.
“Honey-glazed?” Teagan asked hopefully.
Tom chuckled. He’d remembered.
“Fresh out of the oven, darlin’.” He smiled. “You need anything—anything—just say the word.”
“Thank you.”
For a moment, she thought about asking him to sit down with her, to form a human barrier against the barrage of curiosity seekers trying to get a glimpse, but she kept silent. It was too late to back out now.
She sipped her coffee, nibbled at the rolls, and didher best to ignore the stares and whispers. Across the street was the Saughannock town square. She gazed through the window at the tree that had filled so many of her dreams when she was younger. Even though the massive spruce was bigger and grander, it couldn’t hold a candle to the one in Noah’s cabin, not in her eyes.
She felt his presence before she saw him. The hair on the back of her neck rose, a prickling of awareness ghosting over her skin. It was a familiar sensation, the kind you could only recognize after years of being close to someone.
“Teagan.” He whispered her name like a prayer.
The sound of his voice rippled through her, bringing forth the conflicting feelings she’d come to expect around him. For so many years, she had loved him like a brother. A tiny part of her still remembered him as her protector, the one she had sometimes protected in turn. However, another part—a bigger part—remembered what he had done to her. How badly he had hurt her and tried to harm those around her.
She turned away from the window to the man from her nightmares. Dark, smoldering eyes glared back at her with an intensity that made it hard to breathe. What she’d once thought of as mad brilliance was now simply madness simmering just below the surface.
“Josh.”
He slid into the booth across from her, taking her hands in his. She wasn’t sure who was shaking more, her or him. His hands were calloused and rough, making her feel fragile and small. His hair was longerthan she remembered, framing a face that was now all man, with no trace of the scrappy, mischievous boy he had once been.
Her stomach clenched as she recalled the countless nights they’d spent together in the woods. Sometimes in a makeshift treehouse. Sometimes in a fort they’d cobbled together out of branches and boughs. Her, hiding from her stepfather. Him, because no one else cared.
They’d looked out for each other then. Before loyalty and devotion changed into something twisted and dark. She hadn’t recognized the shift until it was too late. Or maybe she’d just ignored the signs, not wanting to believe.
“I knew you’d come home,” he said, never taking his eyes from hers. Tenderly, he lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed them, closing his eyes briefly.
Teagan was vaguely aware of the crowd of curious onlookers and shifted uneasily. Josh opened his eyes and noticed.
“A little privacy, please,” he said, raising his voice to those around them. As they backed away, he flashed Teagan a chastising half smile. “I was hoping your homecoming would be more private.”
His eyes flared with a familiar heat as he studied her face, allowing his gaze to travel down her loose curls, shorter now than they once had been.
Teagan tried to pull her hands away, but he held on tight.
“You have to let me go, Josh.”
He smiled and tucked a stray piece of hair behindher ear. “Why? It’s always been just the two of us against the world. You know that.” His voice was low and soothing, like the way he would speak to her when he was trying to calm her down.
“That was a long time ago,” she said, her voice low but urgent. “You have to stop, Josh. Stop hunting me. Stop hurting people.”
“I missed you,” he said, as if she hadn’t spoken, and brought her fingers to his lips again.
The sheriff’s car pulled up across the street, followed moments later by a local news van.
Teagan glanced out the window and bit her lip. “I’m giving you this one chance. Stop this, or I’ll tell the sheriff everything.”
