“Meant what?”
“That last kiss you gave me. Did you mean it? Did it matter?”
She blinked, conjuring up the heat from that cold March day when he’d loaded his horse and driven away. “Why now? Suddenly you have to know?”
His jaw muscle tightened. “Yes. I need to know. Why did you kiss me like that when I was walking away and leaving this place? I don’t get it.”
She felt a ripple of irritation. “And I don’t get you. Seven months and not one word from you.”
His expression tightened. “I didn’t know what to say.”
His answer annoyed her further. “How about a phone call saying, ‘Hi. I’m fine. How are you? I miss you.’ What’s wrong with saying that?”
He swept her face with his green eyes, recited, “ ‘Hi. I’m fine. How are you? I miss you’ … every minute of every day and night,” he added softly.
She purposefully steeled herself from the effect he was having on her. “Why have you come back?”
“Because everything I want in my life is right here.”
Just then the screen door opened and Alice Faye stepped out. “Eden’s on her way and supper is—” She stared. Her face broke into a smile. “Why, Jon Mercer! You’ve come back to us!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Alice Faye beamed at him. “A sight for sore eyes, you are. How’s your daddy?”
“Settled in at the county facility. Safe.”
“Any recovery from his stroke?”
“Not much progress. Doctors say this is the best he’ll ever be.”
Alice Faye shook her head, perked up, and said, “Stay for supper.”
His gaze found Ciana’s. “I couldn’t—”
“Tie your horse up in the barn before the rain starts.” She glanced at Ciana, and the older woman’s expression was challenging. “You’re invited. I’ll go set another place.” The door slammed behind her.
“Mother’s flexing her muscle,” Ciana said, with a note of bitterness. Jon’s look was questioning, but she wouldn’t elaborate. Why had he intruded into her life now, when she’d almost put him behind her? She had missed him, but she had no idea what lay ahead for her … the fate of Bellmeade, perhaps the fight of her life to keep it from financial ruin, a possible permanent riff between herself and her mother about selling the land. And what of the things he’d said he wanted, a spread of his own to breed and train horses? How would they fit into the picture?
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I was hoping we could figure it out together.”
On the lawn, Caramel grew restless, sensing the approaching bad weather. “You’d better tend to your horse,” Ciana said.
Jon searched her face, nodded brusquely. “This isn’t over between us, Ciana.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant the discussion or the relationship. She folded her arms, the past returning in a flood of painful memories. “Today was Arie’s … would have been … Arie’s birthday.”
Jon’s eyes saddened. “I didn’t forget. Is there a statute of limitations on your forgiveness?”
Ciana winced. His question hit her psyche hard and she was ashamed. Her simple words were packed with emotional dynamite, and it was unkind of her to have reminded him of what had almost torn them apart. “Eat with us,” she said, offering an olive branch.
He nodded again, turned, and walked to Caramel, then picked up her reins, and led her toward the barn.
“Sorry,” Ciana whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear her but knowing she needed to say it. She fidgeted, waiting for him to return to the house, watched the rolling clouds, heard the low rumble of distant thunder. The smell of dampness lay heavy in the air, and dead leaves danced in eddies of swirling wind. The day, once bright and calm, had turned darker, cooler. The winds of change were blowing. An omen? Ciana shivered.
A storm was coming.…
@Lurlene_McD
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lurlene McDaniel began writing inspirational novels about teenagers facing life-altering situations when her son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. “I saw firsthand how chronic illness affects every aspect of a person’s life,” she has said. “I want kids to know that while people don’t get to choose what life gives to them, they do get to choose how they respond.”
Lurlene McDaniel’s novels are hard-hitting and realistic, but also leave readers with inspiration and hope. Her books have received acclaim from readers, teachers, parents, and reviewers. Her bestselling novels include Don’t Die, My Love; Till Death Do Us Part; Hit and Run; Telling Christina Goodbye; True Love: Three Novels; and The End of Forever.
Lurlene McDaniel lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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