“Most of the legal work is coming together. Dad has been able to tell me a lot about it. He says he and Sonny had a little discussion before Lawson killed Sonny. I wonder why Sonny told Dad so much. When I asked Dad, he just smiled and told me not to worry about details.”
“That’s nice,” Clay said.
She lifted his hand and shook it. “What is it?”
Now or later, he thought. Might as well be now. “I know of course, why you left me,” he said. “The notes. You were afraid that if you didn’t leave, I’d end up like the others.”
“You said you understood,” she said, “That was the most difficult thing I have ever faced, leaving you and not being able to tell you why. If Lawson had known I told you anything, he would have killed you. Like the others. You already said you realized I didn’t have a choice.”
“You had a choice when you married me.” He let that hang briefly.
“What do you mean?” There was enough strangeness in her voice to know he’d guessed right.
He gently pulled his hand away. He loved this woman. He wanted to bury his suspicion, but if he did, then it would always be there. Finally he spoke. “Before meeting me, it had been five years or so since your previous boyfriend. Enough time had passed that you thought maybe you’d try again. But this time, you were going to pick someone your stalker would be afraid of. Someone like me, with my kind of background.”
She studied him gravely.
“In the back. of my mind, I’d always wondered why you courted me,” he said. “I’ve never been particularly attractive to women. I was older than you. But I loved you, and it didn’t matter to me.”
He shook his head sadly. “Some women trade themselves in marriage for the money of a rich man. You traded for protection.”
“Clay...”
“I love you,” he said. “That won’t change. But you don’t need protection anymore.”
“Clay...”
“What I’m saying is that you still have your apartment in town. Now would be a better time to leave than later...”
His words hung in the air for a long, long time.
Kelsie stood abruptly and headed toward the open door.
The sight stabbed Clay, but he wasn’t going to beg her to stay. Not now. He’d begged before and it had nearly killed him when she left.
She closed the door and turned back to him. “You're a fool,” she said softly. “I won’t lie. I did feel safe with you. But that reason alone wouldn’t be enough for me to love you.”
She smiled as she moved back to the side of his bed. “This is the second time you’ve been in the hospital for me. Remember? The first time I was sixteen. I had the biggest crush on you. I don’t think all of that crush ever went away.”
She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “We’re not where we were in the beginning. I made some mistakes. I built some walls. I’ve never been able to deal with Taylor. But I think we can make it better than before – if you let me.”
She surprised him with lips soft on his neck. “When your legs are better,” she said, “you owe me a picnic. And a swim in the lake.”
“Sure,” he finally said.
She lifted the covers, moved onto the bed beside him, and put her arms around his shoulders. She kissed him again. Less softly this time, more deeply.
“Just hold me,” she whispered. On her side, she worked her leg gently around his shattered knee and fit herself into the warmth of his body. “Don’t ever let me go.”
Blood Ties Page 39
