Page 88 of Mountains Divide Us

“Mornin’,” I said to the guys. “Everything okay here?”

“Yeah,” Brady said, and he nodded back toward the staircase down the hall. “She’s upstairs.”

“How’s Murphy doing?” Theo asked. It looked like he might be holding his breath while he waited for me to answer.

“So far, he’s hangin’ in there,” I said. “He’s at the hospital.”

“What will happen to him?”

“Social services will come, probably try to find any family he may still have, but if they can’t…” I shrugged.

“Thanks, Frank,” Theo said. “Thanks for what you do. It can’t be easy.”

I should’ve been more used to thanks myself. “You’re welcome.”

Leaving them to tend to their guests, Grum and I climbed the stairs, looking for my heart.

When we found her, she was fast asleep on an old couch in a room filled with computers and printers.

I sat next to her on the edge of the couch cushion, rocking her shoulder gently, and Grum lay next to my feet, resting his head on his paws and sighing. Like me, he was relieved to be in the same room with her again.

“Samantha.”

“Sleeping here,” she mumbled. “Buzz off.”

“Wake up,” I said, trying not to laugh at her. I was a dead-tired wreck after last night, but seeing her beautiful face, her messy pink hair, and hearing the spit and fire in her voice could make me smile any day of the week.

She gasped and sat straight up, spearing me with her puffy, sleep-filled eyes. “Is he… Did he…?”

“He’s at the hospital. He’s alive.”

Tears seemed to burst right out of her, and she threw her arms around my neck. “Oh thank God. I should’ve called you when I found him at the library. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my infertility.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not. I should’ve been up front with you, but this whole thing’s made me realize some stuff.”

“What?” I pulled back so I could see her eyes. There was some kind of glint in them this morning.

Leaning back, swiping the tears from her cheeks with her knuckle, she said, “Can I ask you something first?”

“Ask me anything, my love.”

She smiled, and her breath hitched when I called her love. “Why do you always follow the rules?”

So we were getting down to the nitty gritty first thing.

Okay then. Here goes nothin’. “’Cause I thought if I didn’t, somethin’ bad would happen, like it did when I was a kid. I dunno. I guess it’s just how I processed what happened back then.”

“You followed every rule. You joined the Army so there would be more rules for you to follow.”

“Yeah, I did. I followed the rules for years, and look where it got me.”

“What do you mean?”

I sighed, shaking my head and sliding down to my ass on the floor, and Grum grumbled at me for disturbing his nap. “This damn dog,” I said, and Samantha laughed.

“Yeah, I followed all the rules, and the only thing it ever did for me was make me lonely. I’ve been so fuckin’ alone for so long. Then I saw you, and my gut told me to leave you be ’cause you were too young for me. Too alive. You were perfect. Why would you ever want me? And if I fell in love with you, you’d want me to break down my walls. The walls I’d spent years buildin’ so no one could hurt me. My ex left. My mama left. I hid myself away so I wouldn’t feel the kinda pain I felt when she died.”

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