Page 25 of Unforgiven

“Things will get better.” She sure didn’t know how, though. Seth had told her more than once that it wasn’t possible to change the past and that the best thing to do was to come to terms with it and move on. Not everyone believed that, however.

“I hope things do get better.” He looked at her intently. Then, after kissing her lightly on the lips, he turned away. “I’m going to go.”

“Already?” They’d hardly gotten settled.

Lott looked regretful but determined. “I need to go home and shower. Plus, what did you say you were doing?”

“That I was going to the market.”

“You’d better do that, then. Your mother’s going to wonder what happened to you if you don’t return soon.”

Lott wasn’t wrong. “Yeah. I guess I’d better get on my way too.”

Just like they were spies in a novel, they always took care to leave separately.

Melonie half-heartedly stood up. But just as she did, a rustle came from the thick woods behind them. The hair on her arms stood up as she craned her neck to try to see where the noise had come from. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Nee. It’s fine, Mel. I’ll watch you go. No one is there.”

She watched the shrubs and bushes near her as she walked. Looking for movement. Listening for any twigs breaking.

But nothing happened.

Obviously she’d let her imagination get the best of her again. She just really needed to be careful and not get caught. She was trespassing on someone else’s property and meeting Lott Hostetler, who was far from her parents’ dream suitor.

She knew better, but she was between a rock and a hard place. They had no choice but to sneak around.

At least, that’s what she told herself. The sad thing was that she didn’t believe that lie any more than anyone else would.

10

Bethanne was sitting on the front porch when Lott got home from work. Like always, his sister had a book in her hands. He’d long ago come to terms with the fact that she found comfort in a bunch of printed pages. To her, they were close to being friends.

Often when he would walk by, she barely seemed to notice if he was near. Their mother said that was rude. Lott didn’t know if it was or not. Bethanne was coping the best she could. He figured coping was better than not.

Right at that moment, he was glad she was preoccupied with something. He had a lot on his mind and needed a break. All he wanted to do was take a hot shower, put on clean clothes, and sit for a spell before supper. He had to get his head wrapped around what was going on with him and Melonie.

His mind on those few moments of bliss, he started up the front porch’s stairs, intending to walk right by Bethanne.

Instead, she closed her book. “Hey,” she said.

It caught him off guard. Curious about what she could want, he stopped on the second step leading up to the porch. “Hiya, Bethy. Um, how’s your book?”

She shrugged. “Good enough, I guess. How are you?”

He wasn’t good. That’s how he was. He was sneaking around seeing Melonie and trying his best not to get in a fight with Joe Miller. But it wasn’t like he could tell his sister that. She was delicate, and no one in their family ever did anything to upset her.

“I don’t know,” he said at last. Of course, on its heels was the knowledge that he should’ve lied and said he was good. If he’d done that, he could be climbing the stairs to his bedroom and she wouldn’t be frowning.

“Oh no. What’s wrong?”

Everything was wrong.

Why she was asking, he didn’t know. Ever since the incident with Peter, the focus in their haus had shifted. Now everyone worried about Bethanne all the time. Lott didn’t mind that. He never had. In the course of one evening, she’d been attacked, witnessed a man’s death, and even watched her hero get taken away in handcuffs. That was enough to shake anyone up for a good long while.

But there were times when he didn’t want to be singularly focused on his sister’s needs. This was one of them. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “I mean, nothing that you need to worry about.”

“How come?”

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