Page 69 of Trailer Trash

“When we finish here,” he said, pulling back to stare into my eyes, “let’s not go back to Henryetta, at least not at first. Let’s you and me go somewhere, just the two of us, andjust be. No danger. No painful past. Only you and me.”

“For how long?” I asked, feeling anxious. “I know you might never want to go back, but I’ve got Rose and Joe . . .”

“A week? Two? As long as we want until we decide to go back, but Neely Kate—” He turned serious. “Joe will never approve of you being with me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.We’re legally at odds.”

“But you won’t be working for Skeeter anymore.”

“But I have. For years. Something’s bound to turn up and bite me in the ass. Carter Hale will help me get out of it, but Joe willnotapprove.”

I frowned. Jed was right, but I wouldn’t let them be at odds with each other. “We’ll deal with that when it comes.” I kissed him again, because I could, and it felt so right.

Was this what love felt like? Being around the one person you wanted to be with more than anyone else in the world, who made you feel like you were lying in the warm sun on a soft bed, surrounded by warmth, love, and protection until you were bursting with it. Because that’s what I was feeling right now with Jed, and while it scared the dickens out of me, part of me basked in it.

But while all of that was happening on the surface, underneath it all, I was like a molten vat of boiling lava about to erupt. I wanted Jed like I’d never wanted another man. As scared as I was to bare everything to him—body and soul—part of me knew he’d not only accept my scars, but appreciate me more because of them.

I finally pulled back, more than a little pleased to see Jed had been as affected as I was. “We need to find Beasley.”

“And then we’ll escape somewhere. Where’s the one place you’ve always wanted to go?”

I cringed. “You’re going to think it’s silly.”

“I doubt it.”

“I know you mentioned Florida, but I’ve always wanted to go to the mountains in Colorado and see the chipmunks. Did you know they come right up to you and eat out of your hand?” Jed was grinning like a fool, so I gave him a mock scowl. “I told you it was silly.”

“It’s not silly.”

“Then why are you smilin’ like that?”

“Because you’ve lived through some horrible things, yet you’re still so . . .”

“Stupid.”

“No. So full of life and joy, and you still see the good in people—”

“Not all people.”

He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “Okay, not all people, but most people. There’s something about you that makes me think maybe I’m not so bad. That maybe I can have love and a family too.”

My smile immediately fell.

“What?” he asked with a worried look. “What did I say?”

“I can’t have babies, Jed.”

He blinked. “What?”

“I can’t have any more babies. I’m too scarred inside from all those infections . . . I was lucky to have gotten pregnant with my babies last winter, but one of them got stuck in my fallopian tube and . . . I can’t have babies, Jed. And you deserve babies.”

He shook his head. “There are other ways to have a family besides having babies. Look at you and Rose. You’re like sisters, and you only met a year ago.”

“I know, but . . .”

“I’d love to have kids someday, Neely Kate, but knowin’ you can’t have them doesn’t change my mind about being with you. If we reach the point where we want kids, then we’ll deal with it, okay?”

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