Page 43 of Always

“We can go there, Braden. You’re the one who stopped it, not me.”

“True. But as long as you have that need—for the neck binding—I can’t be with you. That’s why I need you to figure out why you want it. That’s the only way we can deal with it, but until you know the reason behind that need, you’ll always want somethingI can’t give you. And that’s no way to begin a relationship. To begin a future together.”

“How can there be no future? We love each other.”

I cup her cheek, trailing my thumb over her lower lip. “Love isn’t always enough, Skye.”

“Love conquers all.”

“You’re better than a cliché,” I say. “You’re smarter than that.”

She nods.

Does she believe herself, though? Or does she truly think love can conquer everything? Because it can’t. I should know.

“I will answer your question, Braden,” she says. “That’s why I came here. To figure this stuff out. But when I answer yours, I expect you to answer mine. I want to know why it’s your hard limit.”

I nod. I don’t talk about that time in my life, but if she can come clean with me, I’ll do the same. She deserves that. “I always intended to.”

“Then I’ll hold you to it.”

The backyard is large, and one of the fields juts up against it, separated by chain-link fencing.

Skye breathes in deeply and leads me to the chain-link gate at the far side of the yard. “Is this where you went into the cornfield?” I ask.

“Yes. The gate was open.”

“Did you know how to open the gate?”

“Yeah. But I never did.”

“Were you allowed in the field?”

She nods. “As long as my mom was nearby and as long as I didn’t go in too far.”

“But that day, you went in.”

“Yeah. I was chasing a praying mantis, remember?”

“Right. You liked bugs.”

She smiles. “I was never a girly girl. I played in the mud. I neverwore dresses except on special occasions. I didn’t even wear makeup until my senior year of high school.”

“Did you help with the farming?”

“Not the actual farming, no. But I helped Mom dry and can corn in the fall. I helped her with her craft fairs and baking. That kind of stuff.”

“Did you ever want to help in the fields?”

She shakes her head vehemently. “Not after that day.”

“Okay. Where did you go from here?”

She points. “See that post in the distance?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s where the scarecrow used to be. It’s where I hit my head and knocked myself out.”

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