Page 48 of Recurve Ridge

Jon’s laugh kept me going for a few more steps, but my legs felt like they were going to fall off after the number of miles we’d traveled. He managed to reduce my fear of the dark spaces between trees with his passion about the mountainside.

That, and the fact that we hadn’t been attacked or poisoned.

“You know, if I picked a berry on my own, I’d die,” I pointed out. “I can poison myself with non-expired milk in my own kitchen.” The thought of my apartment sent my stomach into a tumble. I gripped the tree next to me that turned out to be Jon’s bicep.

“You okay there, Mari?” he asked, his attention on me though he kept his tone light. “Dried strawberry leaves create a solid base for a vitamin C shot in tea. Alan makes it back home,” he murmured, stressing the last word.

His point drove my thoughts into a spiral I couldn’t escape.

“Jon, am I…? Can I…?” I couldn’t complete the thought.

I’d been asking Robe if I could leave, but his reply remained the same every time:“Heal, and we’ll talk.”

But healing took time, and talking didn’t seem as scary as it had before. The Great Lump still wouldn’t answer my questions, though, despite my poking. I pursed my lips, tossing up the chances of getting information out of Jon, but I got the impression he’d be even worse than Robe.

Jon’s gentle eyes watched me, and I forced a smile I didn’t feel, unable to escape the nausea in my stomach. I needed a distraction….

“Tell me about how you got here. You and Robe and everyone.”

Jon arched an eyebrow. “He hasn’t told you?”

No need to ask whichheJon meant.

“No.”

“Stay long enough and you’ll be able to pick these on your own.” Jon piled a small pyramid of shop-bought strawberries into my palm and started to walk while I picked at my treasure trove. The explosion of flavors in my mouth floored me, and I moaned my answer with my typical inappropriate timing.

“A local… politician murdered my wife.” Jon’s hand found my free one and squeezed hard.

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry?—”

“Robe saved my ass from offing myself and brought me back here. I’ve helped him ever since. Miller followed along as always, brought back from his sojourn in the military. Will arrived a bit after, and then we… found Alan.”

“You make him sound lost.”

“We were all lost, Mari. Robe gave us a home.” He squeezed my fingers in a tender touch this time.

“How long have you all been here?” It must have been quite a while, as he talked about his wife with an ease I didn’t understand. “I can’t imagine the horror.”

“Nor do I want to again.”

“I’m so sorry for asking.”

“It’s fine.” He paused long enough for the forest sounds to fill his silence. “Seven years. Me, at least. Miller and Robe have been here longer. Alan and Will less. But it’s been seven years since I lost her.” His voice grew ragged with suppressed emotion.

My tin man.

I closed my eyes, my tears coming for him, what he’d lost. Who. Warmth brushed beneath my lashes as his roughened thumbs swiped the salt away.

“Don’t cry for me, Mari,” Jon said in his gentle tone. “My life was forfeit long ago. Let us give you what we can now.” His touch lingered and then dropped, leaving the ghost of my tears whispering in its wake.

My next breath sucked in as ragged as his, and I began to understand the value of the forest’s silence as we walked, its weight no longer suppressing but a comfort, until my questions bubbled over, unable to be held in any longer.

“What about Robe? And Miller?” And Will? The kid with sunshine in his eyes. Hell, what had the world done to these men who just wanted to survive and protect?

And fight.

Because they all had some darker aspect etched into their souls. Damaged. Broken.

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