Page 221 of Come Back to Me

“Probably because the last time it happened, Walker was… alive.”

She releases a breath.

I can tell that each year rushes through her mind—days and weeks and months without her older brother who was lost to one of the many dumb wars humans fight.

(Humans suck.)

I reach for her hand. “Have you seen Cody’s cop car?”

“He parks it outside sometimes.”

“The headrest on the driver’s side…”

“What about it?”

“There was a bullet hole there.” My throat bobs. “If he hadn’t been faster, he might have died.”

Her hand clutches at mine. “He didn’t though.”

“He’s on the front line, Zee. He… We might lose him.”

“Like Walker.” She winces. “We might not though. This is Pigeon Creek, not Baghdad.”

“True.”

Her gaze finds mine by chasing me until I can’t avoid her eyes. “You can’t live like that.”

“I can’t?”

“No. Because whether you pull away from him or not, he’ll still be a marshal. Only, he won’t be yours. And he could die whether or not you’re together and it’d still hurt because you’d forever be wondering about the lost potential. Never mind the fact you’re close to his family through me and would experience the grief firsthand.”

“I could shut it down.”

“You don’t want to, though. You’re taking him crystal shopping. We both know what that means.”

“It means I want to punish him,” I correct, tone wry.

But she tuts. “Nope. It means you want to show him a side of yourself that you show very few people. Hell, evenIhaven’t gone crystal shopping with you. You don’t even give me crystals. I only found out about the damn crystals when you had that amethyst cathedral delivered here and Colt had to help bring it in.”

“Only because you think they’re just pretty rocks,” I mumble.

“They are. But you don’t. They matter to you. Showing him means you want him to see that. I guess it’s a test too. If he mocks you, then you know to dump him.”

“He won’t mock me. I used to send him crystals in our letters.”

She chokes out a laugh. “Of course you did. So, you were worried about him dying and he still hasn’t gone crystal shopping with you. I’m assuming there’s something else stopping you from telling the world you’re dating. Hit me with it so I can bat it out of the park and take away the problem.”

“Tee?!” Cody hollers up the stairs.

“Five minutes,” I yell back.

“He’s not very good at keeping it quiet, is he?”

“He doesn’t want to. I just don’t want Mom overreacting.”

That has her cringing. “Ah, shit. You do know if you ever get married, she’d be the bridezilla, not you?”

“I know.”

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