Page 125 of Beneath the Mountain Sky
I barely manage to get the word out around my labored breaths.
Killian grabs the oven mitt, pulls open the door, and removes the cornbread, ham, and baked beans, setting them on top of the stove as I slide back into my underwear and pants. As I get them up, he turns to face me in all his full glory, naked as the day God made him.
My eyes roam over the tattoos, including the new ones I love so much, but my gaze catches on the mountain that covers his chest. I’ve traced it so many times over the years, know every peak and valley of it by heart just as Killian does McBride Mountain itself.
Another memory flashes through my head.
A more recent one…
Earlier today.
“Wait—”
His brow furrows. “What is it?”
I step closer to him and drag my finger across the tallest peak, then drag it down the river and to where the cabin we’re in now stands on the McBride homestead. “I think I might know how to figure out where I was.”
He slides his hand under my chin, lifting it until I meet his concerned gaze. “How, Honeybee?”
It won’t make any sense to him. It barely does to me, but somehow, I know it’s what we need to do.
“We can’t go to Asheville to see the psychiatrist, Killian. We have to do it at the timber yard.”
16
WILLOW
Killian squats in front of me, sliding his hands across my knees, stopping the left one from bouncing incessantly like it has been since the moment I sat in this chair.
He catches my eyes with his and holds my gaze, the crease between his brows deepening. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Am I?
I chew on my bottom lip as I scan the McBride Timber office, over the concerned faces of Raven, Connor, Liam, Sheriff Briggs, and finally to the psychiatrist who drove up from Asheville.
He settles into the leather chair that normally sits behind Connor’s desk and now faces me in the center of the room while everyone else looks on, anxiously shifting weight, gazes darting around the room the same way mine is.
Everyone shares my nerves.
Raven appears ready to jump out of her skin, and we haven’t even started yet. I offer her a smile that I hope she buys, and she returns it, even though it doesn’t reach her green eyes.
Her gaze drifts to where Tony, Liam, and Connor lean against the far wall, trying to appear unaffected even as they avoid making direct eye contact.
They have reason to be worried.
This could go very badly.
It might not work.
Or it could work too well, and I might remember something that was better left buried.
But despite all my reservations about what I might find if we delve into this, I know I have to at least try everything at our disposal to get answers.
I lock my gaze with Killian’s and nod. “Yes.”
Dr. Bird offers me a tight smile over Killian’s shoulder. “And you’re sure you want to do this here, Ms. May? I always recommend it be somewhere quiet and comfortable.”
No one would ever accuse this office of being either.
