Page 29 of Beyond Reach

Chills raced down her spine. She stared at their hands. Once upon a time it fascinated her to see the contrast. Garner was the first man she had ventured out of her race to date. Not that there’d been that much romantic experience in her life before him. Still, it was a big step, and she’d fallen hard and fast.

“I want you to know it doesn?

??t matter what you say,” he explained. “Even if you grabbed the wheel and wrenched it out of your dad’s hand.”

“Are you crazy?”

He shrugged. “Just saying.”

“Thanks for your support.” She meant it. He was too sweet. Part of her thought he was too sweet for Marcella, but that had to be the jealous cow part.

“Go ahead.” He didn’t move his hand. Instead, he turned her hand over so that their palms connected, and he gave her hand a squeeze. How the heck did he expect her to concentrate on what she was saying?

She pulled away and tucked her hands in her lap. “I told my dad I was switching my major, and he didn’t like it.”

“To what?”

Embarrassment washed through her. “Medicine.”

His eyes widened. “You were never interested in the medical field.”

“I know.” She wasn’t going to admit it was because she wanted to be with him every day, as if that were a guarantee.

Immaturity at its finest.

She continued. “I told him while we were headed home from the restaurant. You remember. It was the first time you and I ate with them, even though you guys had met.”

“I remember.”

“My dad started arguing with me, and I caught an attitude. It got crazy in the car. My mom could usually deflate our arguments, but not this time. I was hot. He was hot. It got loud and just irrational. I said some stuff. I don’t even know where it came from. I was just mad...”

Her throat closed. She gasped when she realized she was about to cry.

“Dang it! I haven’t cried over this in years.”

Garner zipped around the table to her side of the booth and wrapped an arm over her shoulders. She shoved his chest, but he wouldn’t be put off. The emotions escalated, and she collapsed against him, sobbing.

As she continued to explain, her words were half muffled because her mouth was buried in his chest. He reached down to grasp her chin and raised her head. Their faces were so close she could make out the variations in the silver eyes. Were they always that bright?

“I can’t understand,” he said gently. “What did you say?”

“Um…uh…” Good Lord, she was pitiful.

I’m just lonely. That’s all. And tired of going through everything by myself.

“I felt so guilty, it almost crushed me.” Her words died away when Garner caught a tear on the end of her lashes with the side of his finger. She stumbled over the explanation, sure she made zero sense.

He waited until her brain started to function again, but he didn’t move away or stop holding her. God, it felt good. She shouldn’t enjoy being so close to him. Yet, all the memories returned, of their intimacy, of the many talks they shared. There were nights where they hardly slept because they talked and talked. That was the amazing thing about Garner. Unlike many men, he enjoyed discussing anything she desired to talk about, including feelings.

She recalled him coming into her hospital room and sitting on the side of the bed. The tears had come then about the loss of her parents, and she soaked his shoulder. He listened and tried to soothe her.

“I knew I was going to be okay, you know?” she said to him. “I had you. I was going to fight through the guilt. The only thing was, I had trouble admitting what happened to you. I thought I’d get there eventually. But then…”

“Then the doctor told you about our baby.”

Sadness choked her. She wondered for an instant what the baby would have looked like—caramel skin, silver eyes like his, her snub nose and lips. She shook her head. No, that was dangerous ground.

“When the doctor told me I didn’t just kill my parents, I killed our baby—”

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