Page 202 of Those Who Are Bound

She turned away and looked down the darkened hallway as she tried to gather her wits. She heard his sigh, and in it, his acquiescence to her request. Again, indulging her like he always had.

Habits, all the way around, were hard to break.

Injecting levity into her voice, she asked, “Where are my cupcakes?”

“Ellie.”

“Why are you here, anyway?” she asked, realizing she hadn’t asked the question before. When she’d seen him on the patio, she’d been too disoriented; too busy going over everything in her head in an attempt to control the situation.

Shit. Fan. Dead-accurate aim.

He paused. “You were in an accident.”

She tilted her head. “Two months ago.”

“Took me that long to get the time off.”

“Your job sucks, then,” she said.

“If you’d been hurt worse, I’d have been here that day.”

“No warning?”

“No. I know what a control freak you are. Surprising you is the only way I get the real snapshot.” Again, he nodded in the direction of the event center. “Like your man out there.”

“He’s not my anything. We aren’t together.”

“I think he has a different opinion.”

She shrugged as though it didn’t matter. “It won’t work between us. And the irony is, we’re trying to save each other’s souls.”

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