Page 28 of Montana Silence

Mara kissed me back.

She wound her arms around my neck, and we fell into each other. One of the instructors laughed, and we broke apart, but nothing could stop the smiles on either of our faces.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“It was my pleasure. You really liked it?”

With her arms still around my neck, she was pressed against me in every possible way, and I was doing my best not to be distracted. “It felt like freedom.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

The drive back to my truck was quick, and I drove over to the next destination in my plan—a meal in one of Missoula’s many parks before we made the long journey back home.

“Is that something you’d like to do again?” I asked.

“Yes.” Mara’s voice was quiet again. “Sometime. Later.”

Something about the word later made my instincts sit up and listen. The food I’d brought in a cooler was simple but good. I laid it out, and Mara pulled her knees up to her chest, closing herself off. Something had distracted her and taken her away from me. I didn’t think she’d been triggered, but it wasn’t always easy to know.

“Mara?” I asked, reaching out and picking up her hand.

She looked at me, smiling. But the smile was empty compared to what it had been.

“Where did you go?”

“Sorry,” she whispered.

I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant. Are you okay?”

“Yes and no.” She shook her head. “Here? Now? This is amazing. I was just thinking…”

I waited, handing her a sandwich and a drink and watching her begin to eat.

“What I told you the other day. The man I put in jail is having a parole hearing. Last night, I said I’d testify, and I was so sure. But thinking about it has me in knots. When I said later—I can’t think about anything past that.”

Understandable.

“When is it?”

“Next week.”

My eyebrows rose. That was soon. “You’re going alone?”

She shrugged and looked away.

“You don’t have to.”

When she looked back at me, her beautiful eyes were filled with that same vulnerability.

“Whatever you need, Mara. If you need me to support you from afar, I will. If you want me beside you every step of the way? I’ll do that too. Whatever you need.”

“Really?”

“Really. But I recommend talking to Daniel and Jude. If there’s anything to know that the court isn’t telling you, they’ll be the ones able to find it.”

Mara went pale. “What would there be to find?”

“I don’t know. But if there was something, it’s better to know before you get there.”

---