Page 108 of Forever After All

He looked up at her then. “Is there a right way to hit a rock?”

Jess pinched her lips together, determined not to let his lighthearted comment distract her from the confusion that had kept her company all morning. “I don’t think so, but that’s all it was. I’ve been hurt worse before.”

Linc held up the hand that wasn’t carrying the bowl. “I don’t like hearing about you getting hurt.”

“But I’m okay now. What does it matter if it’s in the past?”

“I don’t know, but it makes me sick to think about,” Linc said sharply.

Jess sat up straighter. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? Because I got hurt?”

“I don’t want to avoid you. You scared me!” He held his hands out like that was a perfectly reasonable explanation for acting like a toad all day.

Maybe it was, but she’d never been good at determining how other people’s minds worked.

And that reminder steadied her frustration. Maybe he didn’t know why he was avoiding her. She didn’t know why she did half the things she did either.

Linc sighed. “I’ll finish this up, but you need to get inside. The storm will be here soon, and I want to make sure the horses are okay.”

Jess nodded, but he’d already turned away from her. Her shoulders sank as she watched him disappear into the woods toward the creek.

Inside, she readied the fireplace and brought in enough wood for the night. At least that was something she could do one-handed. She’d had enough of the helplessness.

Linc walked in an hour later with his head still down. Was he mad or upset? Why couldn’t she ever tell?

Unable to stand another minute in the terrible unknown, she walked straight over to him and grabbed his hand. It was freezing, but the strength in his grip was an anchor she needed to say what was on her mind.

His head jerked up to her and gave her his attention for the first time all day. His frown softened as he registered her confusion, her hurt, and her remorse.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m sorry for whatever I did, and I hate it when things aren’t good between us.”

Linc looked down at their clasped hands and tightened his jaw. He stayed there so long she wondered if he was going to keep up the silent treatment.

Finally, he whispered, “You didn’t do anything.”

There was a crack in one of the words that proved he was lying. “I feel like I did,” she said.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “You didn’t do anything bad. I got scared yesterday. That’s all.”

“I’m fine,” she said, squeezing his hand as proof of life.

“But I can’t shake it. I know it’s stupid to worry over something that didn’t happen, but if I lost you…if anything happened to you…I couldn’t live with myself.”

Jess’s chest ached, squeezing as if someone had it in their grasp. Was that what Linc had been feeling all day?

She stepped forward and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulled toward him like a horse that knew the way home when the sun started to set.

Linc’s strong arms wrapped around her back, and she rested her head against his chest. He smelled like a working man, and she smiled at the comfort of his scent. He’d never smelled like a bottle from a department store. They’d been on the trail for days, and neither of them had gotten a proper shower.

Still, she’d always choose to step into his comforting arms. It was better than the mist after a summer rain. It was better than the crisp fog on a cool morning. It was better than the dust that billowed under a horse’s hooves.

It was better than home.

He squeezed her tighter until a traitorous grunt escaped when the pressure on her shoulder sent a pain shooting down her arm.

“I’m sorry.” He loosened the hold but didn’t let go. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

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