Page 23 of The Silent Mountain Man

"But you were eighteen."

"Almosteighteen. Technically, I was a minor for a few more weeks, and apparently, that was good enough for the place I got locked up in. It was…a nightmare."

"I can't even imagine. Eddie, I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"I was released after three months. Borrowed a friend's car and came back here right away. Had a huge blow up with Pa. And then to top it all off, he told me you'd joined the military. I was devastated on so many levels."

I start crying.

The thing about me is I'm not a pretty crier. My face goes all red and splotchy, my nose gets snotty, and I blubber like an idiot.

None of that stops Harrick from coming over and crouching beside me. "Can I hug you?" I hear him ask over a sob.

I manage a weak yes, and it's enough for him to scooch closer and wrap me up in his big strong arms. I'm so caught up in the trauma of what happened, what my mother did to me, that it hasn't really sunk in who's hugging me.

Princess.

All this time, I was convinced that he'd taken off and not given me a second thought. I never considered that he'd feel I abandoned him. How fucking awful. No wonder he snapped back at me.

My time at the conversion camp messed me up, and it took years of therapy for me to work through it all. The summer I spent with Michael/Princess/Harrick got caught up in all of that. Another piece of baggage I had to resolve and try to move on from.

But it never worked.

I pull back slightly so I can see Harrick's face, mentally superimposing it onto the face I remember staring into all those years ago. I take advantage of a break in my tears to whisper, "I never stopped loving you."

His dark eyes water. "I never stopped loving you, either."

And that brings on the waterworks yet again.

Harrick holds me close, his strong arms and warm body providing the comfort I need so desperately right now. My tears keep pouring out of me.

"I'm sorry," I say, sitting up and wiping away the tears.

Harrick and I both look down at his shirt at the same time. It's soaked through.

"For that," I joke weakly. "But mainly for the pain me leaving caused you. I had no idea. All this time, I was under the impression that you were the one who moved on. That I was making a bigger deal out of what we had than I should have. That you didn't really care about me."

"Oh, baby."

Harrick brings me in closer, and I rest the side of my face against his shoulder. His fingers massage my scalp. "I'm still in shock this is really happening."

I sniffle." It's a lot to take in. You're so…different."

"I am." There's a heaviness to his tone. "Life has changed me."

I peer up at him. "For the better?"

He narrows his eyes. "TBD… But I have received some very good news recently."

I crack a tiny grin. "Care to elaborate?"

He lifts my chin, then brings his lips to mine. We're both smiling as we kiss, and suddenly, we're transported back ten years in time. We're not two men kissing on the floor of a mountain cabin, we're two young guys, with their feet dangling off a cliff, the sun setting in front of them, sharing that first precious, tender moment together.

"God, how I've missed you, Princess," I murmur against his lips.

Harrick chuckles. "I'm officially petitioning to change that in favor of Tarzan."

"I thought you liked Princess."

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