Page 18 of Two Hearts' Christmas Homecoming

Lex swallowed, replying gruffly, “Yes.”

“I have a feeling that everything’s going to be alright. Don’t worry. From what Gabe said, this doctor friend of his has seen everything there is to see throughout the years.”

“Doesn’t all of this seem to be a little unreal?” Lex asked suddenly.

“More than a little,” Zane answered dryly.

“I’m scared, Zane,” Lex said softly.

“It’s alright to be scared,” Zane answered.

Standing and approaching Lex, Zane sat at the end of his bed.

“I haven’t told you everything that happened to me,” Lex muttered, searching Zane’s eyes.

“You mean about when you used to come back to the farm looking like someone nearly beat you to death?” Zane asked gruffly.

Lex nodded.

“I kind of got the feeling that you didn’t want to talk about it. But I also had a feeling you were going to try and stay at the farm once I set up our escape.”

Inhaling a deep breath, Lex cocked his head. “You’re right.”

“I didn’t care about what you didn’t want me to know. But I was even more determined to get you away from that place Lex, even before Caleb arrived. Nothing you ever said to me would have ever stopped me from watching out or you,” Zane said, sounding grim. “We’re friends. Got that?”

Tears welled up in Lex’s eyes as he nodded his agreement.

As he stood back up, Zane cleared his throat. “Now, get some sleep.”

Surprisingly, after Lex settled onto the bed and covered himself with his blanket, he immediately dozed off.

ChapterNine

Amy was excited. Deep in her heart, she knew she was going to have three more brothers. And now, she would have Caleb around all the time to play with. Since Mom and Dad were always so protective, it was hard to make new friends.

But a lot of that had to do with how shy she was. She’d made a few friends at school, but none were really allowed to come over because there was a lot of talk around school about Harry and Amy’s past, even though Amy would hate to have either Mom or Dad find out, so she’d never told them she’d been feeling kind of lonely.

She was close to Izzy, but Izzy was really popular at school and had a lot of interests that Amy really didn’t. Even though Izzy was only a few years older, they’d been growing apart. Harry had Eve, so they were always going out together, which was fine, because Amy really loved his girlfriend, Eve. Amy grinned, because Eve had been the one to introduce her to bubble baths when she’d helped to rescue Harry, along with Amy, from their abusive foster home.

Amy had spent most of her life being scared, but the truth was, now that she felt secure for the first time in her life, she really wasn’t sure about what would interest her in the future. She loved to help Mom in the kitchen most of all, but she was still too young to do more than assist when Mom prepared meals for her catering business. Mom was teaching her how to cook, and she did enjoy that.

It was only the second week of their summer vacation from school, and she’d been bored to death before Izzy had brought home the boys this morning. Amy had been able to tell right away that Izzy and Zane would be instant friends. And of course, Amy would help take care of Caleb. He seemed a lot younger than he was supposed to be, she’d realized when she was trying to teach him about video games, so she would dig out a lot of her old games and just give them to Caleb.

Because that was what Izzy had done for her when Amy had moved in. Even now, Amy had to smile when she thought about how great of a sister Izzy had been to her.

And then Amy started considering Lex. She didn’t quite know what to think of him. He seemed…mysterious, and on guard all the time.

Like he was expecting something really bad to happen and might try to run away. She knew in her heart that something terrible would happen to him if he did.

Whatever was going on with him, Amy decided then and there that she was going to make sure that he didn’t leave his new home.

Because of what she’d learned during the past few years. Whatever was scaring Lex, Mom and Dad would be able to fix everything for him.

Just like they had for her.

ChapterTen

When Lex woke the following morning, he noticed that Zane must have already been up and moving because his bed was made. Since it was only about nine, and Caleb was still sleeping soundly, Lex decided to go take another bath. He couldn’t believe how much better he’d been feeling since yesterday, so he wanted to be sure to keep following the doctor’s instructions.

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