Page 105 of The Lilac River

"I’ll stay tonight," I said. "Even if it’s just on the couch. I’m not leaving you alone again."

"You don’t have to," she whispered.

"I want to."

I wrapped her hand in mine, brushing slow, grounding circles across her knuckles.

"You don’t have to be strong with me, Lila. Not anymore. I’ll be strong enough for both of us."

"You always were," she whispered.

"Only when I had you," I murmured.

I kissed her forehead, then scooped her into my arms, carrying her to the bedroom. No sex. No expectations. Just skin against skin, breath against breath. Her heartbeat under my palm.

She clung to me like a girl who’d finally found home. And I held her like a man who’d never let it go again.

Chapter 39

Starting Over – Chris Stapleton

Lily

“Why Concordia then?” Nash asked, brushing my hair from my face with a tenderness that made my heart flutter.

We were lying in my bed, the covers twisted around our legs, the soft hush of the night wrapping around us like a blanket of its own. We hadn’t had sex, but I’d lain in his arms all night just talking and laughing, and yes, there had been a few tears. From both of us.

When Nash had stripped down to his boxer briefs and gotten in behind me, I’d braced myself. I’d expected his hands to wander again, for him to be a little bit “ungentlemanly,” as Grandma would put it. But Nash had surprised me. He’d done nothing but wrap me in his arms, fitting his body to mine like we were puzzle pieces long separated.

His chest was warm and solid at my back, his breath a slow rhythm against my neck as we whispered in the darkness.

“If you were looking, I didn’t think you’d find me in Canada,” I explained softly, the memory like a snow globe I hadn’t shaken in years. “Or even look for me there. It felt safe.”

Nash’s body stiffened slightly behind me, the arm around my waist tightening with instinctive protectiveness.

“Were you scared of my dad?” he asked, his voice low and careful, like he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer.

“No,” I said, after a beat too long. “I was scared of you.”

That got him.

He shifted immediately, moving so he was propped over me, his forearm braced on the mattress. His eyes found mine in the dim wash of moonlight spilling through the window. They were wide, earnest, filled with something fierce and aching.

“Lily,” he whispered. “I would never hurt you.” The way he said it, like an oath, a promise carved into the marrow of him made my chest ache.

“I know.” I reached up to touch the side of his face. “I was scared you’d find me... and I’d come back. And my mom’s life would be ruined…and so would yours.”

His jaw tensed, but his hands, those big, calloused hands that could pull a fence post from frozen ground, were impossibly gentle as they cupped my face.

“And don’t you think being gone all those years ruined your mom’s life?” he asked softly, voice ragged at the edges.

I swallowed hard, my heart clenching. “I saw her. I just never came home.”

The words scraped my throat. “After graduation, I got a job teaching at an elementary school just outside Orchard Lake. Got an apartment. Eventually married Erik.” I let the name land before adding, “My boss.”

I raised a brow, a quiet reminder of what Nash had said that night in the back hallway of Downtown Bar & Grill.

He sighed, grimacing. “Yeah. Not my finest hour.” A beat. “I’m so sorry, Lila.”