Page 84 of Backwoods

The fighter must have seen something in his eyes, perhaps a glimpse of the monster Nick had once been, even if only for a fleeting instant, because she lowered her gaze and slid aside.

No one else attempted to stop him.

Outside the building, Nick climbed into his truck. He didn’t start the ignition, didn’t grab the steering wheel. The gravity of what he had accomplished in those few momentous minutes came over him like a sugar high, and he allowed himself a short time to luxuriate in his delight, trembling like a kid, too wound up to do anything.

Once he felt ready to talk, he called Amiya on his cell phone.

“How did things go?” she asked.

“It’s done,” he said. “It went about as I expected: they were pissed.”

“They’ll get over it,” she said. “So. What are you going to do now?”

“I think I’m going to make dinner plans tonight with a certain special lady,” he said.

“Is that so?” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about, she and I,” he said. “We’ve got to talk about our future together as husband and wife.”

“Well, I don’t want to give anything away,” she said, punctuating her words with a light laugh. “But I think she’d enjoy that very much.”