Page 96 of Kane

I have to touch her, needing her skin—I trace my fingers over her shoulders, her breasts. She lets me. “We’ll figure it out, Anj, I promise.”

She sighs. “I think…I believe I am going to have to face them. I must see them, my parents, face to face, and tell them I am choosing myself. I do not think they will accept this, and I will lose them. But I simply cannot continue to live as I was. As you have said, locked away in a tower of ivory, like this Rapunzel. I must live my own life.” She looks at me. “I must find a purpose, Kane.”

“You will. I’ll help.”

She nods. Touches my face. Smiles. “So. Now, we will ride back to Las Vegas. To my parents, and then your club of sin.”

I laugh. “It’s called Sin, that’s the name of it.”

She just smirks. “I know.”

* * *

After lingering for a while longer,we dress and ride back to the barn. Instead of letting Luke’s guys take care of our horses, I wave them off and do it myself, showing Anjalee the inside of the barn. It’s a long, well-lit, wide hallway of poured concrete, interspersed regularly with drains on the floor. On each side, stalls of knotted pine up to shoulder height with black, powder-coated wrought iron bars the rest of the way up to the twelve-foot-high ceilings. Automatic waterers, rubber mat floors coated in a thick layer of fresh cedar shavings. Engraved nameplates show the names of the horses in the stalls. Hands come and go, tipping their hats to Anjalee and me.

I walk our horses to their stalls and cross-tie them in the hallway. A young blond kid appears like magic with grooming kits, and then hustles to take our saddles, bridles, and blankets back to the tack room.

I spend an hour with Anjalee, teaching her how to groom a horse after a ride. She murmurs in Hindi to Patsy as she brushes and curries her, and Patsy responds with nuzzles and whickers.

I let the barn hands walk the horses back to their stalls, and we head up to the house. Lilly is on the front porch with her laptop and a legal pad, reading glasses on her nose and a pen in her fingers, going over notes.

She sees us, closes the laptop and removes the readers. “Ah, hey there, kids! Have a good ride?”

I feel Anjalee blushing beside me. “Sure did,” I answer. “Took her down to the south fields.”

Lilly grins. “The wildflowers?”

Anjalee nods. “It was marvelous—the most beautiful place I have ever been to.”

Lilly stacks her notebook on her laptop. “It really is.” She touches her wedding and engagement rings with her thumb. “Luke proposed to me in those flowers. Right from the back of Cocoa. Pulled the ring box from his pocket, opened it, showed it to me, and just waited. He never actually asked me, not with the words. I guess he figured the ring said it all.”

Anjalee sighs. “Oh, that is very romantic, indeed.”

Lilly grins even wider. “Sure was.” She stands, laptop and notebook tucked under one arm. “Luke is due back for lunch any minute.”

As she says this, Luke arrives on Cocoa, dismounting and tying the reins to the railing of the front porch. His eyes scan Anjalee and me—he seems to be assessing, correctly, where we were. I find myself tucking Anjalee closer against my side. This just makes Luke grin.

Lilly snags Anjalee’s hand. “I think we ladies will go and get lunch ready, hey? You boys can sit and catch up.”

I watch Anjalee, and she seems thrilled to be included, so I just give her a squeeze and then let her go. When we’re alone on the front porch, Luke and I take seats in the handmade Adirondack chairs.

“So. You take her to the flowers?”

I nod. “More beautiful than I remember them being.”

He nods. “I fenced that whole area off for a good year and a half, let it go a bit wild.” He eyes me. “How’d it go, son?”

I close my eyes in the sunlight. “Better than I could have imagined.”

“She seems happy.”

“I think she is.” I fidget with the arm of the chair. “She says she needs to find a purpose. I wish I knew how to give her that.” I sigh. “Shit, I wish I could just stay, Luke. I really do.”

He pats my forearm. “I know, son. I can’t say I’ll be glad to see you go again, but this time, at least, you’re saying goodbye.” He squeezes hard, so I look at him. “You have a duty, Kane. I can see it. You have a place, there—a duty, and an obligation. Someday, you’ll come back and it’ll be to stay.” Another pause, another rough squeeze. “Just know you always,alwayshave a place here. This is yourhome, Kane. It neverstoppedbeing your home.”

I have to swallow hard. “I know it, Luke.” I twist my hand so I can grip his. “I do have a duty back in Vegas. I wish I could stay, but I can’t. I’m glad you get it, though. And I…I’m grateful to you, Luke. Not sure I ever expressed…” my voice shakes, cracks. “How grateful I am. For all you’ve done for me. For…for who you are.”

He grips my hand fiercely. “I love you, boy.”