Page 64 of Rocky Mountain Devil

“Partly, but it was more than that.” She sighed unhappily. “I knew my parents were going to be disappointed, for so many reasons, and so I didn’t tell them either.”

“Not that I want to keep bringing it up, but you seem to be keeping a lot of secrets from your folks.”

“I wasn’t off living under a bridge or anything. I went to my aunt’s in Winnipeg. I was supposed to go there for the summer, anyway. I just went earlier without saying anything to them.”

“And changed your school plans, and everything else without discussing it.” Rafe held up a hand before she could protest. “I know, you’re a grownup, and you don’t have to tell them everything. But they’re decent people, Laurel. I think they would’ve understood. They probably could have helped you talk things out.”

“Maybe if they were less perfect it would’ve been easier to share. I didn’t want to disappoint them, and I couldn’t…”

She still wasn’t telling him everything, but it wasn’t time to drag it out of her.

He cupped her chin with his fingers and made her look him in the eye. “Here’s the only question you need to answer. Whether your whole breakup was a misunderstanding or not, what do you want now? Do you want to give Jeff another chance? Because—”

“No,” she snapped so quickly he knew it was the honest truth.

Or at least the truth she wanted to believe.

“Then I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” he assured her. “Not as far as your parents go. You’ve got a good job, Laurel. And you’re back here, and you like spending time with them— Whatever it was you set out to do, I think you accomplished it. You’re standing on your own two feet.”

She nodded slowly.

“You do want to be in Rocky, don’t you?”

“Yes. And I want to be with you—aboutthosethings I have no doubts.”

And there it was. A hint of what might be wrong. He scooped her into his lap and held her close, cuddling her for a moment. Her heartbeat rang through him as she leaned in harder, circling her fingertips on his chest as she relaxed.

Laurel had grown up in the church, with a pastor for a father, and bible studies and bedtime prayers and whatever else came with the territory.Doubtsto her had to be about the things she’d been taught.

It was a terrible time to bring this up, but he had to know. “I’m never going to be an upstanding member of the church,” he warned her gently. “That’s not part of who I am, or what’s important to me.”

“I know.”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

Laurel tilted her head until she could meet his gaze, her eyes filled with moisture. “It’s not whatyoubelieve that worries me. I just don’t know…” She took a deep breath. “I’ve spent all my life standing firmly in one spot, but the last three years shook me up pretty good.”

“You got doubts about what you believe?”

“Yeah.”

Which would have totally thrown her into a loop. Made sense.

Whatever else they’d done over the years, Laurel had always had a solid sense of who she was. She’d never preached at him—not with words. But he’d always known what was important to her, which was another reason why he’d been able to hold off that long-ago night when they were first tempted to get involved.

“Hey. It’s notthatterrible,” he teased, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip. “If you knew everything now you’d have nothing to learn for the rest of your life. That’d get pretty boring.”

“I suppose.”

“You okay? You need me to do anything?”

She shook her head. “You keep being you. I’ll figure it out.”

“I know you will.”

This time when her stomach complained, he heard the rumble.

“Can I eat now?” she asked plaintively. “Next time I’ll know better than to start talking before we’ve eaten.”