The Girl in the Picture: A totally gripping and emotional page-turner by Melissa Wiesner

Author:Melissa Wiesner [Wiesner, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture

Chapter Sixteen

Jack

From somewhere out in the yard, the distinctive cock-a-doodle-doo of a rooster’s crow drifted into Jack’s consciousness. He opened his eyes and squinted at the slant of sunlight that fell across his makeshift pillow from the slats between the pine walls of the barn. He blinked to adjust to the brightness, waiting for the heavy feeling of exhaustion to wash over him, but it never came. For the first time in a long time, he felt refreshed and alert. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d managed to sleep all the way until morning. Usually the nightmares dragged him from bed long before dawn, leaving him pacing like a ghost in the darkness until the gray light finally released him to stagger through the day.

Was it possible that the nightmares were subsiding, and that he might be able to sleep like a normal person again? A tiny flicker of a memory kindled in his mind. The screams. The panic that threatened to choke him. The blood.

No. He’d had a nightmare last night.

Slowly, it came back to him. Tegan leaning over him, gently shaking him awake. Her hand pressed to his pounding heart, and her voice, low and soothing, telling him that she was there and everything was okay. His usual terror and panic replaced by the comfort of her presence and the warm lure of sleep.

He felt movement at his hip and looked down at the tangle of strawberry-blond hair spilling across his shoulder, and the freckled cheek pressed against his arm. Tegan was there, she’d been there all night. And he’d finally slept—really slept—for the first time in almost a year.

She shifted in her sleep, reaching out to grasp his arm like a child pulling a teddy bear to her chest. The scent of something fresh, like cut grass and spring, drifted up from her hair, and he turned his head to breathe it in. He lay as still as a statue, hoping he wouldn’t wake her, savoring her warmth against his side.

Jack knew the exact date that he’d last slept next to a woman. He knew the moment almost to the minute that she’d climbed out of bed for the final time, walked out the door, and never come back again. He could recall it intellectually, but the feelings were fuzzy. He hadn’t thought about sex in almost a year. Charlotte was gone, and he hadn’t cared if he ever touched another woman, kissed another woman again. If he didn’t get close to someone he’d never have to go through the pain of losing them.

But in that moment, lying next to Tegan, breathing in her scent and feeling her against him, something that was frozen inside him finally thawed.

A breath drifted from the back of her throat, and he wondered what she was dreaming about. She let out another sigh, the sound like a quiet mix of satisfaction and anticipation he imagined she’d make if he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

His muscles tensed as the image flashed in his mind.

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