Carly's Rule by Vickie King

Author:Vickie King
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BelleBooks Inc.
Published: 2013-09-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

“I HAVE SOMETHING for you. Come here.” Luke took Carly by the hand and led her to the bedroom.

Carly sat on the edge of the mattress while he went to the closet. Luke reached up and pulled something from the shelf. She narrowed her gaze, unable to shift her attention from the old shoebox in his hands. If she didn’t know better, she’d think... but that was impossible.

He sat down beside her. “That day I saw you under the picnic shelter—”

“Is that mine?” Unable to wrap her mind around this, she looked up at him. “How?”

Luke cleared his throat, seeming to struggle with the explanation. “I happened to notice a piece of wood dangling out of this box that day. I’ve always been drawn to anything wooden, so I guess it was instinct or reflex that had me moving toward the trash barrel.” He lifted the lid and pulled out the key chain—her key chain. “I recognized it. I knew I couldn’t leave it there. And then I saw the other things in the box. It tore me up to think how much I’d hurt you, how I’d screwed up what we had.”

Words formed, but she couldn’t get her throat to work. She swallowed the aching knot of emotions. Her eyes filled, and his vision swam before her. He couldn’t know there was more to their story. He couldn’t know that she’d hung onto every scrap of that summer, of anything that had reminded her of him, because she’d had nothing else. She’d already lost their child, the tiny life they’d made together that wasn’t developed enough to survive.

The tears spilled then, and she brushed at them. Fighting to keep them at bay, she closed her eyes. The bed shifted. His arms came around her then, and he pulled her onto his lap, held her while she fought for composure. But the memories were too strong, and the years of unanswered questions that had weighed her down for so long finally broke. She hadn’t known she’d been holding back, not even that day in her bakery’s kitchen when he’d finally explained to her why he’d disappeared out of her life, not even then had she realized the extent of all that bound her emotions.

She couldn’t stop crying. She would tell him about their baby, but right now she simply needed to be held, needed the comfort of his arms. There was so much more she wanted to know about his life. So much more they needed to share. Years of distance had cultivated each of them into the people they were today, but there would be another time for sharing, another time for filling in the years. For now, there was only this moment.

When her tears were spent, he lifted her and laid her on the bed, stretching out beside her. Craving the taste of him, she burrowed closer, until their lips touched. A slow, sweet fire ignited her body. His hand, calloused from years of working with wood, reverently wiped the last trace of tears from her face.

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