Much Ado About Josie by Lacy Williams

Author:Lacy Williams [Williams, Lacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lacy Williams Books LLC

Josie went perfectly still, and Mack froze too. He hadn't meant to say the words, but he wasn't quite in control of his mouth.

She shifted beside him. Was she getting up? No, she settled against his side and then her hand was in his hair again, her fingers soothing against his scalp. It was only her hand, but the caress felt surprisingly intimate. When was the last time someone had touched him with such gentleness? He couldn't say. Maybe not since his mother’s death. Maybe never.

He was confused. Where was the light? Wasn't it morning?

His head throbbed with every heartbeat. And then a sudden thought struck him.

“When we struggled just now, did I hurt you?"

"Only a bruise from landing on top of me." He could almost sense her smile in the darkness.

He loved her smile. From its beginning, when just a hint of movement from her lips was like sunrise breaking over the horizon, to the end, when her joyous flash of teeth meant happiness like a lazy summer day, something a man felt all the way down deep inside.

She smiled like his pa had. Full and welcoming. Just inviting him to join in.

He was in trouble. What was he doing, waxing on about her smile? Fool.

Being close to her was dangerous. It made him want things he had no business wanting. "Shouldn’t we go back to camp?”

"I believe we’re lost," she admitted. “At least, I am. It's too dark, and I can't get my bearings. But it shouldn’t be long until the sun rises. We can head back then."

That wasn’t unreasonable. In fact, she was being downright smart.

But his head ached and he was hungry and he wanted her to do more than just touch his hair.

And his disorientation had faded enough that he gritted his teeth and kept all of it inside.

Silence stretched between them. It felt heavy from all the things unsaid.

“The time will pass faster if we talk.” Her voice was casual as could be. Clearly she was having none of the imaginings he was. “I’m curious about something you said before. When we were talking about Howard.”

I owe him. His words came back to him. Of course she remembered. She was intelligent and sharp.

But he wasn’t going to acknowledge it. What was between him and Howard was their business. No one else’s.

"When did the two of you leave the orphanage?"

He hated thinking about it. Never spoke of it. But somehow his mouth opened and he said, "I was the one who left. I was fourteen.”

He felt her inhale, felt her go still as if she were afraid any movement would shut him up.

But maybe his brain was broken, because more words came pouring out. “Howard had a couple who wanted to adopt him. It was his chance to get out of there and have a better life.”

“And you didn’t want to stay behind without him?”

No. It wasn’t that.

When he didn’t explain, she guessed. “You knew he wouldn’t go without you.”

He’d known Howard wouldn’t allow himself to be adopted unless Mack wasn’t coming back.

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