“Someone who loves me?” Kane murmurs, frowning. “You ain’t ever met me till this moment.”
“So?” She pats his chest. “Love does not obey the laws of time, my dear boy.” She looks at me, then. “How long have you known him?”
I blink, surprised to be brought into this, which seems to be a family discussion. “Um, not quite a week, I believe.”
Luke coughs in shock. “Wait, hold up.What?”
Lilly glances at him. “Hush up, honey, I’m working.” Back to me. “And yet you managed to talk Kane into doing something he’s been afraid of and avoiding for seven years.”
“Talked me into it?” Kane snorts. “She forced me here. Risked everything. She’s coming from…let’s just call it a tricky situation back home, and going back ain’t an option. I’m all she’s got, and she risked losing me to get me back here.”
Lilly just smiles. “Exactly. Because she loves you. Love at first sight is real. And just because it happens at first sight doesn’t make it any less valid than a couple who builds a relationship over a matter of years. When it’s right, it’s right, and when you know, you know.”
My heart pounds, my palms go clammy. “I do not know if—”
“Of course you do,” she says. “Don’t chicken out now, baby girl. Not when you’ve come this far.”
I consider it. And…I realize it is true. I look at Kane. “I think perhaps she is correct.”
Kane’s smile is bright and tender—his eyes more open than I’ve ever seen them. “I know she is.”
“Uh, hate to interrupt, here, but we haven’t even been introduced,” Luke says.
I hold out my hand. “I am Anjalee Sharma.”
“Luke Alanson.” He takes my hand in both of his. “I can’t begin to thank you for what you’ve done, here. You worked a miracle. You gave me my boy back.”
Kane clears his throat, breathing strangely. “Goddammit, Luke. Quit makin’ me blubber like a damn girl.”
Lilly turns on him. “Showing emotion is a sign of strength and maturity, Kane, not weakness, and certainly is not a sign of effeminacy.” She turns away, then, bustling into the kitchen. “Now. Ya’ll sit. Time to eat.”
So, we sit, and we eat, and we talk.
Well, Kane and Luke talk, mostly Kane catching Luke up on what he has been doing for the past seven years. When he gets to the story of the ambush, Lilly steps in again, effortlessly operating in a professional capacity as well as personal, helping Kane work through his feelings of guilt in that as well.
Finally, well into the night, Luke and Lilly bid us goodnight, Luke with a manly, back-slapping bear hug for Kane, insisting that we stay in the guest room down here.
The guest room is beyond the kitchen, down the short hallway. It is somewhat small, but has its own bathroom, and a very large, comfortable bed.
I sit on the bed, barefoot, watching Kane remove his boots. “Was this your bedroom?” I ask.
He stuffs his socks into his boots, shaking his head. “No. I lived down in the bunkhouse. It’s behind the barn back in the trees a bit, so you couldn’t see it from the drive or in front of the barn. No, this was always a guest room. Master is upstairs, and…Della’s room.” He looks at me. “No memories for me, here, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
I nod. “It was.”
He peels his shirt off, his jeans. “Anj…”
I sit, look at him. “Are you angry with me?”
He grabs me, lifts me into his lap. His lips touch the top of my head. “No, honey. I’m not.”
“You were.”
“Yeah, I was.” He twists, lying so I’m on top of him. “I was scared shitless, honey. I didn’t believe he could forgive me. Never crossed my mind that he would. I honestly thought I’d spend the rest of my life just…running and hiding from my own hate and guilt.”
“And now?”
“I mean, it ain’t all gonna just vanish just like that. But…I feel…” He shakes his head; his hands curl into me, into my hair and into my backside. “I feel free, Anjalee. And you—you did that. I dunno how I could ever thank you.”
