Colton's Lethal Reunion (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

To be held by him.

She needed to keep going, drive on past. But couldn’t see clearly through her tears. Stopping the Jeep out front, just so she could grab a tissue, she was busy searching for one when there was a knock on her door.

She opened it. As one did.

Rafe reached over, put her vehicle in gear. Unbelted her.

And she let him. Like some kind of helpless little girl.

The girl she’d been.

The girl she’d never be again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, sounding scared. Worried. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

And she realized... He didn’t know she was falling apart because of him.

And there was something she hadn’t known, either. Seeing him there, right when she was falling apart...she had to face the truth about herself.

“I don’t care what job I have, or where I live...if I have you,” she said, still crying, but getting the words out clearly. “I just don’t care, Rafe. If my hair’s long or short, if I’m in Arizona or Alaska, in a small town or big city...none of it matters to me as much as being with the one person in the world I love more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I thought it would go away. I thought it would change.

“I thought I had a choice...” The last broke off on a sob and she was in his arms, holding on to him, letting it all out. “You left me...”

“I don’t think I did.”

His words reached her and she pulled back to stare at him. Seriously? He didn’t get it?

“Can we go inside?” he asked. “Have this conversation in private?”

Glancing around, she didn’t see anyone out in their yards. And cars driving by—there was one, but it would move on down the road.

“No,” she said. She couldn’t have him in again, just to watch him walk away.

“Have it your way.” Moving them out of the road, he took her hand and started to walk with her, to the sidewalk, and then down the street. “I didn’t leave you, Ker, not in the way you think. My heart never stopped loving you, not for one second. It damn sure never let you go. What I did do was hide. Not at first. When I was a kid, I did what I had to do, as far as I understood, to be a good person. And...to take care of me. I didn’t tell you about Payne’s ultimatum to protect you and your family. But also to protect myself. I couldn’t bear the thought of you moving away, of not having you close, of not being ab

le to watch you through my window...”

They reached a crosswalk, took it and headed back toward her house on the other side of the street.

“But later, when I reached adulthood, I thought I was beyond my youth, all grown-up, and ready to come home, take up the reins I’d been given at Colton Oil and face the fact that you’d never be close again. And then I get back and hear that you’re home, too. And a cop. Right here in town. That’s when I screwed up. I was healthy. Enjoying the good life. I felt carefree. Capable. I’d grown out of the young boy who’d been so lonely, who’d spent so many hours watching you from his window. Payne Colton, in giving me everything, had also stripped everything that I’d been from me. Living without was easier, because I could hide it in being a part of something important, a part of the Colton legacy and the influence that gave me. Living the high life was nice, too.”

She listened so hard she was barely aware of the sky above. The houses up from the curb. The cool air. It was like he was inside her again, a place she’d once taken for granted. There was no judgment. It was how they used to be. Able to tell each other anything and know it would be okay.

Because it came with another knowledge—that no matter what was said, or what happened, nothing would ever separate them. Their love was that strong.

For so many years she’d tried to understand how that had all been a lie. To deal with the loss. To live without him.

Instead, she’d moved back to town because he was close. She’d never even cut her hair...

“But I never stopped loving you, Ker. I think I tried, on some level, at least. I lost touch with the self I’d started out to be. The self with whom I’ve become reacquainted with this week. The self I’ve had to face with shame. I was selfish, Kerry. And weak. Afraid of ever hurting again as much as it hurt when I had to quit seeing you...but I always loved you. In my deepest whatever, it’s always you. Always has been. Always will be.”

Squeezing his fingers so tightly her hand hurt, she smiled. Walked. Cried some. It was like they’d left the sidewalk, left Mustang Valley, and were up with the clouds, in the no-man’s-land that had once been their friendship.

“I’m also a Colton,” he said. “And I love my family.”

“I know,” she said, sniffling.

“So...we have a challenge in front of us,” he continued, and she loved the break in his voice almost as much as she loved him. “I’m bringing it to you this time, Ker. How do we make this work?”