The Hero's Redemption

“I am.”

“Why are you here? Is this because you think you owe me or something?” She didn’t give him time to answer. “Because if it is, you can leave right now.” She sounded…hostile.

Cole dropped the book into his pack, grabbed it and stood up. “If that’s what you want, fine.”

He was ready to walk out, but her big hazel eyes betrayed too much hurt before she rolled to face the far curtain. “Up to you,” she mumbled.

This was ridiculous.

“I want to stay here with you. If you’d rather not talk, that’s okay. I’d still like to keep you company.” He moved his shoulders uneasily. “You should have someone here.”

He thought she swiped at her eyes, but they were dry when she shifted back.

“Thank you.” It was a small, husky whisper.

“Can I hold your hand?”

She looked at him long enough to make him nervous, but finally extended her hand.

He scraped the chair as close to the narrow bed as it would go, then wrapped his fingers around her much smaller, too-cold hand. “Do you remember what happened?”

Lines formed on her forehead. “Kind of.” She sounded uncertain. “I was… I went to a sort of party. Mostly people who work at the library, but some teachers from Lake Stevens High School, too. I meant to come home before dark, but time got away from me. After that…mostly I remember headlights blinding me and the jolt when I braked and the guy behind me didn’t, and seeing this big tree coming at me.”

Of all people to have something like this happen. “I’m sorry,” he said.

She gave a tiny nod and flinched. “Head hurts.”

“I know.” He couldn’t resist stroking her face again, staying away from the places that were purple or raw. Her skin was irresistibly soft, the bones beneath delicate.

Her eyelids sagged again, and he said, “Go back to sleep if you can.”

“No.” Her voice was a little slurred. “Just… Feels good.”

He stroked, gradually moving his hand to the nape of her neck and gently kneading. Erin made a humming sound.

“Say something,” she murmured.

Cole remembered how much he’d wanted to call her after he’d talked to Tom Phillips that day, and again after the college administration decided to let him take a couple of classes now instead of making him wait until winter quarter. And then, after he’d been to the classes and realized how young most of the students were, he’d been relieved when he saw a decent proportion of students his age and older.

So he started, haltingly at first, because filling the silence alone didn’t come naturally to him. When he told her he had a good shot at being promoted to foreman, her eyes flew open and she squeezed his hand. He kept on, talking about the two classes—calculus, which he was taking as a refresher before he went on to trig, which he hadn’t taken in high school, and nineteenth century American literature, because it fulfilled a requirement he needed for his AA degree. He’d already read The Scarlet Letter and was now deep into Moby Dick. He lifted the battered copy he’d found at a used bookstore in town.

“We can choose from a long list. All these famous books, and I hadn’t read any of them.”

“Me, neither. Every so often, I make myself pick one up.”

He smiled. “Even college professors have areas of ignorance?”

“Shh.”

Cole laughed.

Except she looked at him in that way she had, as if she could see right down to the darkest places inside him.

And then she said, “Will you tell me? I think it’s time. Don’t you?”

“Time?” But that was just a delaying tactic. He knew what she was asking and it made him feel sick. He would give almost anything to be able to skip this.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

SHE WATCHED COLE’S face go blank, the way she’d seen a hundred times before. He didn’t move, just wiped away all expression. Was he going to refuse to tell her? Pretend to misunderstand, or ignore what was really a question?

Muscles flexed in his jaw. “Second-degree murder committed during an armed robbery. I was convicted of shooting the guy working the night shift at a convenience store. Barely twenty-one years old. He died.” His mouth curled in an unpleasant little smile. “Now you know why the local cops came straight to see me after the ampm in town was robbed.”