Kyland

We lay there for several minutes, our breathing labored, our skin dewy with exertion. Finally, Kyland brought his head up and smiled down at me. "God, I missed you so damn much. I wondered if yesterday would be the last time." His smile was tender, but there was sadness in his eyes.

I put my hand up on his cheek and ran my thumb over his cheekbone. "We have a lot to make up for. But all the time in the world." I smiled, my heart filled with hope and joy.

Kyland pulled out of me and I winced slightly. He rolled to the side and sat up slightly to pull a blanket over us. Then he gathered me in his arms and I rested my head on his chest.

"I'm really sorry about this bed situation."

I snuggled closer and turned my nose into his skin, inhaled, and then kissed his nipple. "What bed situation?" I asked, smiling against his chest.

He chuckled. "I don't know. I forgot what I was talking about."

I laughed softly, too. I brought my hands up, propped them on his chest, and rested my chin on them so I could look up at him.

"What are we gonna do, Ky?"

He smoothed my hair back off my forehead. "About what?"

"About everything. About us."

His hand halted. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to figure out where we're going to live—"

He released a breath. "Oh. We'll figure all that out. Once I find the will power to get out of this bed with you. Which could be three months from now."

I laughed. But I got up and sat on my knees facing him and looked at him very seriously. "I have to stay here and finish this school. I made a commitment and it's important to me. And I know you're still working to pay for my mama's care." Love and gratitude filled my heart at all he'd done for me and I grabbed his hand. "But after that, Kyland, I can hire someone else to run the funding for the school and I can work anywhere. Like I said, I get to give that gift back to you now. And so it's your turn to go to college." I was speaking quickly, the ideas coming fast and furious into my brain. "Rather than staying here, I could come with you, wherever you want to go—anywhere. And I'll get a teaching job there and we'll get a really small, inexpensive apartment and we might have to take out a small loan, but—"

Kyland laughed, a tender, but joyful sound. I halted talking and looked at him, realizing that for the very first time since I'd met him, his expression was filled only with joy. "That's all very sweet and we can talk about all that, but, Ten, you're topless right now and I haven't had any sex for four years, so I'm finding it hard to concentrate here."

I laughed and leaned in and kissed him. He smiled against my mouth, kissing me back. I squealed when he flipped me over and gazed down at me grinning his beautiful grin. "We have options now, beautiful girl. I have a couple more months at the mine and your mama is going to be in the hospital for a few more months, too, but after that, the world is our oyster. Or at least it feels like it." Peace. That's what I saw in his handsome face. That smile spoke peace, peace and hope.

The breeze blew through the open window next to Kyland's makeshift bed, ruffling the curtains, and I smelled the unmistakable smell of lavender. I gasped and turned my head. "There's lavender out there."

He nodded. "That's why I used the computer at the Evansly library to look up how to plant it initially. The smell of it reminded me of you. It helped me remember why the suffering was worth it. It helped me focus on what I was doing and why. It helped me remember the moment at the edge of our lavender field after we'd made love, when I realized I'd do anything to get you out of here, even if it meant breaking your heart." Sadness filled his expression. "I brought some inside in the winter. Christmas was the hardest time for me."

"Oh, Kyland." My breath hitched and heartbreak moved up my throat. "For me, too," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut as I recalled those desolate holidays—the ones I'd spent with our old principal's niece who had taken me in when I'd first moved to San Diego.

He shook his head. "Let's not be sad. You're here now. It was worth it. And also, that's how I found out about lavender being a good cash crop. It's helped a few people. Some good came from it."

I nodded. "Yes," I whispered. I leaned up and kissed his lips softly.

He made love to me again, this time soft and slow, our initial desperation quenched. Afterward, as we lay together in the dwindling daylight, the sun slanting through his window, and as I gazed at the man I loved—finally beside me—the world seemed only full of light and hope.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Kyland

That weekend was the most joyful weekend of my life. We spent half of it on the floor of my room, the breeze blowing the scent of lavender through the open window, making love until our limbs were sore, and I didn't remember where she ended and I began. My Tenleigh, the one woman who soothed my soul and excited my body both at the same time. Nothing had changed in that regard.

When our backs were achy from lying down too long, we took a hike in our mountains. Once I had only seen desperation and poverty here—and there was no lack of pain and struggle in Appalachia. But now, walking hand in hand with Tenleigh, what I saw was the wild beauty of the forests just coming to life after a long winter. The wildflowers were blooming everywhere, the meadows awash in color, the streams were sparkling in the sunlight, and the air was warm and tasted of the sweetness of spring. These were the hills of my blood, the land my father and all his fathers before him had worked and loved in, toiling in the coal mines, working the soil of their land, and falling in love with women who would give them proud Kentucky sons and daughters. For the first time since I'd been a little boy, I felt fierce with the love of home, of these mountains, of the people who lived here, trying, failing, trying again, hanging on by their fingernails to their God-given pride and their enduring love of Appalachia.