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Her body was far more mature than it had been back then. The delicate curves beneath the silk of her dress were as perfect as he’d imagined. This was the real reason he’d never come home. Seeing Twyla and not acting upon that reckless, rebellious and youthful love some never experienced was impossible. He’d known that years ago.
Forrest considered pulling away from the kiss, but her lips, her mouth, her tongue all teased and coaxed his into a competition of wills he couldn’t lose. There was too much at stake.
The wild give-and-take of their kiss slowed and became far more intense, affecting other parts of his body. Namely his heart. His heart was Twyla’s. It had been for years, and he felt as if it had just cracked open, preparing for his mind to agree and reveal his best-kept secret.
He managed to keep that from happening, just barely, and released her lips with a few small and delicate kisses. The kind of kisses she deserved. She may act the part of an experienced woman, but he sensed she was as innocent as she’d been when he’d left home.
Glorying in the way she fit perfectly against him—which was not so different from how he took the time to appreciate flying into a sunrise—Forrest tucked her head beneath his chin and simply relished holding her for a few minutes.
“You haven’t changed a bit, Forrest,” she whispered. “You’re as gentle and kind and caring as ever.”
Forrest opened his eyes and glanced around the room, at the shattered remnants of his past, and he, too, sighed. “Everything’s changed, doll. Everything’s changed.”
She lifted her head and Forrest wasn’t prepared to answer the questions in her eyes, so he released his hold and took her hand. “The bandages are this way.”
* * *
Twyla cursed her blister silently, while following Forrest into the bathroom, where he let go of her hand to open a small cupboard door. He was right, everything had changed. Inside her, that is. Or maybe it hadn’t changed. After all, she had been in love with him once before. He’d been her first true crush. Way back when he’d made her insides warm and her knees weak as if she’d lost all coordination. That had happened again, and she lowered herself onto the toilet.
“Do you need some help?”
She glanced at the hand he held out.
“I found some iodine,” he said.
“That stuff burns.”
“Yes, but it will make the wound heal faster.”
She took the little brown bottle and the bandage tin. “Thanks.”
“Do you need help taking off your shoe?”
For a moment she wondered if he would remove it and her stocking, if she asked, and how enticing that might be. The thought made her cheeks burn. She may act the part of a doxy to get her way now and again, but had always retreated or escaped before things went too far. Her motto had been to leave them wanting more, but it wasn’t that way with Forrest. She was the one wanting more. Sighing, she shook her head. “No.”
“I’ll wait for you in the other room.”
Twyla waited until he’d closed the door before looking up, and then she let out a long breath. Kissing him was something she could do all day, every day, but that wasn’t any more likely to happen now than it had been way back when. The fact he’d been Norma Rose’s boyfriend hadn’t stopped Twyla from having a crush on him before. His leaving had stopped all that. That was bound to happen again, whether Galen Reynolds was released or not. Her father had told her Forrest was set on acquiring an airmail route from the government.
Twyla set the bottle of iodine and the tin on the edge of the sink and removed her shoe before tugging up her dress to unhook her stocking from the garter. Though her heel was still bleeding slightly, dried blood had stuck the stocking to her skin. She managed to get it off without tearing a hole in the silk and dropped it in the sink. The blood would stain if she didn’t get it rinsed out. After applying the iodine, which stung as badly as she remembered, she covered the area with a bandage and then removed her other shoe and stocking. Going without any was better than wearing just one stocking.
After rinsing the stained one, she draped them both over the edge of the sink and picked up both shoes. The iodine made the blister sting too badly to be further irritated with shoes.
As she opened the bathroom door, a knock sounded on the apartment door. That annoyed her, but so did the wary look Forrest shot her way as he crossed the room. When he opened the door, the two people standing there made her give a moan of exasperation.
“Come in,” Forrest said, waving toward the cluster of furniture that made up the living room.
Ty and Norma Rose walked in, offering greetings as if they’d just encountered her and Forrest on a street corner. Twyla returned their hellos as she made her way to Forrest’s side. While Norma Rose and Ty proceeded all the way to the gold-colored velvet sofa in the center of the room, Twyla leaned over to complain, “Why’d you call them?”
