Page 74 of Daybreak

Leigh raised her head from the desk. “Never heard of it.”

“Probably because it came out before you were born. Treat yourself some night. It’s bound to be on some streaming service,” Lisa muttered, then turned back to her computer, trying to remember what she’d been doing.

* * *

Holly buckled her seat belt and leaned back in the seat as Gunner gunned it out of the parking lot, heading for the nearest on-ramp to the Loop, then shooting out into traffic like he’d been launched.

“This is the first time we’ve been in a car together,” she said.

Gunner arched an eyebrow. “But we have been in bed together.”

Holly was still trying to catch her breath from their entry into traffic.

“True, and I can say with all honesty that I am forever grateful you are not this fast in bed.”

He burst out laughing.

“What?” she said.

He shrugged. “You are going to be so freaking good for me. My whole life has been lived behind dark glasses.”

“Oh, honey…” Holly’s voice was suddenly shaky. “My heart is so sad for the little boy you were, and how damaged your faith in people became because of what happened.”

“I have the best family. The best support group. I’m just missing the genetic component to adapting.”

Holly shook her head. “It’s not that. Don’t ever think it’s a fault of your own for what happened. It hit you the hardest because you were also the youngest. Children almost always form their first bond with their mother. The first nine months of becoming us happens inside our mothers’ bellies. Even after a child is born, tiny pieces of the child’s DNA stay with her. My mom told me something years ago that has stayed with me. The bond between mother and child is eternal, even if that mother fails to nurture. When your mother did what she did, she took that tiny piece of you with her but left nothing tangible of herself within you except a feeling of abandonment.”

The hair crawled on the back of Gunner’s neck. It all made sense. Emotions can be so complicated, but answers could be so simple.

“Damn, girl. You just nailed me to the wall with that. There’s no denying everything you said.”

“All you have to do is let people love you again. I’m the beginning, but it’s going to get better… I promise. You don’t have to keep running anymore.”

Gunner was suddenly blinking back tears, and he didn’t cry.

“Heard, with thanks. I love you, Holly Dillon.” Then he noticed he was coming up on his exit. He shifted lanes and took the next off-ramp in one smooth move. “It’s not far now, and you’re gonna get the biggest hug when I get you out of this car.”

“Something more to look forward to,” she said. “And I can’t wait to see your house.”

“It’s Spanish in design. Adobe walls, arches, and colorful handmade tiles. Asher’s house is similar, and neither of us knew we’d chosen similar styles until I went there when he and Nora were about to get married. My house is a three-bedroom, two and a half baths, with an office, a chef’s kitchen, and a great fireplace. Oh…and a big, covered patio and a funky escape hatch from the back of my garage.”

“The escape hatch is intriguing, and you just described my dream home,” she said.

“Then we will recreate it in Crossroads, with everything you want in it,” he said.

“I still can’t believe this is all happening… Getting to move home. Making a forever life with you and filling a house with the sounds of children’s laughter.”

“We will be invincible when we work together,” Gunner said. “It’s going to be a hassle to move, but we’ll get it done.”

“I rent. Moving will be simple for me. What are we going to do with two sets of furniture?” she asked.

“Sell or donate, and buy new stuff? Anything we want.”

Holly’s eyes widened, and so did the smile on her face. “We are on such an adventure.”

“Yes, we are, darlin’. It feels a little like a dream, doesn’t it? Like a quest, but without any more dragons in wait.”

As he neared his house, he tapped the remote. The garage was open when he went up the driveway and rolled inside. That’s when Holly saw the Rubicon parked in the other bay, and a single exit door in that bay at the back of the garage.