Page 17 of Forbidden to Fall

I headed to my car and opened my trunk, then stared into it, hands on my hips. When I’d bought all of these ingredients at the store, one of the employees had helped me load everything into my trunk. Thanks to multiple fifty-pound bags of flour, my car was sitting lower than usual.

Squatting like a competitive bodybuilder, I scooped one of the bags into my arms and let out a breath. This would be…fun.

I waddled my way toward the sugar shack, thinking Thor thoughts.

It didn’t work.

I let the bag slip out of my arms and onto the ground. Breathing hard, I looked at the path ahead of me, which was definitely made for humans, not cars. I was halfway there—on my first bag of flour.

I should’ve thought this through more. Could I drive my car right up to the sugar shack?

A UTV came around the back corner of the shack, James at its wheel. Behind it was a small trailer.

He slowed as he approached me, then came to a stop, the engine rumbling. He put it in park and got out.

“Remember a few minutes ago when I asked you what I could do to help?” He leaned over and picked up the flour sack. “This sort of thing was what I meant.”

I reached for the sack. “I’ve totally got it.”

His lip lifted at one edge as he set the flour in the trailer. “Hop on,” he said as he got back in the driver seat. “We’ll go back to your car and get the rest.”

I hesitated. Ryan’s face was in my head. He would not support this…fraternizing with the enemy.

James’s gaze was on me, and it seemed to harden at my hesitation. “You can head to the sugar shack. I’ll bring everything down.” He looked ahead and put the vehicle in gear.

Heart thumping, I called out, “Wait for me.”

James’s hand paused on the wheel as I came around and got onto the passenger seat.

I loved my brother Ryan, and I didn’t want to upset him or make him feel betrayed. But this wasn’t about that. This was about the business May and I were doing together.

I also hated seeing how my hesitation had affected James. Whatever he’d done in the past, I didn’t want to be the kind of person who was vindictive or hurtful back.

He’d be gone soon anyway.

Together—silently—we unloaded the trailer. I stole a couple of glances at him, trying to match up the man I was seeing with the one I’d known years ago. They didn’t fit. It looked like James had been put into a computer program and stretched. But it wasn’t the physical difference I was hung up on.

He was so…subdued. Somber.

What had he been doing for the last eight years?

“Where do you want the flour?” he asked.

“You can leave one out, but the rest can go in the large cupboard.”

One by one, he set three of the bags in the cupboard. “Can I ask you something?”

I hesitated. “Is it why I was in that cupboard yesterday?”

“Maybe….”

I turned to my empty canisters and opened one. “Then no. You can’t.”

A breathy laugh came from him, taking me by surprise.

There had been a couple moments since yesterday where I’d caught a glimpse of humor or amusement from him, but they’d been quickly replaced by that stoic, tight-jawed look—because of how I’d reacted.

I didn’t want that to happen again.