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“It feels like I’m in some bombed-out ruins from WWI or II. It’s amazing. God, you could have some awesome parties and events in a place like this. I can just imagine the place cleaned up and with strings of lights…”
He took her hand. “Well, there’s still a lot of work to do before I start planning any parties here.” He led her out toward the side that faced the airport. There was a large stone terrace with a circular stone fire pit and some Adirondack chairs sitting around it.
They both sat, and he handed her a bottle. The night air was the perfect temperature, warm but with a cool breeze blowing. She could smell honeysuckle blooming nearby, but couldn’t see it in the dark.
The lights of the runway flickered in the distance.
They sat quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the quiet night. A plane came in on it’s final approach in the distance, and they both watched it land and taxy toward the terminal.
She felt Ghost turn his head toward her and could feel him studying her for a long moment out of the corner of her eye until finally he spoke.
“Tell me why you ran away.”
She noticed it wasn’t really a question. She turned and looked at him, his eyes were clear, intent and brooked no nonsense. He wanted an answer, a serious one, not some flippant joke. She took a sip of beer, her eyes going back to the lights of the airport.
“Everything just sort of fell apart.”
“I want to know all of it, Jess.”
She rolled her head on the back of the seat, her eyes meeting his. “Robert died.”
He nodded. “Before that. Something happened before that, didn’t it?”
She looked away, unable to continue to meet his probing stare. Yes, something had happened before that. Ghost had removed himself from her life. She swallowed, unsure she’d be able to admit the effect that had had on her.
“Tell me.” His voice was low, deep, but it was also insistent.
She set her bottle down on the stone and rubbed her arms. “It’s getting kind of chilly out here.”
“Jess—”
He was on to her stalling tactic. It wasn’t chilly out here, and he saw through her lie.
She turned on him, her voice sharp. “You were gone. Is that what you wanted to hear? You left. And then Robert left.”
He looked a little stunned, and she suddenly felt a little sick to her stomach, but she kept going, knowing she needed to get it all out or she never would.
“I started hanging with the wrong people.”
He nodded. “Yeah, you did. But what I don’t understand is why.”
She shrugged again.
“Jess, talk to me.”
She stood, walking a few feet, hugging herself. With her back to him, she admitted quietly, “It broke my heart when you stopped coming around. It was like you cut me out of your life.”
It was quiet for a long moment, the silence only broken when she heard his chair creak and felt him come up behind her. And then his arms were around her as he pulled her back against him. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, and then his lips were at her ear.
“Never meant to do that, brat. Never meant to hurt you like that. Never.”
Oh, God. She’d breakdown if he kept up this sweet. She could handle an argument easier than she could handle sweet from him. “Ghost, don’t.”
“You didn’t understand why I left, did you?”
She shook her head.
He tightened his arms. “I thought I was doing what was best for you. You had a bright future, Jess, college, everything. I would have sidetracked all of that. I couldn’t do that.”
