AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lachlan didn’t care much about science one way or the other. It wasn’t something he spent a lot of time pondering. But he knew what he felt. He knew that he felt a divine presence when he was out riding in the mountains, one that he’d often been angry at, because what the hell, man? If there was a big divine presence out there, why hadn’t it intervened in his life?
It still comforted him. Even if he was sometimes mad at it. He’d rather have someone to be mad at than believe in nothing, frankly. So the idea that her dad was still around, that she could feel him... It didn’t seem strange to him in the least. It seemed right. Reasonable.
Albert wouldn’t like it. It would’ve been something they debated. It superseded logic, and Albert wasn’t a fan of that. Lachlan was, if only because he had watched men do impossible mental dances to explain the terrible things they did. To justify them. He wasn’t fond of men’s logic. So he liked to believe that there were things out there that were beyond it. That were beyond their control and their understanding.
“Doyouwant them?” she asked.
“Do I want...what?”
“The bug collections. You can have them.”
“Aren’t I supposed to be finding a woman and convincing her to come and live with me? Because I feel like that might make it an uphill battle.”
“Well... I know that. I’m sorry. It’s just...”
“You know,” he said, his voice suddenly feeling too harsh for the space. For the topic. “Yeah. I might like them. That way, your dad might have a reason to come and check in with me.”
“He already does,” she said, so confident in that.
“Well, I like it. So yeah. I’ll take them, and I’ll put them up somewhere. Any woman that wants to be my wife is going to have to deal with it, because they were a gift. From somebody really special.”
Charity smiled, and right then he didn’t know if he meant her, or Albert.
“Are you going to sleep here tonight?”
Silence blanketed them, and there was nothing but the sound of the house settling around them.
“You know, I think I’m gonna go ahead and walk home.” He just figured he should. It seemed like the better part of valor at that moment, and he didn’t even quite know why. “But I’ll see you for dinner. Tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up.”
Because it was a date, after all.
“Okay,” she said. She yawned and pitched her head back, then forward again, a lock of blond hair falling into her face. “I’m sleepy,” she said.
“Yeah. I figured as much. Get some rest. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
He reached out and snagged a couple of cookies off the plate and headed toward the door.
“Lachlan?”
He stopped and turned. There was something about the way the light shone on her just then, that made her look unfamiliar. She looked young, but not like she’d been when she was a teenager or anything, just...serene maybe. Like there was a halo around her.
“What?”
“Thank you. For taking care of me. It’s just... It means a lot. I don’t know if you really know that.”
“You’re welcome.”
He opened the door, and a blast of chilly air hit him in the face.
He welcomed it.
He shoved the cookies into his mouth, then pushed both hands into his pockets and walked on with his head down, enjoying the press of the darkness around him.
There was light. There would be light. There always was.
And he was working on making some light of his own and he supposed that was a pretty good start.
