Page 27 of Reckoning

“No. Briar needs me. She’s hurt,” he said, and bolted.

Andy assumed Tate had gotten a phone call about it and went back to counting out the deposit.

Tate shot out the door and began running toward the park in the center of town. The sun was already below the treetops, and the long shadows were stretching out farther and farther across the grass as the sun kept sinking.

His heart was pounding now. He knew she was suffering, he just didn’t know why. Every step he took felt like he was walking in mud, although in reality, he was flying.

Then he saw her, head down, shaking from the sobs wracking her body.

* * *

Briar heard the sound of someone running toward her and, even before she looked up, knew it was Tate.

Seconds later he was on his knees beside her. “Briar, honey…what happened?”

“Oh…I was mad and crying and not paying attention to where I was going and stepped off into a hole and turned my ankle. I can’t put any weight on it to get myself up, and I accidentally left my phone at home.”

He rocked back on his heels, saw the swelling on her ankle and the size of the purple bruise that was already spreading, and gently felt for broken bones, but felt nothing obvious except swelling. He wanted to wring her parents’ necks, but he wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction of knowing they got under his skin.

“You had a fight with your parents about me again, didn’t you?”

A fresh set of tears rolled as she nodded.

He leaned forward, kissed her forehead, then began picking the grass out of her hair and brushing the tears from her cheek.

“Don’t cry, darlin’. I’ll get you home and you can get some ice on that.”

“How are you going to do that?” she asked.

“I’m going to carry you,” he said, then stood, slid his arms beneath her, and scooped her up. “Put your arm around my neck and just relax. I’ve got you.”

“I’m too heavy to carry that far. Just call Dad. He can come with his car.”

“You are mine to carry,” he said softly, and took off walking.

She looked up at him then, at the strong set to his jaw and the fierce look in his eyes as he pulled her closer.

“Everything is changing. Life is beginning to feel scary. You have a job, and our time together is growing shorter by the day. Just the thought of it is brutal to consider,” Briar said.

Tate sighed. “You couldn’t lose me if you tried. Whatever happens after we graduate is not going to break this bond. You’ve been mine to care for since I first laid eyes on you. Don’t ask me why. I just knew that you were. And the older we get, the more you mean to me. You are my forever girl. Don’t forget…I love you, Briar. I want to be with you forever. Have babies with you. Grow old with you.”

Briar’s heart skipped a beat. “I love you too, Tate. Big love. The wanting to make love with you kind of love, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I won’t let Mama get under my skin ever again. Other people’s words can’t change us.”

He glanced down at her as he was walking. “I dream of making love to you. But I will not let what I want deter our future. We are not going to be that couple, raising babies while we’re still in our teens. That’s not who we are or where we’re going.”

Briar snorted. “My mother has been convinced we’ve been having sex for years. She actually put me on birth control when I turned thirteen. She’s afraid of having a grandchild with unnatural tendencies, as she puts it.”

Tate was surprised about the birth control, but knowing her parents would hate any child they might have together in the years to come put a knot in his belly.

“It’s okay, honey. I can’t pull you into my crazy world until I know what I do won’t put you in danger and I can take care of us financially. I will not let who I am ruin you or your life. You’re so smart. And you’ve always talked about a career. So, while we’re making that happen apart, I will never be far away. And I will always know where you are, and if you need me. Do you understand?”

Briar’s heart hurt just thinking about it, but she understood the choices he was making.

“I get what you mean. You see what your mother has gone through, and you fear that for me, but I will be so lost when we go in different directions.”

“You will never be lost to me, and look…we’re almost to your house. Your dad is sitting on the front porch, and from the way he just shot up from his chair, he has clearly seen us. Brace yourself.”

“This is my punishment,” she muttered. “Trapped inside that house until I can walk again, with them fighting each other and yelling at me.”