CAMILLE
“THERE’S SOMETHING Iwant to show you,” Rex announces as he leads me upstairs to my room. He’s carrying a box under his arm that he says he’s kept in his closet at The Barn for a long time.
I’m curious.
Once we’re inside, he sits on my bed, and I join him. “Here. Take a look.”
I open the lid and gasp. It’s filled with newspaper clippings and printed articles, awards that I’ve won, and the picture of me they used for social media when I won the Hometown Bakers Championship. “Rex?”
“I’ve been collecting them since the day you left. Once I had them all, I started backdating to college and high school. They’re all inside. Everything you’ve accomplished.”
He sounds proud of me.
“And I’ve given a copy to your Granny. She has all of them, too.”
I glance at the board on my wall and the proud display my Granny posted for me to see. But it wasn’t her idea.
Rex made it possible.
“You’re too good to me,” I whisper, holding back the sob that wants to break loose. “Even when I thought you forgot about me, you proved that I’ve always been important to you.”
“And that’ll never stop, my Blissy Girl.”
I launch myself at his chest and tackle him to my mattress. “Then it’s a good thing I love you, Rex Coleman.”
“A very good thing,” he agrees before capturing my lips in the perfect kiss.
He’s a keeper, even if he’s sometimes a wild scarecrow dispensing justice in the cornfields outside Raven’s Crest.
“YOU’RE A SCARECROW.” It’s not a question.
Rex stretches out beside me on my bed. “Yes. Well, it’s a little complicated. I can connect with any of the scarecrows outside Raven’s Crest or within the vicinity.”
“Because of the Salem witches.”
He’s been explaining it to me for the last hour. It’s still hard to accept. “That’s right.”
“So, I’ll always have protection from stalkers and fanatics.”
“Yeah, baby. You will.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?” He sounds surprised I’m accepting this so easily.
“I’ve heard the rumors since middle school. I just never expected they had a real component to them.”
“Damn, baby. You turn me on.”
“Because I believe you?” I ask with humor.
“No, because you trust me and know I love you.”
“I do.”
“Get naked,” he orders.
I blink. “What?”
