It’s not until an hour later when we stop for a breather and sit on a pair of tree stumps that I decide to ask that question of him—the one that’s been stewing in my mind that Melody did not ask. She’s standing by the edge of the lake, far enough away that she won’t hear.
“Kail?”
“Yes?”
“I have to confess, I was thinking of getting DNA from you too. I apologize as I was going to do it without asking you.”
His eyebrows rise, and he inclines his head. “But you didn’t, so there is nothing to say sorry for. Thank you.”
“Not interested in finding out?”
“No.”
“Can you say why? You don’t know for sure who you come from. This might help you find out.”
“I know.” He stares out over the lake. “I guess I’m afraid.”
“Oh.” Kail, afraid, is not something I am prepared for.
“I have my dark moments. What if I’m not who I hope I am? What if I was not a good man? Or some of me was not. Maybe I robbed banks or was some racist piece of crap?”
“I understand. I understand as well as I can. It’s something only you can decide.”
He nods. “Maybe I will agree to it, after I think on it some more.”
That’s all I can ask of him. Although this is the mostunusual, surreal relationship, it is also the only one I’ve been in that has simply felt as comfortable as settling into a well-worn sofa with a cuddly teddy bear from my childhood for a pillow, while outside the rain patters on and dribbles down the window glass.
Okay brain, hold up there.
I check out Kail and the slide of light over his long-sleeved gray shirt, how it follows those rolling hills of superb muscle. His scars. His no-nonsense way of handling me in bed, or…out of bed when he chooses.
A sexy teddy bear? A better fit. One that will kill to protect what is his.
He lifts his hands, screws up his nose. “I can smell duck on me.” He leans in and sniffs me, wrinkles his nose again. “Ewww-eee, I’m going to need to scrub you in the shower for ages to get rid of the stink.”
“Promises, promises. I’ll be scrubbing you.”
“Give me a hug first.” He opens his arms and advances.
I shriek and back away, trying not to trip on the undergrowth. “Melody! Help! Smelly man!”
She only guffaws and eyerolls. “You two. Behave or I might have to hose you both.”
Before she leaves, having packed her stuff into Molly and Ron’s Jeep, Melody asks to see Kail’s finger to make sure the stitches are still holding. She leans over the porch table where he’s laid it flat, has him turn it over and flex it, then stretches his skin this way and that.
“Amazing. I cannot see any problems. No infection. Nofailure to heal. And the nerves and bones are all clearly behaving as well.”
“I thought so. Good to have it confirmed.” He withdraws his hand.
“I don’t want to be intrusive, Kail, but there is something else I thought it best to say. But I won’t if you have any reservations. It’s relevant to your identity, so I will shut up if you want me to.”
After a few seconds, he nods to her. “I’ll say stop if I have to.”
“Okay. The other day, the rest of your sutures came out easily, as did those staples that were barely hanging in there, but…the way your face is put together, and the back of your head, too, that has me wondering. This might be a sensitive thing to hear?Ummm.Stop me if you want to?”
His face stills. “Go on. You’ve come to some conclusion about the surgery that was done to me?”
“Yes. I’m no brain surgeon, or a plastic surgeon either, of course, but what little I know of the human brain and head tells me that your body suffered a catastrophic brain injury. I don’t know how that part of you could have survived, which leads me to think your face is not a match for your brain.” She shrugs. “It’s a hunch only, though.”
