“Yes. Good.”
The woman needed to stop giving him those looks. He didn’t need her pity.
Inside the exam room, he stopped. Abby looked like she hurt. He walked to her, put his hand on her forehead—it was almost a habit now—and sighed hard when the skin against his felt almost normal.
“Thank you,” she whispered, clutching at his wrist, pressing it to the side of her face. He wanted her to kiss it.
He nodded and didn’t pull away, although the gratitude made him nauseated.
Her eyes opened him up.
“So…I have a choice to make.”
“About what?”
“What happens next.”
“What do you mean?”
“The doctor says she can help attenuate the scarring on my back, so I don’t have to live with the Mark forever.”
“That’s good news.”
“I don’t think I want it gone, Luc.”
He blinked and pulled away. “No?”
“Is it wrong that I want to keep it? As a reminder of where I’ve been?”
He shook his head, ignoring the itch of his ring finger.
After a pause, Abby spoke again.
“Dr. Hadley—she has a guest room at her house. She can take me.”
“Oh. Yes. Yes, of course.” He nodded, jaw hard. “You must go with her.”
Was that disappointment on her face? But they didn’t have a choice, did they?
“You don’t want me to go back with you.” She watched him. “Right?”
“I—” Luc couldn’t meet her eyes this time, turning instead to gaze at the calendar. This one was turned to the right month, and his eye went straight to the fourth. Two weeks beforeGrandpère’s death. Three days after his father’s. “Going up the mountain’s not the same as coming down, Abby. If I have to leave the truck and walk, you would have to do it with me. We can’t have you tromping up the drive right in front of them.”
Abby’s nod was stoic, her eyes too wet. “Of course. It wouldn’t be safe.” She smiled at him. That fucking smile, bestowing absolution.
“Besides, you want to get away, right?” It hurt to say it. “You have to get away from them. Promise me you’ll leave town.”
“When I’m done, I’ll leave town. I promise.” She glanced at the closed door and whispered, “I didn’t tell her about Sammy, what with the sheriff being her…person and all. But I have to get him out, Luc.Now.”
“I know, Abby. And I’ll help you do that.”Or maybe even do it on my own, said a reckless voice inside his head. She wouldn’t meet his gaze for a moment, and he leaned in. “But you will wait until you’re better, right?”
After a long few seconds, she nodded and looked him in the eye. That connection resonated down to his bones. Though she looked ready to pass out, she hardened her gaze, squinted at him, and said, “You don’t go in either.”
“How do you—”
“I know you, Luc Stanek.” The whispered words were harsh, but so close to loving, it almost hurt. “And that’s why you’re going to promise me, right now, that you won’t go in there and risk everything on your own.” When he didn’t answer, she went on. “If you don’t give me your word, right this minute, I’ll steal the sheriff’s car the first chance I get and—”
“Yes. Yes, I’ll wait. I will wait for you.”
