“You’re a genius. You’d really do that for me?”
“I’d do just about anything for you, Milo,” she said softly.
I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and kissed her, hoping it could convey the depth of my feelings for her. When we drew apart, color had blossomed in her cheeks and those hazel eyes sparked with desire.
Maybe some of my plans for the night would still come into play.
“Let me talk to Rob about it tomorrow to make sure it’s even doable, then I’ll touch base with the landlord. We can work something out on the rent, either through him or on our ownuntil our leases are up for renewal. You…fuck, Eden, I can’t even articulate how much I adore you.”
With a sexy little smirk, she settled back into her spot on the couch and let her hand linger on my thigh, just high enough to tease. “Assuming you’ve been cleared for exercise, I guess you can show me after dinner, then.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Eden
Wednesdaykickedoffnearlyas chaotic as the day before, but the flow of shoppers slowed to a steady trickle after that. In honor of my birthday plans, Addie had insisted she’d be taking over for me halfway through Thursday as part of my gift so I could go home to Milo and relax before dinner with his family that evening.
After Milo ascertained that a bigger crowd wasn’t a dealbreaker for me, Terry had invited Addie, Rob, and their parents, who would all be joining us. Needless to say, I’d never experienced any kind of “merging the families” moment in my entire life, and I was nervous as hell.
Only the promise of having Milo by my side the entire night soothed my anxiety.
While Addie and I were rushing around to take care of the continual stream of customers—most of whom had fortunately stopped asking if Milo was going to recover—Terry was scheduled to bring Milo over to Dueling Dragons for his meeting with Rob around lunchtime.
“I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I hope things quiet down soon,” I muttered as soon as I had a moment to breathe between customers.
“Why don’t you go take a break while we’ve got a lull, babe? I’ll shout if I need you.”
Gratefully, I took her up on the offer and retreated to the breakroom for a few minutes of blissful silence, shutting the door behind me.
There was no time to waste.
Flipping open my laptop on the table, I pulled up the website for the Cortland branch of the Church of Eternal Light. Without giving myself the opportunity to chicken out, I dialed the number at the bottom and lifted my phone to my ear.
“You’ve reached Pastor Baumgartner. How may I help you?”
My stomach bottomed out under the boom of his voice, then I pulled myself together and said, “Right, hi. My name is Eden Campbell. I just wondered if—”
He cut in before I could finish, surprise coloring his voice over the line. “Campbell? Is this Isaiah’s sister?”
I froze solid, my blood running ice cold at the realization that he knew who I was. For a second, I couldn’t formulate acoherent thought, nevermind a response, but it didn’t matter anyway when he continued speaking.
“Eden,” he said gently, “I doubt you remember me, but I attended your parents’ church in Binghamton briefly, back when I’d just started my training. You were maybe nine or ten at the time.”
“Oh.”
That was a period of time I’d rather forget. I was aware enough to start recognizing the wrongness of my own experiences without being old enough to do anything about it.
Baumgartner huffed out a humorless laugh. “I’d never seen a child so solemn. I offered you a butterscotch candy and your father stepped in front of you like I was handing you poison. I never forgot that moment.”
Memories filtered in, hazy and dim after decades of neglect. Without his reminder, I probably never would have summoned up the recollection of that day, but there it was. A relatively young visiting pastor in his thirties or forties, the golden wrapper in his hand, my father’s stern rebuke—telling him I didn’t deserve the treat, no doubt.
I tried to remember what was said, if my father had detailed my recent sins to this stranger, but the truth was that it was only one of many such moments.
Eighteen years full of them.
“I tried to keep track of you after I moved,” Baumgartner said quietly, “to be sure they weren’t hurting you. Bishop Graap refused to consider such a thing and swore they were good,upstanding members of his church, but…I still recall the way you flinched when your father spoke.”
After a shuddering breath, I said, “I’d forgotten all about it, but I remember you.”
