He hiked a brow. “I think some of those bad thoughts are starting to come out.”
“That was the good stuff.”
He laughed. She was always surprising him in the best of ways. “Yikes.”
Maybe the firelight was deceiving, but he could swear she was blushing a little.
“What a job—you risk your life every day. The bullet wound,” she said suddenly. “You did get that in the line of duty.”
“Like I said.”
“It looked fairly recent, so you must be off work while you’re recovering.” She jerked toward him. “You’re the one who took a bullet for Senator Edwards.”
She was a sharp one. “Bingo.”
“I can’t believe you’re here in Bluebell. At our inn. It was in all the papers. You’re practically famous.”
“I prefer to remain in the background.”
“Of course, your job. I completely get that. You must’ve hated being all over the news.”
“It’s settled down now, thankfully.”
“What does your tattoo mean? The one on your bicep.”
“It’s a Celtic symbol for ‘guardian.’” He gave her a wry look. “And now I think I’m all out of revelations. It’s your turn.”
“If there’s a winner in this game, it’s definitely not me. I feel downright boring now.”
“Don’t knock boring.” Besides, she seemed pretty adventurous to him.
There was a long pause while she gave the last revelation some thought. He understood. Each piece of information was like giving someone a glimpse into the window of your life. What piece of yourself was safe to give away? That depended on how much you trusted the other person.
“I, um... I have a lot of guilt,” Grace said finally.
She was staring at the fire now, fiddling with the zipper of his jacket. He waited her out.
“Something happened when I was little. Something I never really talk about. Someone died and I didn’t, and deep down I feel like it should’ve been me. Sometimes I feel guilty for just... being alive.”
“Survivor’s guilt,” he said softly.
She looked at him.“Yes.”
“Big load to carry.”
“It weighs a million pounds.”
He knew. After all, wasn’t he carrying the same weight? The guilt from doing nothing while some monster took his mom’s life. He deserved to feel guilty. But Grace didn’t. He was certain her circumstances didn’t warrant the punishment she’d imposed upon herself.
He was equally sure nothing he could say would make her feel better. It was something she needed to process on her own.
“That’s hard. I’m really sorry you’re dealing with that.”
She gave him a befuddled look. “That’s not the response I expected—kind of dreaded, actually.”
“What’d you expect?”
“That you’d try to fix it.”
