She was just…a little worn down.
“What happened to you?”
She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not supposed to tell you that, either.”
“Of course you aren’t,” he said, but he didn’t add any bite this time.
They rode in quiet, the kind that wasn’t empty so much as full of things unsaid.
After a while, he said, “You asked about my family.”
She nodded slightly.
“Every single one of my siblings is married. Even my sister. Valene has twins now, too.”
“Really? That’s sweet. Did she marry that sheriff she had a crush on?” Madelaine asked with a soft smile shaping her lips.
“Yes, she did. Wyatt Campbell.”
“Did your family ever ask about me?” She sounded like she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
Jack looked out the windshield, watching the road stretch endlessly ahead.
“At first, but I told them you were gone.”
A beat.
“Not dead,” he added. “Just…gone. Later, I told them about how you had an opportunity, but had to go to Alpha-Prime. And after several months of me looking miserable, they didn’t seem to have the heart to ask me about you anymore. I was grateful.”
Madelaine nodded, eyes glistening. “That sounds about right.”
He glanced at her again. Something in him shifted.
“You don’t have to do this alone, you know.”
She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Yes. I really do.”
“No,” he said firmly. “You don’t. Maybe I could help you. I mean, more than just for this special errand.”
She looked at him again, really looked.
“You don’t understand what I’m part of now.”
“Then help me understand.”
“I…can’t.”
“Then trust me, like you said you did.”
The words hung there.
Echoing.
Madelaine’s expression softened, something vulnerable breaking through.
“That’s the problem, Jack,” she whispered. “I do trust you. But if I let you in…I might not be able to let you go again.”
His heart kicked hard at that.
