Page 51 of A Texas Hero

“I’m honored. Let me show you how this is done.”

He demonstrated with his own skewer, not getting too close to the embers, turning it when one side got brown, then the other.

“Here,” he said, handing one to her. “It’s all about timing, and patience.”

“Oh, my gosh, you’re so good at this!” She bit into the toasty and melting marshmallow, licking her fingers. “I’m going to keep you, or at least send for you every autumn.”

Then, as if she realized what she’d said, she smiled but lowered her head. She didn’t take it back, but he hadn’t taken back his statement of bringing her home to Connecticut, either.

“Sounds good to me.” He bit into his own treat, and the sugary sweetness reminded him of easier times.

He’d loved camping trips with his large family in the woods of Connecticut and upstate New York. The Finger Lakes region was a favorite area of the family. He should get home soon, Archer decided, and let his family see with their own eyes that he wasn’t an invalid. They claimed to understand, but on every phone call home he heard the sadness in his mother’s voice, as if what he’d lost, he would never get back. She meant well, but she worried about him so much that all he’d wanted to do as a young man was leave. But he supposed mothers and sons had their own issues.

Zoey reached for Archer’s chin with a sweet smile. “You have something…right there.”

A jolt of pure heat slashed through Archer that had nothing to do with the fire.

Chapter Nineteen

Zoey desperately wanted to kiss Archer and this moment felt ripe for it, but at the last second, she chickened out. After she’d spent several seconds staring at his mouth, he didn’t make the first move. She liked to think of herself as bold and ready to take charge in every area of her life, but when it came to Archer, she froze every time. Instead of kissing him, she scooted closer as they both stared into the flickering yellow-and-red flames.

“We should really be doing this outside.” Archer stoked the fire the way she’d seen done in countless Hallmark movies, then returned to sit beside her. “Have you ever slept under the stars?”

She had a difficult time admitting the truth: She’d led a privileged life. Her mother’s idea of camping was a four-star hotel, and her father claimed he hadn’t worked so hard all his life to pretend he was literally unhoused for a week.

“No, I’m afraid not.” She sighed. “My parents weren’t into camping.”

“I should take you camping and show you what real roughing it is like. Do you think you could handle that?” He chuckled.

“Yes.”

Her heart raced every time he talked about a future that included her in it. She’d mentioned keeping him on or sending for him every autumn and then worried she’d overstepped. But whether joking or not, the words rang true. She didn’t want this time with him to end but didn’t see how they could continue. Sooner or later, this assignment would be complete.

They were quiet for several more seconds and were close enough for Zoey to lay her head on his shoulder. And she did, because it felt easy. Natural.

“After a while, I resented my father for wanting to keep me home after my mother died. He didn’t recognize that we were each handling our grief in different ways. His idea of grieving was to make our world smaller and to retreat, to hide. He grew paranoid, worrying he had enemies everywhere. He fired a bunch of people that first week. It was awful.”

“When you’re in the public eye, with people talking about every aspect of your life and taking it all apart to be examined…that’s got to be difficult.”

“Until then I hadn’t realized how much he’d counted on my mother, but I guess we all did. She was our balance, our center. With her gone, he fell into an abyss. Instead of dealing with my own grief, I had to rescue him. I didn’t mind, because he needed me. He deserved my compassion. But when I wanted to leave, when I wanted to find something for myself, the guilt trip came and it came hard.”

Somehow, Zoey had wound up in Archer’s arms, him sitting right behind her, pulling her into the circle of his arms. She leaned back, feeling safe and protected. Everything felt so easy with him, the affection and emotional intimacy. It was as if she’d known him for years.

“Funny,” Archer said. “One of the reasons I haven’t gone home since my injury is my concern that my family won’t let me go once I get there.”

“You haven’t been back?”

“No. They came to see me in the hospital, but I made them go back home. If I hadn’t, I would have never been able to pull out of it on my own. I have a hard time relying on others.”

“No kidding.”

“The truth is I own my decisions, even if there are times I’ve regretted some of my choices. But when I look at where I am, how far I’ve come, it has all been worth it.”

“I like the sound of that. No regrets.”

“It’s the only way to live.”

They were quiet then, watching the fire until it faded away.