Page 76 of Reckoning

“Did you get in touch with Mr. Autry?” Lilith asked.

“Yes. He’s doing some digging for me while we’re gone.”

Before Lilith could ask any more questions, Micah joined them on the porch. “Good morning.”

Lilith smiled. “You’re up! Biscuits are done. Bacon is fried. How about some eggs to go with that?”

“Yes, please,” Micah said.

“It won’t take long,” she said, and hurried inside.

“Your mother is an amazing woman,” Micah said.

Tate nodded. “It’s been hard on her here. I’ll be happy for them to move home.”

“What are your plans? Are you coming with them?” he asked.

“No. They want to go back where they grew up in, but I have no roots there. I’ve never lived anywhere but in this holler between a mountain and a river, among people who cursed my existence and spread gossip about Mama because of me. The world is a big place…a place so big that a whole lot of people get lost in it, one way or another. My purpose on this earth will be to help them find their way home. When I leave here for the last time, I will never come this way again.”

“What about your girl?” Micah asked.

“I’ll never lose touch with her. She is my future, and I am hers.” Then he glanced through the window into the kitchen. “Looks like Mom has your breakfast about ready. I’ll be gone for a time today. See you later.”

They walked in the house together, but Tate paused to send Briar a text, then glanced up. “Mom, is it okay if I borrow your car to go see Briar? I need to let her know what’s going on.”

“Of course. I don’t need it, so take your time, and give Briar our love.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tate said. He lifted her keys from the hook and walked out the door.

“He’s pretty attached to his girlfriend,” Micah said.

“Best friends since first grade, and now the love of his life,” Lilith said, and refilled Micah’s cup as he sat down to eat.

* * *

Briar’s response to Tate’s text was a heart emoji, but he knew what it meant, and what she meant to him.

Then, as he was driving across town, he had a moment of déjà vu and flashed back on the crazy drive to get her the day of the storm. That day he’d been afraid of losing her, and now he was coming to say goodbye. Even if it was only a few days, the dread of their separation was coming closer, and he wasn’t ready to face it.

He parked in the drive and headed for the front door, but before he could ring the bell, the door swung inward, and she was there.

She saw the shadows on his face. “Oh, honey,” she said, then pulled him inside and threw her arms around him.

Tate kicked the door shut and pulled her close. Her hair smelled as good as she did. “Who’s gonna talk me off the cliff when you’re not around anymore?” he asked.

She looked straight into his eyes. “It will still be me, on the phone…still loving you no matter what. I won’t lose you, and you’re not going to lose me. Come upstairs with me, Tate. Make love with me now. Give me something to sleep on while you’re gone.”

They went up the stairs and into her room. The air conditioner was humming. The shades in her room were closed to keep out the heat of the day, and the citrus scent of her bath salts still lingered.

She paused, locked the door, and then walked into his arms. The kiss was inevitable—tentative, testing, and then became an urgent signal for more. Pulling at each other’s clothes, tossing them with abandon; hearts pounding, pulses racing as they fell onto the bed.

“Tate…please…” she whispered.

Hard and hurting, he moved over her, slid inside her. Time moved with the motion of their bodies, teasing the climax building between them—ebbing and flowing. Believing it would never stop. Needing it to end.

When Briar suddenly stiffened beneath him and uttered a soft moan, Tate lost the last of his control—shattering into a thousand different pieces, until Briar’s arms slid around his neck and put him back together again. His heartbeat skipped, then slowly eased into a normal rhythm. She was his poison, but she was also the cure. He kissed the hollow at the base of her throat and pulled her close.

Briar sighed. “Love is dangerous, isn’t it? It’s all mixed up in sex, devotion, promises, and needing someone to give you a reason to breathe.”