Laura Anderson Kurk

I__e known her long enough to know that this was purely intentional._ He peered sideways at me, judging my reaction. __ like her just fine, but you should watch yourself around her. Tennyson is given to obsession, and her obsessions tend to run toward trouble. It__ kind of a Wyoming thing to push the whole __ild West_ routine to its limits.

Here was what I wanted to happen when I walked through the door after my first real date and my first ever kiss. I wanted my mom to say, __ear God, Meg, you__e glowing. Sit and tell me about this boy. He let you borrow his jacket? That__ so adorable._ Instead, I came off the high of that day by writing a letter to my dead brother and doing yoga between my twin beds, trying to forget my absent mother.

I meant that the hatred of that July day in Nashville was alive and well on that horrible day in Pittsburgh. People hate others so they strike like snakes. It__ all connected__e__e all connected, bumping around into each other, some of us good, some bad, most a mixture. Every thought acted upon has consequences. Every one.

Is there one in particular, Tennyson?_ Henry said, ducking out from under her arm. __ could arrange a meeting._ __eah, the one from Texas_what__ his name?___hat would be Dylan. But he__ a nice guy and you__ break his heart. He dropped out of Texas A&M to come up here and saddle bum around with my horses year-round. Knowing your dad, I think you__ better be looking for a pre-med honors student.___eave my dad out of this.

He carried her over the Owl Creek mountain range without stopping,_ he said, quietly this time. __e carried her until he reached one of the hot springs around what became Chapin, and then he walked into the water with her and held her there for three days. He had about given up when she opened her eyes and whispered his name.

I__ never seen him bare-chested. For the first time, he seemed vulnerable to me. His smooth, tight skin wrapped around the long muscles he__ developed over a lifetime of hard work. He found a shallow spot and sat, settling me onto his lap, holding my back to his chest. I couldn__ stop shaking and it had nothing to do with the water or with being half dressed in a cave with a boy.__othing else matters,_ Henry said in my ear. ____ here. Start at the beginning.

He leaned toward me and said his name like he was sharing a secret and it made me think he probably kept a lot of secrets. His smile was sweet and his teeth the tiniest bit crooked.

On the best nights, he__ appear outside the bookstore window and wait for me to unlock the door. He usually hadn__ had time to shower between doing things with cattle and horses and coming to find me, and he looked older than us and stronger than us.

He__ had to fold his long legs into his desk. His boots had seen better days, and his jeans unraveled in a curiously irresistible way at the bottom. He didn__ look like anyone I__ ever seen before. He reminded me of an actor in an old Western__ock Hudson in Giant__ll dark intensity.

Next to the first Henry and Meg, Henry had written, __romise?_ Well, that genie__ out of the bottle and there__ no stuffing her back in.

His room was dark until he switched on his desk lamp. I sat on the floor next to his bed and watched him counting clothes and considering shoes. He seemed so boyish right then__ike he wished his mom would just come in and pack for him. I couldn__ possibly love him any more than I did at that moment.

Henry drew a shaky breath. __o me a favor, Meg.___nything,_ I whispered.__on__ fall for Quinn O__eill. If you__e going to do this thing with him_go to this dance, don__ fall for him.___ever,_ I said. __ promise.___ecause I__ all filled up on sad right now._ He sniffed again and I could tell he was more in control. __nd you can__ ask me to sit by and watch you get all caught up in this guy. I can__ handle that__hinking he swept you off your feet because he bathed in body spray and dressed up._ His voice sounded rough. __ know you think I__ being funny right now, but I__ completely serious. Don__ make me watch that happen.___ou know my heart,_ I said. __t__ yours.

And what do you want?__ almost choked. __ow could you even ask me that, Henry?__e sighed. __ecause I__ thousands of miles away. Because I Skyped into your living room late one night and there__ a dude sitting next to you in the dark. Because Thanet tells me things. And Tennyson sent me a picture of you in a dress that looks like lingerie.___t__ not that bad,_ I said.__ didn__ say it was bad, Meg. It__ about a million miles from bad._ His voice was breaking with exasperation. __hings are crazy here, and I__ questioning everything.

I smiled at him. Not even Wyatt would have known how to be this honorable when talking about a girl that had hurt him.

Then let me be your mercy,_ he said. ____l never be able to give you smart answers about why we suffer, but I can come into your world and try to be some kind of help to you.

In my mind, I saw a string stretching from Henry__ heart at Quiet Waters to my heart. It was taut and it vibrated with Henry__ worries and fears and I felt them all.Deeply. I felt them all.

I pretended to be a Cheyenne guide. I pretended to be a prairie woman. I pretended Henry was my old-timey husband taking me to our new homestead. I leaned down and patted Trouble__ neck. __ood boy,_ I said. __rusty steed.

Hmmm. What you__e saying is that you__e never been kissed?_ He picked at a string on the blanket under us.