Free BacktoLife by Emma Hillman Page B

to his brother, she realized as she stepped forward, walking on the
wet grass so he couldn’t hear her. She shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but she
couldn’t help herself…
    “I love her, Mike. I know I shouldn’t, that
she was yours first, but I can’t stop. I always had a crush on her, you know
that. And now that you’re gone, we spent so much time together and…I guess
feelings grew. She’s a very special lady, but I’m sure you know that already.
She tells me she loves me, but…I don’t know. She was so in love with you. She
really took your death hard. She was crying all the time and it damn near broke
my heart. I know she always thought of me as a little brother, as a friend
even, but a lover? It’s too good to be true.”
    He snorted. “Whatever my friends think.” He
bent his head and added, “I’m not good enough for her. I’m not you. I’ll never
be you.”
    Her heart squeezed painfully inside her
chest. Jared… “I don’t want you to be like Mike.”
    He whirled around so fast he nearly fell on
his butt. He reached back and managed to hold himself up against the marble.
“Sara? What are you doing here?”
    “I…” She blinked, suddenly realizing she
couldn’t tell him what had been going through her head. She was so ashamed of
her inner thoughts there was no way she could tell anyone.
    “You were crying?” he asked suddenly,
pushing up on his knees until he was once more towering over her. “What’s
wrong, baby? Did something happen?”
    She shook her head. “No. Yes. I mean, no.
It’s just… I was thinking about Mike and decided to come here.” She wiped her
cheeks.
    “Oh. I see.” He took a step back. “I had
the same idea.”
    “I saw. I…heard.” She winced when she saw
him stare at her. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but overhear you talk to him. And
you’re wrong, you know. I don’t expect you to be like your brother.”
    He brushed a hand over his face and sighed.
“I know what people in town are saying. Mike was… He had it all. He had his
whole life figured out by the time he was twenty!”
    “You have a life too. You have a family who
loves you, a job you’re good at, friends. What more do you need?”
    “You.” The word rang between them, stilling
the world for a second.
    Sara grabbed his hands and pulled him
close. Her eyes steady on him, she finally replied, “You’ve got me.”
    He seemed to hesitate for a moment or two,
but soon his arms were around her and he was hugging her tight. “I do. I do,”
she heard him murmur against her hair.
    They stood there for long minutes, the cold
air whipping around them. It didn’t matter however. They had each other to keep
warm…

Chapter Six
     
    “Baby, are you sure you want to do this?”
Jared watched his girlfriend stare up at the mountain path they were going to
take in a few minutes. “We can do something else, you know.”
    She shook her head. “I’ll be fine,” she
replied, but he wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.
    “You don’t have to come with me, Sara,” he
tried again. This time she turned and glared at him. “Right.” He winced. “Let’s
go then. Do you have your pack?” She nodded. “Good. What time is it?” He
checked his watch. “It’s just past ten. It shouldn’t take us longer than an
hour and a half, maybe two if we dawdle. We can go have brunch somewhere in
town afterward, what do you think?”
    “Sounds good.” She moved to his side as he
started walking.
    He wasn’t too sure what had made her decide
to join him on his practice hike, but she’d insisted she wanted to come. He’d
tried to dissuade her. After all, he knew damn well she hated walking. How many
times in the past had she told him she didn’t understand why he loved hiking so
much?
    She wasn’t an outdoorsy kind of person and
he was fine with that. She didn’t like the things he did, but so what? That
didn’t mean they weren’t perfectly happy together. Couples didn’t