Free Out of Exile by Carla Cassidy

cursed.”
    â€œCursed?” She eyed him in surprise.
    He looked away from her once again and emitted a small, dry laugh. “Ah, don’t pay any attention to me. I’m overtired and overreacting to what is, at most, a time-consuming nuisance.”
    She had a feeling it was much more than that. Matthew didn’t seem to be the type of man to over-react to anything. But she also felt him closing off from her, saw the dark shutters appearing in his eyes and knew whatever he was feeling or thinking wasn’t going to be shared.
    Directing her attention to the landscape, cast in shadows as night fell, she thought of the young man named Danny.
    Danny James had been an A student, a nice-looking kid with a sweet smile and dark shutters in his eyes.
    Occasionally those shutters would open and in his eyes she’d seen the same kinds of deep shadows that she saw in Matthew’s.
    Danny James had been a young boy a month away from high school graduation. Danny James had been—she shoved away the thought, knowing to dwell on it would only hurt.
    Suddenly she wanted to see Matthew smile, one of those beautiful smiles he used to give her when they were young and life had seemed so much less complicated.
    â€œI’ve been thinking about what kind of costume you should wear to the Halloween party,” she said.
    He turned and looked at her again, his eyes glittering like some nocturnal animal in the encroaching darkness. “I told you I wasn’t going to the party.”
    â€œBut if you were going, I think you should go as a wolf…a lone wolf.”
    â€œIs that the way you see me?” he asked.
    â€œIsn’t that the way you see yourself?” she countered.
    He emitted a dry chuckle. “Do you do that on purpose?”
    She frowned. “Do what?”
    â€œMake everything some sort of deep, psychological thing.”
    â€œI don’t do that,” she protested.
    â€œYes, you do, and you did it years ago, too.” He now showed more animation than he had all evening. His teeth flashed white as he grinned at her. “You used to ruminate for hours on what made people do what they did.”
    â€œI must have been a horrid bore.”
    â€œNot at all,” he replied, his voice holding a hint of warmth. “You were so passionate about it, trying to make rhyme and find reason for the things people did. I wasn’t really surprised when I heard that you’d become a counselor. The only thing that surprised me was that you were working with kids instead of adults.”
    She shrugged. “I guess I felt as if I had a better chance of saving kids than adults.” Again a vision of Danny appeared in her mind, and she consciously shoved it away before it could lay claim to her heart and ache inside her. “So what do you think of my idea?” she asked in an attempt to change the subject.
    â€œWhat idea?”
    â€œThe wolf costume for the Halloween party.”
    â€œI told you I’m not planning on attending the party,” he replied.
    â€œWell, if you don’t go to parties, then what do you do for fun, Matthew?”
    â€œFun?” He repeated the word as if it were alien to his vocabulary. “I don’t have time for fun,” he scoffed.
    â€œEveryone needs to make time for fun,” she countered. “Come on, Matthew. Agree to attend the party. I’m sure it would mean so much to everyone.”
    â€œAll right,” he relented with a touch of irritation. “I had forgotten how persistent you could be when you got an idea in your head.”
    â€œIt’s what got you into the creek that first day we went wading,” she replied with a laugh. “It took a full day of nagging to get you into that water.”
    â€œThat was fun,” he said softly.
    â€œThen we’ll do it again…as soon as we get the cottages painted,” she said. “Deal?”
    He held her gaze intently for a long