Free Unbreak my Heart by I. R. Johannesen

God!” she exclaimed sympathetically. “I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose a child. I mean, I was completely shattered when I lost Clay, and it took me a long time to bounce back, but if I had lost Willow at the same time …?” She shuddered and left the sentence unfinished. “Crank, I am so sorry.”
    He wanted desperately to change the subject and lighten the mood, but he felt compelled to continue; to explain himself so she could better understand his irregular mood swings. “When I found out Georgia and Ellie had been killed,” he continued, “a large part of me died with them and I honestly thought that I would never be happy again. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t ever really want to be happy again. But yesterday something changed. You and Willow ignited a tiny spark somewhere deep inside me and I think it’s begun to slowly thaw my frozen heart.”
    “So what happens now?” she asked breathlessly.
    Crank shrugged his shoulders. “I wish I knew. Last night I thought it would be best if I slowly drew away from you and Willow to protect myself from getting hurt again, but now I’m not so sure? Every time I see you I feel like my heart is being kick-started after being in tatters for so long, and when I interact with Willow her innocence and vitality and genuine enthusiasm for life makes me remember all the things I loved about being a parent and I suddenly can’t remember why I vowed not to risk falling in love and becoming a parent again.”
    Clare glanced over at her cabin and saw Willow waiting patiently for them to hurry up and get there. She had painstakingly dragged a chair to the edge of the porch and was sitting in it watching them intensely with her little legs kicking as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
    Clare’s heart did a little somersault , she so desperately wanted to grab Crank and just hold him to help take away some of his pain, but for Willow’s sake she knew she had to take things nice and slow and make sure that Crank was prepared to stick around for the long haul. At the moment, as much as she felt drawn to him and enjoyed his company, she had to consider the effect on Willow if he was to get involved in their lives and then suddenly get cold feet and do a runner back to Austin. Willow already adored him and was always asking, ‘Mom, when are we gonna go see Crank again?’
    “Hey, slow down a bit ,” she said, trying to hide the fact that she was still feeling giddy from their kiss. “You’re getting a bit ahead of yourself. Let’s just agree to enjoy each other’s company over the next couple of weeks and see where it leads.”
    Crank slipped an arm around her waist and they resumed walking. “I’d like that very much,” he admitted.
    “I have a confession to make,” Clare announced happily as they reached her porch. “I was going to invite you over to our cabin for dinner tonight to thank you for generously fixing my car, so today, when we were in Karnack, I bought all these extra ingredients for the meal, but now you have to drive into Marshall and pick up your nephews.” She slipped her arms around Crank’s neck and pulled his head down so she could kiss him full on the lips. “I was planning on doing that after the meal when Willow was in bed,” she whispered breathlessly as their lips parted, but seeing as though you can’t come …”
    “Will the food keep for a day?” he groaned, kissing her back before she could answer.
    When their lips finally parted, Clare felt so giddy she could barely speak. “It should keep fresh for a few more days, why?”
    “Good. Then you and Willow can come along for the drive to Marshall this evening, and once we have picked up my nephews I will drive us around ‘til we find an eat-in pizza joint and then fill us all up with pizzas and soda. What do you say?”
    Willow’s ears pricked up. “Did you say pizza , Crank? Yum, pizza is my favourite!”
    “Good. Me too !” he