Free Nightfall by Denise A. Agnew

she’s forgiven you. Enjoy what you have in the present.”
    He grinned again. “Good advice. I sometimes think the biggest mistake I made was what happened before she went to California.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She’d moved to California after her mother committed suicide. I was out of town on work when her mother died.”
    “Oh, my God. You were already divorced, right?”
    “Yes. Penny tried to get me on the cell phone and I was in meetings and didn’t answer. She rushed to Sentry Security to see if I was here. She found Ian. I came back about that time and caught them in the storage closet downstairs.”
    Her mouth opened. She didn’t know what to say at first. “Caught them? As in…?”
    “Not quite, but they were going to.” He reached for his whiskey, looked into the glass and slugged the rest down. “Anyway, she explained to me that she grabbed Ian for comfort and things got out of hand. I was pissed at them both and fired Ian. Penny split after that. She wouldn’t have been in California if I’d acted like a sane man and just let it be. Just let Penny and Ian be together.”
    “Right.” She knew the latter part of the story, partly from rumors floating around town. “But you were trying to protect Penny initially. I can understand that. And here’s another thought. If they’d done things right they would have gotten together after that despite your approval.”
    “True. I hadn’t thought of that.”
    “So,” she said, “they needed the break even if it was a long one to get their…I’ll just say it…their shit together.”
    He shook his head and closed his eyes a minute. “You’ve got things figured out. You’re absolutely right.”
    “My guess is even if Penny hadn’t moved to California, she and Ian might not have gotten together because they were putting too much effort into denying what they felt.”
    “Right again. When Ian went to Bangor to rescue Penny from those thugs, that cemented their relationship. When they returned here, I could tell he loved her and she loved him.”
    They went quiet, and she felt the comfort of that silence envelop her. Never in her life had she experienced such a sweet connection with a man. A gentle thread pulled tight between them, and the idea of that bridge breaking in any way filled her heart with sadness.
    She broke the silence. “This world is so different. So fragile. Our country has a long, long way to go before we’re anything like we used to be. Before we’re strong enough to be that way again.”
    “We’ll do it. I’ve got that confidence.” She knew he was right. Some things had worsened over the year while others had improved.
    His gaze moved over her in a way that concealed nothing. He was eating her up. Part of her didn’t understand why. A ratty, baggy old green sweatshirt with a moth-eaten hole at the neckline and equally large matching sweatpants did not a Victoria’s Secret model make. Alexander had looked at her like this before, especially in the last couple of days. Yet every time he did, that male intent seemed stronger.
    She was tired of it. Yeah, she’d grown cautious over the last year. Alpha males were heavy on the ground in Buckleport. A surge of soldiers and law enforcement had been activated after the disaster. Some of them were a bit predatory. She still hadn’t noted any of them looking at her like this. She was so done with wondering what he was thinking, and decided right there and then to call him on it and see where the chips fell.
    “What is this between us, Alexander? Are we just friends?”
    His chest heaved up and down, and she saw something serious blossom in his eyes. “Patty, I feel like what you and I have…I don’t want to lose that. Ever. I’ve never felt like this around another woman.”
    Her heart cracked wide open, the softness, the tenderness in his words blew her away. “Alexander, that’s…I feel that way, too.”
    So she made a move. A brave decision she hoped would bring