Free Kiss by Ted Dekker

wrinkled under the Texas sun. The lined-hide look was convincing, though. His bushy eyebrows and wide mouth suggested competence; his mostly gray hair, wisdom; and the scruffy hairstyle, down-to-earth likability.
    She shouted at him while she was still yards away. “What do you think you’re doing, locking me out of the house? You invited me here, didn’t you?”
    Landon did two more reps before bringing the weight stack to rest.
    “You locked me out.”
    Landon sighed from the very bottom of his lungs. “Patrice locked you out. You can’t go meddling in her business, Shauna.”
    “It’s our business, not hers.”
    Landon stood and wiped the sweat from his face. “Maybe later, I’ll talk to her about it. When Rudy improves. But not now. Not yet.”
    “What in the world does this have to do with Rudy?”
    “You upset him.”
    “ Patrice upsets him! Us fighting upsets him!”
    “Then why is it that there isn’t any fighting except when you’re around?”
    “I don’t want to fight, Landon. I just want to spend time with my brother. Is that a crime?”
    “If you break and enter, yes.”
    Landon moved toward the showers.
    “I don’t understand why you think shutting me out will be good for Rudy!”
    “That’s the problem, Shauna. You don’t understand much. You go flying through life with one eye closed and then act surprised when you crash into a tree. You are going to take this whole family out, every one of us, one at a time if you don’t grow up and get yourself straightened out.”
    Grow up? Get herself straightened out? Her mind reeled from the verbal battering. No matter what she did, her father would tell her she was wrong. Worthless. Undeserving.
    When she failed to retort, Landon McAllister threw the whole weight of his body against the swinging door and separated himself from his daughter once more.
    Shauna spun on her heel and screamed her frustration.
    It only took a few minutes for her offense to melt into tears. She rushed outside and stepped directly into Wayne, who caught her.
    He wrapped his arms around her, the most natural move in the world. The pleasing scent of his shirt, fabric softener mingled with cologne, gave Shauna the fleeting thought that he paid attention to details and might treat her with similar care.
    Maybe she would remember something, some place where rejection couldn’t touch her, leaning just so against his chest.
    “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
    He did not let her go. And he did not try to tell her what to do. He simply held her up.
    “I don’t deserve your support in all this,” she said. “What I’ve done is . . . unforgivable.”
    “Everybody needs someone.”
    “Why are you so willing to help me?”
    Wayne didn’t answer right away. He rocked her gently. “Maybe I need you too.”
    “For what? I’m a public fool, a criminal nobody, with no past, no job, no friends, nothing worth—”
    “Stop.”
    She stopped.
    She tilted her head back to look at him. His eyes frowned at her, not the way her father’s always did, condemning. This frown struck her as wounded. Why would you say those horrible things about yourself?
    “You’re going to pull through this,” he said.
    Where did his faith in her come from?
    She wished she could remember the history they shared. It was so unfair to him that she couldn’t.
    Because he believed in her, she would remember.
    She kissed him before deciding that kissing him was the right thing to do.
    He took one step back and released her.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked, not sure whether she felt foolish or amused.
    “I didn’t . . .”
    “Didn’t what?” She matched his step and lifted her arms around his shoulders. His muscles relaxed.
    “Nothing.” He smiled. “You’re full of surprises.”
    Wayne bent his head, tentatively enough that she didn’t have to stretch. He pulled her closer and touched his lips to hers softly, lightly, demanding nothing. He tasted like ginger, sweet and