Page 76 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

And just like that, all of the fight went out of me.

I felt suddenly weak, my body actually swaying until Andrew pulled me up against his side, his arm around my shoulders.

“It’s the adrenaline,” he said, and I recognized the sensation at once. It was the way I used to feel after a particularly big race. “Come on,” he was saying. “Let’s get you home to Gordie.”

“He’ll be so happy to see you,” I said, and for some reason that set me off again, the tears coming hot and face down my face. “Will you stay?” I sobbed.

Andrew made a scathing sound in the back of his throat. “Like I would leave.” He gave my shoulder a little squeeze. “Besides, who’s going to feed me in the morning?”

I snorted through my tears, and he laughed softly.

“Come on. If you’re lucky I might even stick around to watch Heather Dale.”

It was the strangest thing. I usually lived with a constant sense of guilt for my mother. Because I couldn’t help her, because a lot of the time I didn’t want to. But tonight, one of the worst nights we’d had in a while, I didn’t feel guilty at all.

As Andrew led me down the quiet, dark streets of Lilac Bay, I didn’t feel anything except relieved. Someone else could worry tonight.