Page 20 of Cain

I pressed my hand to my chest, realizing for the first time that the dream wasn’t dead after all.

No, I was in no rush to have a man in my life. Maybe I’d never want a man in my life again. But marriage wasn’t the only path to motherhood. I could become a biological mother on my own. Or I could adopt.

I could have or be anything I wanted.

I just had to continue to take baby steps toward stability: working hard, saving, getting myself an apartment of my own.

I had time.

I watched a mom who threw hay at her toddler, who rewarded her with a belly laugh that made everyone in the vicinity smile.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the corn maze.

Everything was fine for the first few turns.

It wasn’t until I was in the belly of the maze that I felt a tightening sensation in my throat, a heaviness in my chest.

Then the masked men appeared.

Logically, I knew they were paid actors—likely just teenagers from the local high school who found a unique way to make some fun money.

There was no telling that to the caveman part of my brain that felt fear and responded with a rush of adrenaline that had me running blind, my heartbeat thundering in my chest. And to find one of those guys chasing me with his fake knife only reinforced that adrenaline dump, flooding my body with more.

I rushed myself right into a dead end, where I crouched down, cradling my head, trying to reason with my nervous system, reminding myself that I was safe, that all I had to do was throw out one arm, press it to one wall, and keep contact for the whole rest of the walk.

Decision made, I stood, exhaled hard, touched the right wall, then started to power walk my way through.

There were a few jump scares left, but most of the actors seemed to be contained more toward the beginning and center of the maze.

Then, finally, there was a final curve and an exit.

I emerged still feeling like my heart was wedged in my mouth.

“Georgie.”

For one soul-crushing second, I thought it might be Perry. That he’d tracked me down. That he was going to cause a scene or make me go with him. Because no other man around town knew my name anymore.

But, no.

It wasn’t Perry’s slimy voice.

It was deep and rough.

Manly.

And I did know one very masculine man in town. Depending on how loosely we were using the term “know.”

My head whipped over.

Then there he was.

He was dressed casually in dark wash jeans and a light gray Henley that wasn’t tight but still somehow managed to make me aware of the breadth of his chest, the width of his chest, and the strong, corded muscles of his arms.

“Cain.” The smile that formed was warmer than I’d have thought. “Here for the festive vibes?”

“I’m mostly here as a babysitter,” he admitted.

“Oh. I didn’t realize you had kids.”