Where All the Dead Lie

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Baldwin leaned down to give Taylor a kiss. She welcomed it. When he’d walked through the door, she couldn’t help herself, she’d wanted to leap into his arms and be held forever. She just couldn’t face this world without him. If anything, this trip, her time in Scotland, had solidified that for her.

She was just happy she’d escaped with her life.

“God, I missed you. Are you okay?” he asked.

“I am. And I am so happy to see you. You have no idea.”

He gestured at the door, where Memphis had just walked out.

“What was all that about?” Baldwin asked. “Where wasn’t Memphis?”

She debated for half a second. No, she didn’t want to go any further without getting this off her chest. Memphis had just given her the answer she needed. He’d never said he’d been in her room, but he had said that he hadn’t. She would take that. It was all a hallucination.

“Taylor? What’s up?”

“I… How to explain this?”

Baldwin released her. Crossed his arms on his chest. “You need to be honest with me. Did you sleep with him?”

“No.”

“Did you want to sleep with him?”

“I don’t know.”

The pain on his face made her cringe. He wanted honesty from her, and while she agreed that she owed him that much, what was the point? Hearing that she’d had doubts, that she was attracted to another man, was going to do nothing but hurt him.

And she was tired of hurting him. God, she was tired of so much. She just wanted to be sure again, of herself, of her life, her purpose, her trajectory. She was like a shooting star that had looked down at Earth, gotten distracted and subsequently became lost in the dark of the night’s sky.

“I was so mad at you, Baldwin. You kept so much from me. Memphis gave me friendship when I needed it most, when you were pulling away from me. Since I’ve been here… I was being drugged. I had some pretty intense dreams. But that’s all they were. Just dreams.”

“That’s an awful lot, Taylor.”

“Can you forgive me?”

His deep green eyes met hers. “Can you forgive me?”

“Yes. I can.”

“Then you know my answer.”

He pulled her close again, settled his lips on hers. His beard scratched her chin, and felt her heart pounding.

This was so right.

She was sorry when he stopped.

“Taylor, are you really okay?”

Not entirely. But she was getting better. She squeezed his hand.

“I’m okay. At least, I will be. Right now, we have more important issues to deal with. We need to get Memphis and Evan together. Can you help?”

He smiled.

“I think I can. Let me make a call.”