Page 42 (1/2)

"What happened?" she urged

"I was gone for hours Built myself a little fort out of branches, stuffedthe dream" Bile rose in his throat and seared his windpipe "And while I was having the ti the woods looking for , and I’d beenfor more than fourteen hours"

"Whoa Your parentsout"

"They were in a panic So was Joey" AJ bit the inside of his cheek, so hard he tasted blood in his ht have hated ood brother Didn’t ht years older than me He treated , played catch with ht?"

AJ cla to collect his rapidly cruo on "He led the search party It was dark out, and there were dozens of people traipsing around in the forest--because of me I was the reason they were out there"

"AJ…what happened to Joey?"

His throat closed up Christ, he couldn’t breathe His lungs had seized up

Brett touched his cheek, her dark eyes shining aroing if you don’t want to It’s okay"

She’d given hi Didn’t have to think about the horror slashing his father’s face when AJ had found him on that rocky slope The vicious bolt of betrayal that had struck AJ’s chest when he’d met his father’s eyes

"I heard the shouts," he choked out "That’s what , but it wasn’tso badly his vision becay blur "He tripped, Brett He tripped, fell down a hill, and broke his neck"

Her sharp gasp echoed through the Jeep "Ohhis face now, cupping his cheeks, brushing her thued toward her, his forehead resting against hers as the old wounds he’d opened wreaked havoc on his body