Chapter 67

• When the other woman gasped, Emersyn turned quickly to see why. She was looking out the window with her hand over her mouth. Almost afraid to see why she looked anyway. Noah was walking back in now, with just his jeans on and boots were undone. He ruffled Everett’s hair and smiled down at him. His shirt was in his hand. She turned to look at his mother, knowing the scars on his body are what had her reacting. Had he done it on purpose? “His back is worse.” She said softly and then stood up. Just the fact that Noah was standing there with the others without his shirt on was a big deal for him. “Excuse me.” She went over and picked up the shoes she’d left by the back door and slipped them on.
• Going out the door, she headed straight for him, not even feeling the hesitation she normally did. Everett and Julian were still laughing at something he said. Noah was smiling back at them, a real smile. In the time since he’d stepped into that basement, she couldn’t remember that she’d seen him smile that way.
• He snapped his head around when she was almost to them and looked at her. In the few steps before she reached them, he had checked her from shoes to her hair and was now giving her a cautious look, as if to ask if everything was all right. She smiled at him, hoping it reassured him that everything was fine.