Chapter 9

He had a flashlight on his keyring that would penetrate even the middle of the night darkish of the forest, but he didn't want it. Amelia , however, was a lot much less certain.

“Can you see where we're going?” she whispered a minute later as they stepped into the trees.

“Yep,” he said quietly.

“How?”

“I have surely appropriate night vision.”

She didn't respond to that, but kept herself close to his side, gripping his arm as he led her through the dark. He indulged himself and leaned barely nearer to inhale the scent of her, shaking his head in disbelief.

He squeezed her hand and even even though she did not squeeze back, she grew to become her head to look at him. To her eyes he could not have been more than a smudge of blacker black against the forest. But he smiled a little anyway.

“It's so right to see you, Amelia ,” he breathed, pulling her close to his side. “I've dreamed about this day for years.”

She ma