She shakes her head, her mouth twisting in confusion. "I saw the ring with your stuff at the hospital, Tor. It was in the bag with your clothes."

I cringe and brace myself. Of course, I would get hit by a car after picking up an engagement ring - I hope it's not some kind of bad omen.

"The ring isn't for you." I say quietly.

I'm pissed at her for even touching something she had no right to be anywhere near, getting her bad mojo all over it. Now I'm going to have to burn sage next to it.

"What?" she asks.

I turn to face her and my ribs scream in pain. "It's not for you. I'm sorry, Sydni."

"Then who the hell is it for?"

"That's none of your business."

"What the fuck, Tor? Are you insane? Did you just meet someone recently and decide to get married? Just like that?"

I shake my head slowly. "No. It's someone I've had feelings for for a long time."

She stares at me, dumbfounded. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Is it Lisa?"

"No."

"Then who?"

"I'm not discussing this with you."

"Why the hell not? Don't I have a right to know?"

I let out a sick laugh. "No, you really fucking don't."

"We've been in a relationship forever, Tor. You don't think I deserve to know how you just suddenly fell in love and are going to propose to them? That's supposed to be me!"

"At one time I thought it could have been you. But I was never enough for you. You always wanted or needed someone else. Several someone elses. Face it, Sydni; you don't want to be married. You just want to know I'm yours. You want a safety net." I look towards the house, my heart pulling me to go inside and see the woman who does love and want me. "And I'm not going to be that for you."

It bothers me that she's hurting, and that she jumped to a crazy conclusion after she went through my things and got her hopes up. Of course I care about her, because she's right - we do have a history together, but it's over for us.

"Well, good luck, Tor. I hope she's everything you want." She says bitterly.

She is.

"I still care about you, Syd. And I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Just get out." She pushes my arm, right over the raw, tore up section that’s covered in bandages, and I see stars for a moment from the pain.

Fuckin’ bitch.

I climb out of the car, my body still stiff from pain, and walk slowly to the front door as Sydni backs out of my driveway and peels out down the street. Kenzi opens the door for me, then closes it when I get inside. Diogee and Kitten are waiting with her, the dog wagging his tail and howling at me while the kitten rubs all over my legs. This is how I want to come home every day, only without being beat to hell.

Kenzi stares up at me, her eyes shimmering with tears. "Can I hug you?" she asks. "Or will it hurt?"

I snake my arm around her and pull her against me. "You better hug me, Angel," I whisper, burying my face in her hair. "I don't care if you crack another rib. Just don't let me go."

"I was so worried about you." She gently wraps her arms around me and rests her head against my chest. "I couldn't get near you with Sydni there, and Tesla had your cell phone. I didn't know she knew about us."

"Yeah, I told her. I'm sorry about Sydni, Kenzi. I didn't know how to get rid of her without causing a scene."

"It's okay. I'm just so glad you're okay and you're home."

"You have no idea how much I missed you."

She peeks up at me. "Yeah, I might have a good idea."

I lean down to kiss her but she pulls back from me and looks down at the floor.

"What's wrong?" I ask as worry settles in my gut. She's never backed away from me before. "Why are you pulling away from me?"

"I saw Sydni kissing you, Tor. I know you were hurt and not even really awake, but I wasn't there much. She was." She swallows hard. "I need to know if that kept happening."

"Absolutely not. I couldn't stop her from coming every day. My head was fucked at first from the concussion but I definitely did not kiss her. I could barely move, Kenz. I just told her in the car two seconds ago that I appreciate her visiting and driving me but that we are completely over and I'm in love with someone else." I wish I could tell her about the ring and how Sydni assumed that it was for her but I refuse to wreck anything to do with my proposal to her just because Sydni was an idiot. I have no idea when I'll be proposing. It could be two months or ten years, but I wanted to have the ring in case I decide to be spontaneous. I don't care if we're engaged for years, I want her and the rest of the world to know I'm serious about spending my life with her.

"I believe you. I'm sorry I even asked, it was just upsetting to see her touching you and I wasn't able to even talk to you."

"I wanted to call you from my room but I didn't have your number memorized. Do you believe that shit? I just sat there staring at the phone like an idiot."

"Oh! Why didn't I think to call your room after visiting hours? I totally forgot there was a phone there. I'm so stupid!"

I laugh and kiss the top of her head. "No, you're not. We were both stressed. I just want to put this crap behind us." I take her hand and lead her over to the couch so I can sit and rest. My back is already starting to hurt again. "Thanks for taking care of these guys for me."

"Don't thank me. I love them."

"We love you, too. More than you know."

She smiles at me and I wish I could push her back on the couch, kiss her everywhere and make love to her for hours but with my wrist and my ribs being all fucked up I can't. Laying in the hospital all banged up sucked but it sucked even worse not being able to be close to her.

I lean back against the couch and let out a sigh. "It's good to be home. I'm going to be home for at least a week before I go back to work. Maybe two."

She kneels on the floor in front of me and takes my boots off for me, and it's a mix of sweet and sexy as hell watching her do it.

"You need to rest. Your brothers all said they would take care of the shop for you."

"Good. Ya know what I want?"

She puts her hands on my legs and looks up at me. "Tell me."

"I want you here with me every day while I'm resting."

"Ooh. Can I play nurse?" Her playful, sensual voice wakes up my cock, which thankfully escaped getting road rash.

I touch her cheek affectionately. "I was hoping you would."

"I can kiss all your boo boos better."

"I have a lot."

"That's okay."

I cup my hand behind her neck and pull her up to my lips. "I really want to spend as much time with you as possible. I missed you like fuckin' crazy."

"Then I'll be here every day. I can't stay overnight, though, even though I want to more than anything. Sleeping here without you was like torture. Now that my Dad knows you're home, I can't."

"I know." I sigh. "And I'll deal with it. I'll take what I can get."

32

Kenzi

Kenzi ~ age ten

Tor ~ age twenty-five

"Uncle Tor?" She's standing next to the couch, gently pulling on the sleeve of my shirt.

"Yes, love?"

"Can you read to me?"

I lower the volume on the movie I'm watching and turn to face her. She's wearing her pajamas and holding onto an old book I used to read to her when she was little.

"You know how to read, Kenzi. You don't need me to read for you anymore."

"I know but I like to hear your voice when I fall asleep."

That puts an instant smile on my face and now I want nothing more than to read to her. Smiling, I take the old worn book from her hands, which I have memorized from reading it to her so many times.

"Well, I can't argue with that, now can I?" I reply, winking at her.

She shakes her head back and forth and smiles. "Nope."

Kenzi

Tor's been going a bit stir crazy in the house, so today I drove him to the beach so we could walk around and get some fresh air and sun. We hold hands and walk along the edge of the water with our shoes off and watch the seagulls.

"I love having you at my house every day," he says, squeezing my hand. "Now I don't want it to stop."

My heart soars. I can't even put into words how much I've enjoyed being with him every day. "I don't want it to stop, either. I never want to leave."

"Someday, you won't have to. That's the goal, right? To live together?" He glances down at me.

"That's definitely my goal. Can I start working at the shop when you go back?"

"Of course. Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

"I'm positive."

"Then you can. Gretchen can spend a few days with you before she moves to train you on some things."

"That would be great."

Something catches my eye along the water, and I let go of his hand to step forward to grab it. It's an old glass bottle.

"Damn I thought it was a message in the bottle," I say, frowning.

"Nope. Just some asshole's garbage."

There are no trash barrels around, so I have to put the bottle back down in the sand.

"I'm bummed. I've always wanted to find a message in a bottle."

"Isn't it only worth it if it's written for you?" He asks, reaching for my hand again.

"That's so true. Even if I found one, I'm not sure I could open it and read it. It's so invasive. But how fascinating would it be to just see one? I'm curious how the paper and ink would look. I wonder how the ink and paper would hold up after years of floating in the ocean, tossed around by storms, and then warmed by the sun over and over again.”