Splintered

Jebediah I-must-have-structure Holt is altering his life plan for me? “You can’t do that,” I say, forcing him to look at me.

Apprehension tightens his features, but so does resolution. “I’m just veering off course a little. I’m not giving anything up. Once I get the job at the gallery”—he steals a glimpse at Taelor—“which is as good as in the bag, I’ll be able to sell some of my paintings there. I can make co

Go to London, together …

I crinkle the tissue paper between my fingers, unable to pin down the wonderful emotions rushing through me.

“Well, how sweet.” Taelor’s voice shakes. “Maybe you can sell that crap I found in your car the other day and buy her an engagement ring from the thrift store.” Digging into her purse, Taelor tosses three rolls of paper inside the door at my feet—ski

She starts to leave.

Jeb’s shoulders droop, a blush tinting the tips of his ears. My blood catches fire. No way am I going to let her talk to him like that. No way is she going to make him second-guess who he is.

Chucking the roses to the floor, I step out onto the porch and catch her by the elbow.

She jerks free and twirls around.

With me on the step and her on the ground, we’re at eye level. She starts to open her mouth. I shush her. “My turn to talk. And you’re going to listen. Then I never want to hear another word from you about Jeb or anything else again.”

Her jaw clenches, but she waits.

“I’d trust Jeb with my life. He’s everything his dad never was. And you know it, or you wouldn’t be so busted up over losing him. He treated you with respect … and he never wanted to hurt you. Why else do you think he put up with your attitude for so long?”

Her gaze intensifies behind a sheen of tears.

Jeb stands there in stu

“And you know what?” I continue, unable to stop what I’ve unleashed. “Neither one of us has a perfect family. We could’ve been friends or at least tried to get along. But you killed it. Things suck for you sometimes—I get it. But you can’t use that as an excuse to treat people any way you want.” My cheeks burn hot at the purging of emotions I’ve suppressed for too many years. “Tearing down the rest of the world won’t make you happy. Look inside yourself. Because finding who you were meant to be? What you were put into this world to do? That’s what fills the emptiness. It’s the only thing that can.”

It’s dead quiet all around other than a few chirping birds. Even the white noise has gone silent, as if the bugs and flowers stopped to listen to me for once.

Looking down at her feet, Taelor sniffs and runs the back of her hand across her cheeks. She turns her gaze up to mine, and in that moment, I see it. A co

“Holy wow,” Jeb mumbles.

I spin on my heel and we’re face-to-face. Alone … finally.

Staring at me with that same reverent expression as when he first saw my wings, he moves his lips to say something. A screen door opens across the street and interrupts him. Mr. Adams picks up his hose to water his yard. The old man scowls when he notices the empty spots on his rosebush.

“Jeb, you’re about to get busted.”

He gives me a sexy, sideways smile.

Grabbing his wrist, I tug him through the doorway before Mr. Adams looks in our direction. I close the door and press my back against the wood to hide my wing scars.

“Wait a minute.” Jeb catches one of my strands of red hair, twisting it between his thumb and forefinger. “This isn’t a hairpiece. You actually dyed it. What’s gotten into you?”

“I guess I finally found my fiery side.”

“I like it.” He tilts his head, as if evaluating a painting. “So, this glittery stuff that looks like you’ve been swimming in pixie dust …” His knuckles graze my cheek. “Is it on every inch of your skin?” His intent appraisal of my pajamas heats me from my neck to my feet.

“Uhhh …” His touch is enough to make me stammer, but the pixie comment sends me over the edge. I almost groan when he pulls back.

“Thanks for saying that stuff out there, to Tae.”

“I meant every word.” Because I love you. I can’t bring myself to say it out loud yet, but it’s true. It’s not something that hit me from out of nowhere; it was a gradual awakening. Kind of like a metamorphosis …

“Well, looks like you can do okay on your own. After seeing the way you just took care of me.” He leans a shoulder against the wall, closing the space between us once more. “So weird. I had a dream about the same thing last night—you taking care of me.”

The confession snaps me to attention. “Were we in Wonderland?”

He smirks. “Uh, no. We were in a house in the country, and you were sitting at a table playing chess while I painted pictures with a feather and some colored honey. A swarm of bees pounded on the window, yelling at me for stealing from their hive. I mean really yelling, like with people’s voices. Then you sprouted wings and flew outside to chase them all away. Strange, right?”

I stifle a cough. “Yeah, strange.”

“Yet somehow, it fits.” He picks up one of the cylinders Taelor threw at me earlier, removes the rubber band, then hands it over.

I unroll it and gasp to see myself in pencil lines and shading—an amazing rendition of a gothic fairy complete with gossamer wings and eye tattoos—exactly as I looked in Wonderland. Since technically he was never there, it can’t be a memory. So there’s only one explanation: This guy sees into the soul of me and always has.

I meet his gaze, speechless.

“There’s a hundred more like that. You’re my muse, Al. My inspiration. I was hoping … maybe … you might want to be—”

Before he can finish, I clench his T-shirt and drag him down for a kiss. His eyes widen at first, then close, arms wrapping around my hips to lift me to his height. He presses me into the wall with his body.

I smile against his lips, intoxicated.

How many girls get to have their first kiss twice? But this time, I’m not in shock. This time, I don’t forget to curl my arms around his neck and pull him closer. This time, I’m the one to nudge his lips open and find his tongue.

The sketch falls to the floor next to the scattered roses. Jeb moans, wraps my legs around his waist, and holds me tight. He breaks contact just long enough to whisper, “Where’d you learn to kiss like that?”

“You taught me.” I recover my senses and realize what I said. “In my dreams.”

“Oh, yeah?” He nudges the indentation on my chin with his nose. “Been dreaming of me, too, huh?”

“Ever since the day we met.” Finally, the truth.

He flashes his dimples. “Guess it’s time for us to make some dreams come true, skater girl.”

Little does he know we already have; we went to Wonderland and back, after all. I smile, then give him a kiss he’ll never forget, to replace all the ones he’ll never remember.

Thank you first and foremost to my family. My husband, children, brother and brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Both sets of my parents, the ones who brought me into this world and the ones I inherited through marriage. My aunts and uncles on all sides of the family, and my grandparents, who are no longer with us. And, lest we forget, the red Solo cup crew in Kansas. You believed in me through the ups and downs and never once questioned that I would find my way. Your faith carried me through the toughest times.