Wilde Horses. Jannine Gallant

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      He grinned. “That I can believe. Not that I don’t think you’re plenty sharp.”

      “Bright enough to know I’m not cut out to be a city girl.” She waved a hand toward the few tall buildings in downtown Boise, northeast of the freeway. “This is plenty big for me.”

      “Boise? Good God, it’s barely more than a medium-sized town.”

      “Exactly.”

      He laughed. “Then you’re going to love Blue Valley. We have a grocery store, an old-fashioned five and dime and a feed store. Oh, there’s also a gas station, a bar and a diner. That pretty much covers the downtown area. The only school holds kindergarten through eighth grade in three rooms. We had to go twenty miles to the next town over for high school.”

      She smiled back. “Sounds perfect to me.”

      “I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up, and I didn’t lack for companionship. I had a couple of good buddies, along with Josie, the girl I’d been in love with since second grade, but I wanted more.” He let out a deep sigh and focused on the nearly empty highway as they left the congestion around Boise behind. “After graduation, I went to UCLA to study acting. No one in town understood my choice. My friends were going to the local junior college. Only Josie got me. She was a year younger and had Ivy League aspirations. Too bad she never got to live out her dreams.”

      He flinched when Eden reached over to cover the fist clenched on top of his thigh.

      “I’m sorry for your loss, Blake. Josie sounds like a special person.”

      “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “She got accepted to Brown. Josie was funny and smart and beautiful and full of ambition the summer I came home after my freshman year in college. We talked about how we could make a long-distance relationship work.”

      “Not an easy proposition. I guess life got between you.”

      “Not life. Hers ended that summer.” He breathed hard through his nose. “There was an accident. The man who hit us head on was someone we’d known all our lives. He wound up in the hospital with a crushed pelvis and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. I walked away with a few cuts and bruises and a sprained wrist.”

      “Oh God.”

      He glanced over. Tears brightened Eden’s blue eyes.

      “Josie never woke up from the coma, but machines kept her breathing until a few days ago.”

      “How utterly horrible. For you. For her family. For the man in the other car.”

      “Yeah, it was. Years later, Hank committed suicide. Or at least that’s what was suspected when they found him drowned in the creek behind his house. Officially, the police called it an accident. Josie’s dad took off six months after the car wreck, left his wife and second daughter to deal with the situation alone. Her mom had a fatal heart attack five years ago, and Priscilla’s had the burden of caring for her sister ever since. All I could do was visit when I had free time. After I started making a decent wage in Hollywood, I paid the bills that had piled up over the years.”

      Eden wiped tears off her cheeks. “I’m so, so sorry.”

      “Me, too.” He stared straight ahead at the highway bisecting the prairie. “I realize this is a blessing, all things considered. Josie’s death wasn’t unexpected since she had a few complications over the last couple of years, but knowing she’s gone still hurts. Maybe not as much as it did when the doctors finally convinced us she’d never wake up, but I feel…numb.”

      “You’re a good man, Blake, to have stood by her all these years. Your entire adult life. Most people would have taken the easier path and walked away.”

      He glanced over before returning his attention to the road and tightened his grip on the wheel. “I haven’t been a martyr. Obviously my life wasn’t ruined, despite the guilt that ate at me. I’ve had relationships with a number of women, but I couldn’t make a commitment.” A harsh breath rushed out. “I don’t know. Maybe now I’ll be able to.”

      “Why would you feel guilty? If the other driver was at fault—”

      “Hank swerved to miss a deer. It was late, and Josie was driving because I’d been drinking at a party.” He pulled his hand out from beneath hers. “If I hadn’t had so many beers…”

      “Survivor’s guilt? You think you should have been the one in a coma instead of her?”

      “It’s what I wished for a long time. I damn well don’t drink anymore, that’s for sure. Haven’t since that night.”

      “Sounds like a horrible, tragic accident. Nothing more. You were acting responsibly and gave up your keys. You made the right decision.” Eden turned in her seat to face him. “If you’d been driving drunk, who knows what might have happened. All three of you might have wound up dead on that road.”

      “Maybe.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m going to lay Josie to rest today, along with all the baggage I’ve been carrying around for years. She wouldn’t want anything but happiness for me.”

      “From what you’ve said about her, I’m sure she wouldn’t.” Eden brought one knee up and wrapped her arms around it. “Goes to show perception is nothing like reality.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “I figured you were just another actor living the good life without a care in the world. Your personal struggle doesn’t show in the face you put on for the public, although maybe it makes acting out the emotional scenes in your films easier.”

      “Maybe so. I never really thought about it. I’m just thankful to have kept Josie’s existence out of the media all these years, which is one of the reasons I didn’t spend more time in Blue Valley. The paparazzi would have gotten suspicious, which was the last thing I wanted.”

      They were silent as the sports car ate up the miles through the desolate prairie and crossed out of Idaho into Oregon. When the sun broke through the clouds and blue sky spread before them, Blake retracted the roof.

      Eden turned her face up to the warm rays and smiled. “I love this, but my hair will be a disaster.”

      “Want me to put the top back up?”

      “No, I’ll braid my hair instead.” With swift movements, she wove the shiny mass into a single thick plait then fastened the end with a band she dug from her purse. “Perfect. Let the wind blow.”

      Warmth seeped into him, and it wasn’t all due to the sun burning bright overhead. Eden had an easy genuineness about her that allowed him to relax and enjoy the moment.

      “The air smells wonderful.” Her voice carried over the rush of tires on pavement. “I love the scent of sagebrush.”

      “I do, too. Nothing like the high desert on a beautiful morning.”

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