“What do you mean she’s sleeping?  She had a concussion, she shouldn’t be sleeping.”  Justin was straining to keep his voice low, but his nerves were taught wires, humming with anxiety and fear.  He knew who Travis was; Bailey had told him that he was Carter’s father.  Justin also knew that Travis had been in jail, should still be in jail.  He was worried, to say the least, and he wanted to talk to Bailey.

“The Doc came and checked her out.  It’s not a concussion, just a bad bump.  She’s fine, but she had a killer headache, so Doc gave her something and now she’s sleeping.  You’ll have to wait until she wakes up to talk with her.”  Lynn gently pushed her son away from the spare bedroom, ushering him toward the living room.  “Now, you should probably go talk to Carter.  He looked pretty shaken up.”

Justin cursed softly.  He had nearly forgotten Carter.  In his haste to get home, he’d put the young boy out of his mind, focusing only on getting to Bailey and making sure she was okay.  Clearing his head, he found Carter sitting rigidly in the living room, his eyes glued to the floor.  “Hey, you all right?”

Carter looked up when Justin spoke, and the he looked much younger than his twelve years.  He looked like a scared little boy, and Justin’s heart went out to him.   Gently, he took a seat next to Carter.

“How’s my Ma?”  His voice was thick and rough, as if he’d been holding back tears.  “Can I see her?”

Justin tried to give him a reassuring smile.  “She’s sleeping now.  She’s fine.  The doctor said it’s a pretty bad bump, but she’ll be okay.  He gave her something for the headache.”

Carter nodded, although the news didn’t do anything to ease the tension in the young boy’s body.  “What happened?  Why did she pass out?”  He’d caught pieces of the phone conversation when Justin got the call, and the older man had briefly explained why their trip was being cut short.

Justin wasn’t sure how much Carter knew about his father, but he was sure that the name would cause a reaction.  He didn’t want to scare the boy even more, but he didn’t want to lie, either.  He was stuck.

“I know it’s about my dad, Mr. T.  I heard his name.”  Carter solved Justin’s problem for him.  “Is he here?  Did he hurt her?”  The bravado he was showing was endearing, and Justin found himself smiling in spite of the seriousness of this conversation.  Carter was a good kid.

“No, he didn’t hurt her.”  Justin took a deep breath, not sure how to go about this.

“Boys, dinner is ready.  You best get in here and eat before it gets cold.”  Lynn’s voice broke into their quiet conversation, saving Justin from having to say anymore.  Reluctantly, Carter stood, and Justin urged the boy into the dining room.

“We’ll let your mom sleep for a while, okay?  As soon as she’s awake you can go see her, I promise.”  Justin patted Carter on the shoulder, hoping to ease the boy’s fears.  Carter just nodded, trudging slowly into the dining room.

He was scared and worried, and he couldn’t get the taste of fear out of his mouth. 

It took all of his will power and politeness to choke down some food instead of rushing into his mom’s room and crawling into bed with her.  He was sure the food tasted fantastically; Ms. Lynn was the best cook he knew.  But he couldn’t taste anything through his anxiety.  His tongue was heavy, his jaw was tight, and his head was pounding. 

What was his dad doing here?  How had he found them, and if he could find them, could other people?  Did this mean they had to move again?  What about Gramps, did he know where they were?  Could they go back to Boston?  Was his mother in danger?  Was he in danger?...

The questions were rolling through his head so furiously that he didn’t notice he was being spoken to until Mr. Timberlake put a hand on his shoulder.  Startled, Carter looked up to see the table had been cleared and no one was sitting with him anymore.

“Your mom is awake now.  She’s asking for you.”  Carter stood stiffly, heading into the spare bedroom and, even with Mr. T watching, he crawled into the bed with his mother and wrapped her into the tightest hug he dared.

“Hey, Bub.”  Bailey’s voice was heavy with sleep, but she ran her hands through Carter’s hair, kissing him on the forehead.  “I’m fine, Carter, it’s okay.”

He hadn’t realized he was crying until his mother wiped a tear off of his cheek.  He looked up at her, memorizing her features before burying his face into her shoulder.  “Is he here, Mom?  Is he going to hurt us?”

Bailey felt her own tears building at the fear in her son’s voice.  She soothed him with soft words and gently touches, rubbing his back until he calmed and stopped crying.  She didn’t really have answers for him, and she knew she was going to have to explain things to Justin and Lynn, too.  With a heavy sigh, she let Carter rest his head on her shoulder, and she lifted her eyes to meet Justin’s. He gave her a soft smile, encouraging her with his eyes because he didn’t have the words.

“Where’s your mom?”  Bailey asked, knowing she wanted Lynn to hear everything, too.  She was serious when she said she didn’t want to repeat herself.

“I’m right here, Darlin’.  How are you feeling?”

Bailey shrugged as best she could with Carter wrapped around her side.  “The ache isn’t as bad.  I’ll be fine, thank you.”  She smiled genuinely at the older woman, happy to have her in her life.  “I guess you all will want some answers.”

Neither Justin nor his mother said anything, instead choosing to let Bailey talk at her own pace.  Justin did walk to the other side of the bed where he sat in a nearby chair and took her small hand into his own.  She looked frail and he wanted to protect her.

“Travis is Carter’s father.”  She started, licking her lips.  “He went to jail for drug possession and distribution before Carter was born.  I hadn’t seen or heard from him since I was six months pregnant.  He’d sent me some letters, but I didn’t open them and I don’t know what my dad did with them.  I think he threw them away.”  She took a deep breath, pausing.  She wasn’t sure how much more she should share, but she was getting to the point where the secrets were too difficult to keep anymore.

“He called you Sarah.”  Lynn stated softly, watching the young girl carefully.

Bailey nodded.  “When I lived in Boston, my name was Sarah.  Sarah Hudson.”  She felt Justin’s grip start to loosen, but she held on tighter and turned to face him fully.  “I was a journalism major, and I worked for a small newspaper in Boston.  They put me onto a story about a local gang that was known for peddling a lot of drugs.  I knew some of the people involved, only because of Travis, so I found an in, and I started spying on them and keeping records for the paper.  The plan was to expose the guy in charge of the whole thing.  The police were often involved and I sent them my reports a lot.”

The air felt thick as she took a deep breath.  It was so strange to hear these words spoken out loud.

“I witness a murder.  Two, actually.  This guy, Jimmy, the one that got Travis into the whole mess, he killed two guys that he found out were stealing money from him.  He didn’t know I was in the room; I’d been in the bathroom when it happened and I watched from behind the shower curtain.  I had to testify against him in court, and because of the fact that they couldn’t guarantee my or Carter’s safety, we were given new identities and shipped away from Boston.  We ended up here.”

A silence pervaded the room and Bailey was unsure of what everyone was thinking.  Carter was still awake, but holding on tightly to her torso.  Justin’s hand was still in her’s, and he hadn’t tried to pull away again, but she didn’t know what that meant.  Lynn just looked thoughtful, moving from the door way to sit in an arm chair in the corner.

It was Justin who finally broke the silence, and he directed his question at his mother.  “Is Ben sure that it was a guy named Travis that came in? And he was asking about Bailey?”

Lynn nodded.  “Ben said he was asking for Sarah, he said she would be new to town, he was pretty sure she worked at a lawyer’s office, and she had a boy that would be twelve years old.” 

“How did he find us?”  Bailey wondered, clutching her son a little tighter.  “Even my father wasn’t told of our location or our new names.  I can’t contact him, either.”

“He’s not dead?”  Justin asked, remembering a previous conversation where he’d felt like an ass for mention that Bailey visit home.

She cringed.  “No.”  She was quick to atone for her lies, though, not wanting to hurt Justin any more than she had to.  “Well, I don’t know if he’s dead or not.  I haven’t spoken to him since the night we moved.  It was easier to assume he was dead.  It made missing him hurt a little less.”

Justin nodded, feeling shocked and numb to learn all of this information.  He wanted to ask Bailey who she was; he wanted to get angry.  But he couldn’t.  He watched her hold Carter tightly, and all he could think about was protecting her.  Obviously he wanted answers, but he couldn’t find the anger anywhere within him.  He was scared of losing her, and he was worried for her and Carter’s safety, but the only person he was angry at was Travis.

“I couldn’t tell you.  I wanted to, I hated lying about who I was and why I came here, but if was for Carter’s safety.  If one of Jimmy’s guys found out where we were…” she trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.

“But now Travis is here.”

Bailey felt the tears start to form, and she had to let them fall because it hurt too much to hold them back.  Her head was pounding from her fall, and she was so overwhelmed with emotions that it was difficult to think straight.  “I don’t know how he found us.  He was in jail when everything happened.”

“Well, he’s here.”  Lynn was trying to take a little of the fear out of the room and put some practicality in it’s place, but even she was shaken up.  “So you think he’s a threat?”

Bailey thought on it for a moment.  Did she?  Was he here to cause trouble?  “I don’t know.  It’s been twelve years, Ms. Lynn.”  Taking a deep breath, Bailey steeled her nerves.  “I can’t imagine it’s good, though.  If he knows we’re here, other people might, too.”

All of the adults in the room sat in heavy thought.  No one wanted to mention the possibility of Bailey and Carter moving again, but the idea crossed all of their minds.  Lynn was wondering what this girl had gotten herself into and how she was going to help; Justin wanted to find Travis and get information out of him, and Bailey was numbly trying to think through her headache and fear.  She didn’t want to see Travis again.  It had been too long, and she didn’t think he was here for good reasons.  She was so worried about the affect of this entire situation on Carter, too.

His soft snore stole everyone’s attention.  “I should get him home so he can go to sleep.”

Justin looked at his mother, noting her soft nod.  “I think it’s best if you two stay here.”  He spoke quietly, clearing his throat as he continued.  “We don’t know how much Travis knows about where you live, so you’re safest here, until we know more.”

Bailey was about to protest, not wanting to impose on these people any more than she already had, but Lynn’s voice stopped her.  “He’s right, darlin’.  I’ve got plenty of space, and I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe here.”  The older woman gently roused Carter from his sleep, guiding him to the den where he could sleep on the pull out couch. 

When she was gone, Bailey turned to look at Justin, unsure of what was going on in his head.  “Justin…”

He held up a hand.  “It’s okay, Bailey…or Sarah…”  He didn’t know what to call her anymore.  He didn’t know who she was.  Bailey sensed this and she was desperate to keep him with her.

“I’m not that girl anymore, Justin.  I may have held why I was here from you, but everything else was me.  I’m Bailey Beckett.  I haven’t been Sarah Hudson for a long time, even before I had to change my name.”  She took a shaky breath.  “Everything we’ve had is real.  I…you make me really happy, Justin.  That’s the truth.”

His blue eyes bore into her with an intensity that sent chills down her spine.  “I want to be upset with you.  I feel…I just can’t believe all of this is happening.  I want to ask you a million questions and call you out for lying.”  He hated himself for it, but the tears flowed down his cheeks before he could stop them.  “But I’m so scared of losing you.”

Despite the fact that it was killing her to move, Bailey sat up against the pillows, taking Justin’s hand and pulling him over to her.  When he was seated on the bed facing her, she grabbed his cheeks between her hands and forced him to look at her.

“I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.  I swear.  Travis being here is a good thing, really, because now I don’t have to lie anymore.”  She pulled him to her and kissed him deeply, trying to express just how she felt.  When they broke apart, they were both breathing heavily. 

He had a small feeling that it wasn’t the time to be doing this, but he couldn’t stop himself.  He pressed his lips to hers again, pulling his body the rest of the way onto the bed so he could settle over hers.  Their relationship hadn’t progress to this physical stage yet, but right now he had to have her; all of her.  He wanted to feel her heart beating erratically against his own.  He wanted the heat of her skin to sear his, branding him with her touch.  He wanted to blaze a trail across her body, making her as his own.  He wanted to show her how fast he was falling in love with her.  Being an English teacher meant he had all forms of words readily available to him, but this moment, he had no words at all.  Just touches.

He had the sense to pull away long enough to shut and lock the door, but that was the only time away from her he could spare.  Shutting off the overhead light, he shed his shirt and dropped his jeans to the floor, the light from the night flitting softly against his skin.

Bailey couldn’t get herself to move as Justin made his way closer to her.  A tiny gasp left her mouth as he stripped himself of his boxers, too, standing completely naked in front of her.

She was putty in his hands as he gently undressed her, taking care not to aggravate her headache.  All thoughts of pain were gone, however, when the heat of his hands touched her bare skin.  She was on fire.  Her body was responding to his caresses in ways she didn’t know possible.  It had been so long since a man had touched her like this; with such passion, and care, and desire.  She could taste the want on his tongue, feel the urgency in the hands that were roaming her now bare body.  His arousal pressed against her thigh and she could feel her own body flooding with the need to be filled by this man.

“Justin…”  It was more of a breath than a word, but he heard her loud and clear.  Sinking them into the blankets, Justin settled his body over Bailey’s.  Both were heavily panting; sweat starting to speckle their heated skin.  Slowly, ever so slowly, he lowered his body until there wasn’t any skin left untouched.  Carefully adjusting himself between her legs, Justin waited for her approval before pressing into her warm, wet heat.  She spread her legs a little more, allowing him to sink deeper inside of her.  They both moaned, stilling as he settled all the way in her depths.

“Jesus Bailey…”  He panted in her ear.  He couldn’t stay still any longer, and his hips started to move of their own accord.  He wasn’t a virgin by any standards, but it had been a while since he had felt this desperate for a woman.  He couldn’t get close enough, deep enough.  He could kiss her enough, or get enough of her hands exploring his body.

No more words were spoken between the two of them.  The touches said it all.  Justin sank deeper and deeper into Bailey, pulling as much of her into his arms and embrace as he possibly could, hoping to keep her with him forever.  Bailey, clouded by an erotically euphoric haze, clung to Justin as he moved within and around her.  He filled all of her senses completely, and she felt herself fall with finality over the edge.  She was in love with him.

She was in love with him, and in that moment, that love was enough