Plain Fear: Forgiven: A Novel by Leanna Ellis

roads, weaving around pits and broken limbs, before he hit the highway.
    It was the right thing to do, he decided, as he swung by the gym where Andi worked as a personal trainer. It took him way out of his way, but he couldn’t just leave without saying good-bye.
    He’d been in the chrome and glass workout place a time or two in the past, and the receptionist recognized him and told him Andi’s location. Music blared from hidden speakers. Beyond the bank of televisions, which chattered like magpies, stationary bikes, treadmills, and Stairmasters all whirred and created a cacophony in Samuel’s ears. Andi had explained to him once about all the equipment and tried to get him interested in working out with her, but he hadn’t seen the need. Working in the shop and doing chores around his folks’ place was enough to keep him fit and trim.
    Across the weight room, he saw her. Andi wore a tight-fitting warm-up suit that accentuated her slim curves. The jacket was only half zipped and revealed a good portion of cleavage. The man she spoke to seemed focused on her assets, not on her advice. Immediately, Samuel felt a kink in his gut.
    Andi placed one foot behind her, and the man copied her movements, wobbling until she steadied him with a hand. His balance was obviously thrown off by his rounded belly and his inability to quit looking at Andi’s curves. She led him to an elliptical machine, got his feet placed correctly on the pads, then his hands on the handlebars, and set a bunch of buttons. The machine started, and the man glided along, getting nowhere quickly. Smiling, she made sure his movements were correct, then patted his arm reassuringly. Samuel had a feeling the man and others like him came here for reasons beyond cardio and BMI.
    When Andi noticed Samuel, her smile brightened, which eased the knot in his abdomen. She said something to the man, then walked toward Samuel. Her smile was playful, secretive, making him remember all they’d shared last night, and coiled his insides with a new, more delightful tension.
    “Well, hello,” she said as she approached. “Missing me already?”
    Samuel became aware of others watching—a woman lifting weights nearby, a man walking on a treadmill. Samuel edged back a few steps to give space for a private conversation. Andi pressed her body against his, looping her arms around his neck and kissing him, declaring to those around: look but don’t touch . He hoped it would say the same to the men ogling her backside, but he suspected it would only act as a challenge to overblown egos.
    She’d told him how the club was a pickup hot spot, where the ladies were always scoping out the men just as much as men were the ladies, unless their pleasure leaned toward their own sex. That shocked him, and she’d laughed and called him “farm boy.”
    She cupped his shaved jaw. “I didn’t like waking up without you.”
    He squeezed her waist, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to push her back a notch or pull her closer. “There were chores to be done.”
    “Oh, I had a chore for you. You’ll have to come back and take care of it.” She winked and kissed him again. Just when she had him wanting more, she eased out of his grasp. “Wanna have dinner tonight? I have to work until four, but—”
    “I came to say good-bye.” There. He’d said it. Better to put it out there and let her know before she muddled his mind.
    Her smile congealed, then disappeared altogether. Her eyes turned hard as glass. “What are you talking about?”
    “It’s my brother. The one in Pennsylvania—”
    “I didn’t figure it was the dead one.” Her tone sounded flat.
    “Levi got hurt,” he explained. “Fell off the roof of his new house or something and broke some ribs. He needs my help. He’s just bought a farm in Promise, and it’s time to prepare the fields and begin planting. If the work doesn’t get done, he won’t be able to make a living this year.” Samuel shrugged a shoulder. “So