eye. He looked on from above at the scenes, but the overwhelming sense of loss and the desperate grip at hope that compelled people to visit Harry and beg for that last moment of contact with their loved ones consumed Erich and ate away at his soul.
“Any touch to another’s life alters their course. You’ve already effected a change in Bess just by being here.” Jaden’s words echoed in his mind, and Erich fought against the power coursing his body and constricting his muscles. “You haven’t lost free will, but I implore you to remember the reason you entered that body to begin with.”
The power consuming him left as quickly as it had impaled him. His body collapsed, and Jaden disappeared. An eerie silence exaggerated the emptiness, not only of the bedroom, but within him. Yes, death had repercussions. Maybe not to the lifeless body, but to everyone that person touched.
He pushed himself to his knees, trying to piece the images together with Jaden’s words and decipher his warnings. Like a robot, he slipped into a pair of black pants and started for the door just as Bess came running into it.
“What happened? It sounded like something fell.”
“Something did. Me.”
She eyed him curiously, and he searched for the right words to explain. But what logical excuse could he give? His feet wet from the shower? That didn’t make sense; the floor was carpeted. “What can I say? I’m clumsy. No harm. No foul. Nothing’s broken.” He tried to smile, hoping to ease the raw bundle of nerves he’d been since he collided with her on the street.
She nodded, accepting his excuse, but her stare lingered on his face for a moment. “I always liked that shirt on Harry, but it looks better on you. The blue matches your eyes.”
Bess then pivoted away and started down the steps as if the comment meant nothing, not knowing how much it divided him. Of course, he liked that she noticed his eyes, but Harry’s soul panged with jealousy that she looked at the smallest of detail in another man.
Oh, the irony . She would have to fall in love with another man to save both their lives.
***
Those eyes. That strong jaw. Bess shook off her stare and set the bone plate in front of Erich. Her heart sank to her quivering stomach. Harry was her first, and she’d vowed he’d be her only. Yet, here this man sat, and a piece of her was reaching to him for no other reason than her sleeping libido had awakened.
Erich’s eyelids fluttered, and he seemed to be taking in the scent of fish, potatoes and corn. Sliding the napkin from the table to his lap, he said, “I can’t thank you enough. This is so much more than I expected to be eating tonight.”
“A man who works hard deserves a good meal, and thanks to you that little boy–” He’d asked her to put the deed out of her mind, and she should try harder to respect that. But what might have happened if Erich hadn’t been so observant and selfless?
She loved Harry, as much as any woman could love a man, but she’d never use selfless to describe him. Erich had proven himself to be self-sacrificing twice.
Is that why I find him so appealing?
“That doesn’t make you responsible for me,” Erich said. “But I’m grateful for any kindness.” Erich’s cheeks pushed back with a smile that lit up those eyes she was trying to ignore.
She forced her gaze to the hastily prepared meal that he savored, and she asked the question that had circled her mind since he had said he only had the clothes on his back. “Are you running from something, Mr. Welch? The law, perhaps?”
He coughed on his tea and kept his focus on his plate as if the food fascinated him. “Why do you ask such a thing, Mrs—”
“Call me Bess. Because you showed up out of nowhere with nothing, not even enough cash to pay for a room.”
Another bite of fish disappeared after Erich chewed it more thoroughly than needed. “Running away from something isn’t really my style, but sometimes the need for
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