Wild Flower by Abbie Williams

he licked it away.
    â€œIt only gets stronger every day. I wake up and see you and it hits me all over again. Camille, I never imagined I would feel this way in my life. I can hardly bear to be apart from you long enough to go to work.” And then he grinned a little, making fun of himself, as he said next, “God, I don’t mean to sound crazy. You know what I mean.”
    His words, crazy or not, pleased me immeasurably, and I felt just the same. The second I saw his truck coming up the driveway towards Shore Leave in the evening light, all was right again in the world. I held him by both ears and said what I had been thinking earlier, “You are crazy. But you are also mine, for all time.” My throat choked around a lump of intensity as I called him by my special nickname, the one no one but me used, “You are my love, Thias. I need you so much.”
    His eyes blazed, hot-blue and intent. Against my lips he murmured, “Honey, let’s get dried off and in our bed. Our full-size, non-feather bed in which I am going to practice making you my wife.”
    I giggled as he kissed me, already nodding agreement.

Chapter Three
    â€œJilly-honey, you want anything?” Justin called from the kitchen, where I imagined him standing in the wedge of light created by the open fridge, hoping just like I often did that something delicious and easy to prepare had magically appeared on its clear-plastic shelves. I wasn’t much of a cook, and neither was Justin, but somehow we managed. We had gotten back from Shore Leave a half hour ago, the kids drooping with exhaustion from an evening spent on the lake.
    Early this morning I had told Justin everything Joelle told me while on the porch swing. By the dawn’s light, which painted the log walls of our bedroom with a cheerful rosy-orange glow, my rage from the last night seemed misplaced, even ridiculous, though I nearly writhed with embarrassment as I explained that the person whose expensive little car I had crunched in the parking lot yesterday belonged to his ex-wife, and that she was…unhappy about this situation.
    Justin’s eyes went from mildly concerned at my tone to outright amused as I related this part of the tale. He tucked an elbow under his head, still relaxed on the pillow, and teased, “Are you sure you didn’t realize it was her car? God, it’s actually kind-of funny, in its own way.”
    Irritation instantly replaced all other emotions as I snapped, lifting to my elbow, “ Funny ?”
    A smile tugged at his lips as he shook his head at my tone, repeating calmly, “Yes, funny. Don’t spend one second worrying about Aubrey and her endless need for drama. It’s what she would want, honey.”
    I flopped to my back and pressed both hands to my forehead, closing my eyes, probably irrationally upset, but upset nonetheless. Justin rolled to look down at me; I could sense his grin and it angered me all the more. Just to be a pain, I grumbled, “Doesn’t it bother you at all that she demanded you fix her car? That she thought she had the right to drive over to the shop and accost Dodge?”
    Justin said, still with a reasonable tone, “I can’t believe it bothers you this much, baby. I shudder at the thought of even hearing her voice. God, I wasted too many years with that woman as it was.”
    â€œBut she wanted to see you ,” I pressed, digging the heels of my hands into my eyes and rubbing.
    There was a moment of total silence before Justin, with an air of dawning awareness, asked incredulously, “Jillian Rae, are you jealous ?”
    Because he’d hit the nail so close to the head, I rolled to face away from him, mortified that I’d pushed it this far. Of course I wasn’t jealous. I knew better than that.
    â€œNo,” I muttered, as though insulted.
    â€œI don’t know if I should be shocked or flattered,” Justin said then, and again I could tell