HUNTER LAY ON HIS BACK with Melony in the crook of his arm, thinking. Tomorrow night, and for the rest of his life perhaps, he would go to bed alone. He toyed with a strand of her hair, trying to force away the burning sensation in his throat as he thought of those nights and days without this woman.
“When I was lad in Scotland, I found a small, injured bird in my yard one morning.” His voice was a low whisper. “I took the little thing in and vowed to give her all of the love and care she would need to recover. I built a cage in my spare time after school, fed her, kept her warm. My father put a splint on her wing where it had been broken.”
Melony looked up at him, running gentle circles over his chest.
“As the days and weeks passed, I grew to care for that little bird quite a lot. She
