She had spoken very quickly as she released her pent-up breath. But he watched as she nervously pulled at the ties to her red plaid pajama pants while she awaited his response, and he knew he had heard her correctly. There was all manner of jokes he could have cracked, but it was easy to see that this confession was a painful one for her. “Well…I didn’t see that one coming,” he admitted, keeping his tone calm. She relaxed against him and he knew he had said the right thing. Leaning down, he kissed the top of her head. Her unbound hair smelled faintly of the generic, lightly-fragranced shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom and an underlying scent that was distinctly her own, a scent that made him think of sunlight and spiced honey. His fingers moved to her hair as he sorted his thoughts. He watched the light coming through the windows glimmer on the strands as they filtered through his fingers. The action gave them both time to process this last Incident. He supposed it would have shocked Amber to know that he wanted nothing more at that moment than to go and hunt down Ken and Holly Jamison.
