“You’re brave and strong. You can do this.” What, Mama? What can I do? Not ballet, please.... Nonono. Troy sat beside her on the golden pine needle carpet floor… the hue of him seemed to blend with the gold as he murmured, “It’s okay, Angel.” His arm slid around her and it felt so good. She felt so safe. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Not now.” She looked into his dark eyes, so gentle in their regard of her, so…concerned. He could read her thoughts and she could read his. “How do you do that?” she asked without saying it aloud. “How do you know what I’m thinking?” He smiled and joy, like a tidal wave, washed up in her throat. Love flowed into her, a love so powerful she thought it would consume her. Yet it was not like anything she’d ever felt before. It was pure and peaceful and gripping all at once. “It’s this place.” The thought flowed to her in his velvety voice. “Here you simply are. There’s nothing to prove, Angel. You simply be yourself…at peace.”
