Will stiffens and slowly takes his arm from my shoulders and pulls his hand out of mine.

“It’s not real,” I say. My mouth goes dry.

Will slowly shakes his head. “Unbelievable.”

“She’s wrong. We both know, this time Miss Erma’s wrong.” He needs to believe this.

What’s the matter with him?

“Come with me,” he says, and there’s an odd note in his voice.

He drops down to the ground and I scramble after him. When I get to the grass he grabs my hand.

“What? What is it?”

He shakes his head. “Come on.” He pulls me across the field, first at a fast walk, then at a run.

“Will, what?” I gasp.

We’re heading toward the house, the tall meadow grass bends around us and white night moths fly up into the air as we pass.

“I’m not going with Gavin, I told you. I don’t want him.”

If he’s taking me to the house to find his brother, I’ll bonk him over the head with a hardback encyclopedia.

We reach the front door. I’m out of breath. Will’s breathing hard and there’s a strange light in his eyes. The same light he had when we first made love, and when he promised he’d never let me go.

He unlocks the door and pulls me up the stairs. We stop in his bedroom suite.

“You loved that little boy?” he asks, his voice rough.

I shake my head no. “I love you,” I say.

He nods and gently pushes me back to the bed. I sit down on the thick comforter.

“You loved him for years?” he asks.

“I thought I loved him. But I don’t. I love you,” I say firmly. I hold open my arms to him and invite him in.

He drops to his knees in front of me.

“And that boy is your soul mate?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No. You’re my soul mate. I love you.”

He takes my hands, turns them over, and presses a kiss to each palm.

“Let me tell you a story.”

“Alright,” I whisper.

He looks up at me, eyes warm and full of love.

“Once upon a time, there was a boy, who above all else wanted to love and to be loved.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and nod. “Good beginning.”

“It gets better,” he says. “When he was eight, the boy’s mom left and although he didn’t know it, the next year his life would change forever.”

I nod. Will’s dad would realize he was a prodigy. He’d lose his childhood. I stroke my thumb across his hand.

“But,” he says with a smile, “before that happened, he met a girl and he fell in love.”

I think of him pushing me in the mud and I smile. Not the best way to show love.