My Heart Lingers (A Hearts of Misty Mesa Story): BWWM Interracial Romance by Brandi Boddie Page A

bottom of the steps. The officer put down his coffee and turned his focus towards him.
    “She’s not kidding,” Cole said. “You’ll find I’m not joking, either, if you ever put your hand on me again.”
    Mike looked around Cole’s shoulder to peer at Kyra. “So you’re helping him? I don’t get you, Kyra. What is this, some twisted way of making up for aborting his kid?”
    Kyra recoiled as though she’d taken a punch to the stomach. She witnessed Cole making his hands into fists. “Cole, don’t.” She touched his arm. It was hard with clenched muscle.
    “Better listen to your easy girlfriend, cowboy,” Mike taunted. “Hit me and I’ll sue.”
    “And you’d lose. You shoved him first.” The police officer climbed the stairs. “I’m no lawyer, but he’d be operating in self-defense if he took a swing at you. You need to run along and think about things before you get yourself into trouble.” The officer touched the pair of handcuffs at his belt.
    He stood beside Mike until Mike relented and backed away from Cole. Kyra realized her hands were shaking. Cole looked at her and touched her. “Let’s get out of here.”
    She said nothing as she allowed him to walk with her down the city hall steps.
     
    ***
     
    Kyra watched Cole from the passenger seat of his Ford as he came away from the food vendor truck on the street corner, carrying a water bottle in his hand. He gave it to her through the window. “Here. Drink this.”
    She unscrewed the cap and took two gulps of the icy cold water, grateful to quench her parched throat. Her mouth had gone dry the moment Mike said those horrific words to her in front of Cole. Her hands were still shaking from nerves.
    Cole climbed inside the truck. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand. “Your skin doesn’t feel clammy anymore. For a moment, I thought you were going to pass out.”
    “I’m alright, but thanks for the water. I could use a refresher from the heat.”
    Cole’s blue irises expanded in the shaded interior of the truck. “Kyra, about what Mike said. He’s a fool. You were very young when you got pregnant with our baby. To some extent, I understand how you may have been scared and felt alone. It hurts me that you made choices without telling me, but I forgave you a long time ago. I’m not angry. In fact, these past ten years, I kept thinking of you.”
    A confusing mixture of sadness and relief came over Kyra. She slowly placed the water bottle in one of the truck’s cupholders. “There’s something you should know. I never had an abortion. I lost the baby in the first trimester.”
    Cole turned his upper body towards her and leaned forward. His brows formed a single line as he frowned in perplexity. “You had a miscarriage?”
    Kyra nodded. “The tales about me having an abortion and not telling you were nothing but ugly rumors.”
    She gauged Cole’s reaction. His lips parted slightly. Then he closed them and rubbed the stubble on his chin. “I feel like I’ve missed so much information. Can you start at the beginning for me? When did you first learn you were pregnant?”
    “I was at the high school graduation ceremony. I had to go to the bathroom because I felt sick. I thought I was nervous about walking across the stage, but it was actually morning sickness. One of the girls from our graduating class saw me in the bathroom. She figured it out. I asked her not to say anything to you or anyone, but word eventually got out a few weeks after you left to go to college.”
    “Did you visit the doctor?”
    Kyra shook her head. “I took a couple home pregnancy tests, but I was in denial for weeks. I wouldn’t say anything to my parents or my friends. That’s why I made excuses not to go out with you, and why I eventually stopped returning your calls. I was so scared. I may have technically been an adult at eighteen, but I still had the mind of an adolescent. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn.” Kyra wiped at a