Unbreak my Heart by I. R. Johannesen Page A

there’s something important I need to tell you,” he said cautiously, “but you may not like it.” He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, fuelled by absolute panic that once he told her he had been in jail for killing a man she would want nothing more to do with him. But he also knew that if he intended to start a relationship with her then he would have to tell her the whole story at some stage so why not right now. After all, it was hardly the sort of detail you could just leave out. That would be too dishonest and the chances were Clare would find out anyway, eventually. Secrets always have a way of coming out in relationships at the most inopportune times and that was something that he wanted to avoid.
    He looked deep into her attentive blue eyes. “Clare, I’m actually not as strong as you think I am. You see, after Georgia and Ellie were killed I did lose the plot. At first I turned to the bottle and drank myself into oblivion every night for weeks to avoid the pain until eventually my best friend and business partner, Kurt, hauled me up by my boot straps and dragged my ass back to work to distract me from my personal hell.”
    Clare recognised the name. “Ah, Kurt, your generous friend who paid for my new radiator. Did going back to work help?” she asked. “I’m not sure it would have for me.”
    Crank nodded. “For a while things returned to normal, at least from the outside, the pain was still there and when I was alone the grief and pain would literally consume me. Bu t at least I was kept busy during the day and pulling my weight as a partner at our firm. But then when the vehicular homicide trial finally made it to court for the drunk driver who was behind the wheel when they were killed, I made one of the dumbest split–second decisions I have ever made in my life and I have been paying for that mistake for a long time. You see outside the court I ….”
    “Mama, Crank, look what Edward and Michael won for me!” Willow interrupted excitedly, jumping up and down between them waving a small, blue teddy bear from side to side, innocently breaking the momentum of his confession to Clare that he had been in jail for manslaughter for the past six years.
    “They picked it up in the claw and dropped it dropped down the hole for me!”
    Crank wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or upset that he had been interrupted. He reached down and touched the soft, blue fur of the plush toy with his finger. “Wow, you’re such a lucky girl, what are you going to call him?”
    “I’m going to call him Lucky ,” she said happily, “because we won him on the very last coin.”
    After Edward and Michael re-joined them at the table, Clare went up to the counter to pay the bill while Crank took Willow and the twins out to the car.
    By the time they reached Clare’s cabin Willow was fast asleep so Crank offered to carry her through to her bedroom while Clare walked in front and opened the doors.
    “Would you like to stay for a coffee?” she asked as they crept back out of Willow’s room into the sitting room. “You could finish telling me your story about how you made the dumbest split second decision in your entire life while the twins find something on the television to watch.It’s still quite early, only 9:45.”
    Crank put his hands around Clare’s waist and drew her close. “I think I might have to take a raincheck on that coffee. ” he said disappointedly. “Michael was almost asleep when we arrived and I don’t think Edward was too far behind him so I think I might just head on back to the cabin and get them settled in.” He bent down and brushed his lips against hers; gently at first and then more urgently until they were exploring each other’s mouths with their tongues.
    Crank felt himself getting hard and forced himself to break away. “Clare, I have to go,” he rasped, raking a slightly trembling hand through his thick, dark locks, “while I still have the willpower to leave.