Page 8 of One Merciful Moment

He shoved his boots on and stepped outside, scanning the street. No sign of her. He kept walking, studying the houses in case any of the men were outside and ready to take advantage of Ashley being alone.

He moved quickly, checking the courthouse steps, the road, the alley behind the restaurant, the gas station, even the empty feed store.

His jaw tightened. If one of the men had cornered her, he'd kill whoever touched her.

He went to the edge of town. Maybe she'd tried to get through the veil.

Halfway there, he could see she wasn't on the road, so he veered off into the field.

The garden was the last place he wanted her. It was the town's lifeline. If she pulled the wrong plant, stepped on a sprout, or disturbed the soil, they'd all pay. Starvation could come in a minute.

He reached the edge of the rows and stopped short.

Ashley knelt in the dirt, hands buried in the soil up to her wrists, pulling weeds with a quiet focus he hadn't seen in her before. Her hair fell forward as she worked. He looked at the ground in front of her. She wasn't ruining anything.

In the pale moonlight, she looked beautiful.

Her movements were easy, as if having her hands in the earth were the most natural, grounding thing she'd done since arriving in Everstill.

Boone's anger at finding her gone flickered and went out. She wasn't destroying their only food source. She was tending to the garden in the dark.

He exhaled and stepped closer. Ashley finally looked up. Dirt smudged her cheek. Her bright eyes lifted to meet his.

She looked... content.

He stared at her. Her face was calm, almost peaceful, and for the first time since arriving, she was comfortable here.

And that fucked him up.

He hadn't touched her because he wanted to make sure he could leave Everstill if the veil opened, and he needed her to take him. Finn had left with Kallie. Moe had left with Jillian. They were all back now, but they'd escaped for a time.

He wanted that chance, and he needed Ashley to do it with him. But seeing her under the moonlight broke him.

"This feels normal," she said. "Everything else here is strange. I want to go home, but this garden makes me feel like I'm not alone."

Boone wanted to explain the dangers of her being out here alone. But he stayed quiet.

She brushed soil off her palms. "Back home, I spent most of my life in gardens. My grandmother taught me everything she knew about watching the moon, planting, and when to harvest before she died. Now I live in her cottage and tend the plants on my own. I'm known as the witchy woman's granddaughter. It's a title I'm proud of wearing. I love to sell my tinctures to others for whatever ails them."

She pushed herself off the ground, ignoring the dirt stains on her knees. "I'm scared. It's not normal for that... that veil thing to keep me here. I want to go home."

Boone didn't soften the truth. "You can't. Not unless the storms start again."

"It rains a lot at home," she whispered.

They couldn't count on the weather in Everstill. He couldn't give her hope he didn't have. It was hard enough to pump water out of the town's well by hand to water the garden and supply them with drinking water. They couldn't count on storms.

A soft cough came from behind him. He turned.

"Boone." Finn dipped his chin. "What are you doing out here?"

He wasn't allowed in the garden. It wasn't one of his jobs.

"Ashley's a gardener—"

"Herbalist," she said.

Finn's eyebrows rose. "Really?"