Love's Embers (Canon City Series) by Lauren Marie Page A

the window up. When they were kids, Charlie spent millions of nights with her. They’d have sleep overs all the time and it kept him safe from his father’s rage. When they’d turned fourteen or fifteen, Gran got a little weird about him staying in Lark’s room. She put the foldout couch together for him and insisted he sleep in the living room. Gran never explained why and Lark couldn’t figure it out until now when she was older. She didn’t want them to get physical at such an early age and Lark appreciated the sentiment now.
    “Charlie, what are you doing? Are you crazy?” she whispered.
    He climbed in through the window, peeled off his coat and boots and crawled into her bed.
    “What are you doing?” she asked and closed the window.
    “I’m free..zing.” He shook under the comforter. “The fire went out dur..ing dinner and the wood I..I..I brought in is wet and won’t light. The house is a freezer,” he said and his teeth chattered. “We...we used to do this all the time when we were kids. I couldn’t think of anyplace warmer.”
    “You could have broken your neck out on the roof.”
    “Naw, it was like riding a bike.” He shook again and pulled the over tighter around his neck. “The cinder block wall is still goo...good, but there was a little ice on the roof. I slipped a couple of times, but made it okay.” He looked at her. “Please, get in here and warm me up.”
    She walked to the other side of the bed and started to get under the comforter. “Where’s Break....oh, my Lord, you’re an ice cube tray. I can feel your feet through your socks and mine.” She snuggled close to him and let him wrap himself around her. “Why didn’t you get in your truck?”
    “I thought about that, but by the time the thing warmed up, the neighbors would have complained to the police about the noise. To keep it warm, I’d have to leave the engine running. I didn’t want to wake everyone up.”
    “Where’s Breaker?”
    “I left him outside. He does well in cold weather with his fur coat.” He shivered. “God, you feel good.”
    His face was pressed up against her chest and her arms held onto his back. “This really brings back memories.”
    “Yeah, all those times I slept over here...you saved me, you know?”
    “Charlie, come on.”
    “No, you did.” He propped himself up on his elbow and took her hand. “Those nights when my dad was drunk, it really helped to know there was a safe place I could go. You and Gran never turned me away. I have so much to thank you for; I don’t know how to get started.” He kissed her hand and scrunched back down under the comforter.
    “Well, you saved me, too. Back in our school days, when that bitch Sally Hoskins and her buds made fun of my name and called me Meadow Lark, you kept me grounded. I was never much of a fighter, but I really wanted to beat her up.” She put her hand in his hair and snuggled closer.
    “I knew it made you sad, because your mom gave you that name. I brought you chocolate, flowers and that movie newly released on VHS...what was it?”
    “The Truman Show. I loved that movie.”
    “Right, and we made popcorn and Gran fell asleep in her rocker,” he said.
    “When the movie ended, you went out the back door, like you were going home and then you climbed up the wall and we had a sleepover.” She looked down at him and felt the tingle start in the lower half of her body. “You know, Gran was aware of your being up here. When we were a little older, she tried once to discuss exactly what we were up to when we had sleep overs.” She laughed and it must have been contagious because Charlie laughed, too.
    There was a light knock on her bedroom door. They both stopped laughing. “Come in,” Lark said.
    The door opened and a large wolf landed on the middle of the bed, stepping on both Charlie and Lark.
    “Breaker was scratching at the back door and seemed lonely. He came right up the stairs and stood at your door. I wondered why for a