Montana Saga Chapter 9

He pulls Rya to his chest in a protective embrace

"I've never know anyone with so much understanding.

First, you help me through the grief of losing my wife Sela

without judgment, now you show me understanding for

my lack of faith, I don't deserve you my phoenix."

"My king, the only way I can deal with trauma is to shove

my feelings so far down, that I wake up feeling nothing

most days. It's not the best way, but it's my survival mechanism.

You'll come to God when you're ready. Until that happens, you

do what is best for you to survive."

Henry doesn't say a word. He just pulls her back in, wrapping his

arms around her so tightly it steals the breath right out of her

lungs.

Henry holds her close, letting her words sink in. He doesn't know

how to navigate religious faith, but he knows exactly what it means

to carry a weight so heavy it makes you numb. His authoritative,

commanding voice fills with fierce, absolute devotion, vibrating

against her shoulder. He tells her:

"You've spent your whole life carrying that weight alone, Phoenix.

You feel guilty putting it on your Savior...so let me take some of it.

He pulls her back slightly, cupping her face with his large hands,

looking dead into her eyes:

"I don't know anything about God. But I know about you. If you wake

up feeling nothing, then let me be the one who stands between you

and the rest of this brutal world until you feel something again. You

don't have to face the dark alone anymore. I've got you. Your Savior

has you too, lean on him. Don't allow my lack of faith stop you, Let

both of us help you."

"I can do that." Rya smiles.

There's a firm, respectful knock on the bedroom door. Rya slips out

of Henry's embrace and opens it. Harrison is standing in the hallway.

"Sorry to interrupt. But down there...both your uncles dale and brad

just read your grandmother the riot act. Your grandfather and Aunt

Georgene put their two cents in too.

Rya sighs but nods firmly. "Good. We've tried telling Grandma a

thousand times not to force our faith on people. She doesn't listen.

You can lead a horse to water Harrison, but if you have to slam its

head in the stream to make to make the horse take a drink, the horse

will just drown itself.

Harrison stares at her in genuine shock for a second, then lets out a

dark chuckle.

"Well....you certainly have an interesting way of looking at things, Rya."

A small, knowing smile spread across Rya's lips. "tell them we'll be down

in a minute."

Harrison take the brim of his hat between his thumb and index finger

giving Rya a firm, respectful nod then goes back downstairs.

Rya closes the door to his bedroom, then turns around to see Henry

standing at the foot of his bed. Rya walks back to him opening

her arms to receive him. He holds her in a tight embrace, capturing

her lips in a possessive, passionate kiss. She returned his kiss with

loving, but clumsy inexperience.

Henry pulls back from her just enough to look in her alluring gray

eyes. They revealed the truth to him, he was her first love.

"Phoenix, your heart is safe with me. I won't break it. You've been

broken long enough." Henry holds her tight against his chest. She

could feel it beating in rhythm with her own.

Rya finally could let the walls she built around herself come down

in his presence and on his watch. She breaks her silence.

"My faith has always been a struggle for me. One thing I do know, God

brought us onto each other's paths to for us to share deep understanding,

profound healing and a shared space of safety that only survivors like us can

understand.

Henry took one last opportunity to hold his Phoenix firmly against him for

a few minutes. Then he released her, placed his hand in hers and they left his

room to go back downstairs to the living room where their families awaited

them both.