Conducive Positions

I buried my head in my knees, suddenly felt weary to the bone. Why must life be so complicated? Why couldn’t the powers that be just leave me and Kieran alone? Was it too much to ask for a simple life with the man I loved, without evildoers lurking in the shadows, plotting our demise? Kieran braked at a light, reached for my hand. ‘Honey, what are you thinking?’ ‘I’m wondering when all of these—the chaos, the drama, the danger—would come to an end.’ ‘We could go away for a few days. Or a few months. Book a cruise. Travel the world. See the sights.’ ‘You mean, we could run away.’ ‘That’s one way of looking at it.’ I raised my head, scrubbed my face with both hands, blew out a breath. ‘No, I’ve been running away for long enough.’ I had stuck my head in the sand, pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t. But trouble was like a gas leak—just because you couldn’t see it didn’t mean it wasn’t there. And the longer it was ignored, the more likely it would one day blow up in your face. ‘N