For His Honor by Kelly Favor Read Free Book Online Page A

decide to fly away. Her stomach was tight with anticipation, and fluttering. The fluttering reminded her of what was inside of her, and Nicole slowed down a little.

    I’m going to be a mother, she thought. For the first time, the notion didn’t completely terrify her.

    Soon, she found the turnoff onto the long, dirt road. It was wide and relatively well maintained, surrounded on both sides by forest. Through the trees on the right side, she could still make out the farmland, and as the road curved, she thought she could even catch a glimpse of the lake in front of her.

    As told to her by the old man at the farm store, the road would start to snake off to the left, but just before that, there was another small turnoff. This small turnoff, he’d said, should take her to the cabin in question.

    Nicole’s mouth was completely dry, like it had been the first day she’d met Red in his huge top floor office.

    She was leaning forward, her face practically touching the windshield as she drove the last ten or twenty yards down the more narrow, bumpy road that took her to a small one-story cabin.

    The cabin was surrounded by trees on all sides, and right behind it, the beautiful blue lake, which stretched magically out into the distance like some desert mirage.

    The whole area was so peaceful. Nicole parked the car and turned it off, heard almost nothing but the engine ticking loudly for a long moment.

    And then she heard something else.

    It was a loud rapport, like someone clapping. Except the clapping, clopping sound was rather slow and rhythmic. Occasionally it would cease and then resume once more.

    It was coming from just behind the cabin, Nicole thought. And she had a feeling she knew who and what it might be.

    She got out of the car, almost delicately, as if her feet might break. She felt unsteady and trembling, but forced herself to be brave.
    The thought of Red screaming at her to leave was a strong image, and she tried desperately to shake it from her mind. If it was really even him back there. Truly, it could be anyone.

    And then she was approaching the house.

    The sound was getting louder. Occasionally there would be pause, and you could hear something being thrown, clattering into pieces. And then the thunking, clopping sound would resume.

    When Nicole finally reached the backyard, she knew she’d been right all along.

    Red was standing there in blue jeans and no shirt, chopping wood. There was a huge stack of logs nearby—cords and cords of them. He’d obviously been at it for a long time, from the looks of it.

    His back was facing her and he was covered in sweat. She could see, even from this angle, that his thick, curly black hair had grown out a little and wasn’t styled at all.
    Pausing for the moment, he wiped sweat from his forehead and took some deep breaths.

    The axe was gripped in one hand. With his free hand, he reached down and grabbed a huge piece of wood and placed it on the ground in front of him, then in a single motion, swung the axe in a high arc and split the wood with one slice.

    CHUNK.

    The pieces fell to the side. Red picked them up one a time and threw them into a pile, presumably to be stacked like all the rest at some later point.

    Nicole knew she had to get his attention, but her throat didn’t seem to be able to emit sound.
    “Red.”

    He was in the midst of grabbing his next piece of wood.

    “RED.” She forced herself to scream his name, but in her nervous state it came out barely loud enough to reach his ears.

    Still, he must have heard her, because he turned around and saw her. His expression was stunned. And then his lips clamped together and his brow creased.
    “What the hell are you doing here?” he said, finally.

    It was the worst possible reaction. Nicole reeled, turning and running back toward her car, blubbering like a little kid.

    She couldn’t really help it. In that second, the look on his face and the tone of his voice had been exactly the