As the car hummed to life, Ashley leaned her head against the window, her eyes drifting to the blurred outlines of the buildings as they passed.She wanted to ask him, to press into the things he wouldn’t say, but she held her back, knowing better than to bring up demons people weren’t ready to face.
Cole’s hand rested casually on her knee, squeezed, and it sent a shiver through her.He glanced at her then, just briefly, his warm gray eyes catching hers before returning to the road.“We’ll be home soon.”
Home.The thought made her smile.
Pushing aside her questions, she folded her hands over her stomach, grounding herself in the steady rhythm of her breath and the tiny human being they were bringing together into this world.
CHAPTER4
The living room was a maze of half-packed boxes and scattered belongings, the kind of chaos that seemed to magnify the weight of moving.Ashley folded the curtains with precise care, her movements unhurried but not entirely focused.Across the room, Cole stood at the window, wrestling with a curtain rod that refused to budge.
The phone buzzed sharply on the counter, cutting through the quiet rhythm of their work.
“Can you check that?”Cole asked without looking back, his voice slightly strained as he tugged at the rod.“If it’s Harvard, take it.I’ve been waiting for a call all day.”
Ashley wiped her hands on her thighs before stepping down from the stool.The screen lit up as she reached for it: Office – Harvard.
“It says Harvard,” she called over her shoulder.
“Perfect.Can you grab it for me?”
She swiped to answer, her voice calm and composed.“Hello?”
“Ashley?”The voice on the other end was warm, familiar in a way that caught her off guard.“I wasn’t expecting to reach you!”
Her brow furrowed.“Yes, this is Ashley.Who’s calling?”
“Ezra,” the man replied easily, the name rolling off his tongue like an old friend’s would.“Is Cole around?”
Her grip on the phone tightened.Ezra.The name wasn’t unfamiliar–it had surfaced a few times over the years, casually mentioned but never dwelled upon.Cole had spoken of him the way one might speak of a distant relative: significant enough to remember, too far removed to explain.
“He’s tied up at the moment,” she said, her tone even.“Can I take a message?”
“I was just hoping to catch him,” Ezra said, his tone light.“I found myself in the area and decided to swing by his office at Harvard to surprise him.The receptionist told me he was on PTO, so I figured I’d try calling here instead.”
“You’re in town?”she asked, the words slipping out before she could think them through.
“Just for tonight,” Ezra replied.“Gone tomorrow morning.I was hoping to catch up with Cole while I had the chance.”
The words hung between them for a moment, the ease in Ezra’s voice at odds with the tightness building in her chest.
“You should come over for dinner,” she said finally, the invitation slipping from her lips as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
There was a pause, brief but telling, before Ezra replied.“Are you sure?I don’t want to impose.”
“It’s no trouble,” Ashley said, her voice smooth.“Cole and I would love to have you.”
Ezra’s laugh was bright, unguarded.“That’s fantastic.I’d love to.Thank you.”
After exchanging details, Ashley ended the call and placed the phone back on the counter.She turned to Cole, who was now crouched by the window, fitting the rod into a box with meticulous care.
“Who was it?”he asked without looking up.
“Ezra,” she said, her tone measured.“He’s in town and coming over for dinner.”
The rod slipped from his hands, hitting the floor with a dull thud.Cole froze, his shoulders stiffening as he slowly straightened.
“Ezra,” he repeated, his voice carefully neutral.
