He couldn’t sleep because he missed having Astra in his bed. In his arms. He missed her presence in the house, just having her nearby. He hadn’t realized how much he’d come to rely on her and their conversations at the end of a long day.
Now, he understood how acute his loneliness had been and how much he’d needed companionship. He needed to stop holing up in his house and make an effort to experience the world. What use was a long life if he didn’t truly experience anything?
Devorah, Sirena, Sylvie, and Claudia helped him prepare for the family dinner on Saturday. Claudia was actually the biggest help because she saw the family dynamic from a completely different perspective. She had started as an outsider, just like he was. She could see things that the sisters couldn’t.
On Saturday morning, Devorah texted him the address of her parents’ house and told him to meet them there around five-thirty. She also said to bring flowers and wine for her mother and a bottle of vodka for her father.
Considering Claudia had given him the same advice, he already had the wine and the vodka, and he was on his way to a local florist for the flowers. Claudia had been insistent that he go to an actual florist rather than grabbing a bouquet from a grocery store.
He didn’t question her. This was his chance to make a good impression on the people he hoped would be his in-laws someday. He wasn’t going to screw it up.
He only hoped that Astra would want to see him, too.
ChapterEighteen
Astra managed to get herself together by Saturday. For the first time in years, she’d taken an entire week off work.
Her sisters had her back and took care of any pressing issues with her clients and workload. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do for them, but she needed to do something.
She also realized she had to start taking more time off work. Until she’d taken five days off, Astra hadn’t realized how tightly wound she was. She didn’t know how to handle leisure time. She had no hobbies or friends. Her apartment had never been this clean.
As she spent more and more time on her own, she had time to think. Not just about her relationship with Rune, but about her life in general. She finally realized that she had to make some changes. Large ones.
She wanted to get married and have children. When she thought about her future and what would make her happy, a husband and kids were always there. She wanted to own a home. To travel with the man she loved and eventually the children they would have together.
She wanted to live her life rather than working her life away.
That meant they would likely have to hire more people and promote current employees. She scribbled a plan in a notebook with the intention of presenting it to her parents next week at work. Even if she and Rune couldn’t work out their issues, she couldn’t continue living this way.
Saturday morning dawned and Astra woke at seven, nearly two hours after she usually got out of bed. Even after five nights without him, she still reached for Rune before her eyes were even open. And just like each morning before, her chest ached when her hand encountered cold sheets.
She wanted to call him, to hear his voice, but he’d made his position clear. Until she was ready to tell her parents about him, to introduce him to her family, he couldn’t be with her.
Once this dinner was over, she would call him. She would apologize and she would ask for his forgiveness. She could only hope that he hadn’t written her off already.
A tiny voice in the back of her mind said she should call him now, but she wanted to be able to tell him that she’d stopped putting off the conversation with her parents.
Astra spent the day pampering herself, another thing she’d been neglecting. She used a deep conditioning treatment on her hair, threw a handful of Epsom salts in a tub of hot water and soaked until her fingers and toes were pruned. Then, she put on a face mask, gave herself a pedicure, and brushed a thin coat of clear polish on her nails. She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed this. It would have been even better if she were at a spa somewhere so she could get a massage, too, but she didn’t have time today. Maybe in a few weeks, she could make an appointment and take half a day to relax.
Nerves revved in her belly when she got ready to leave the house at five. She had a broccoli cheese casserole in her hands. Her mother would hate it, but it was her father’s favorite and she’d promised to bring it tonight. In a bag hanging from her arm, she had a tray with fruit, cheese, and meat. She arranged it in a pretty pattern and knew it would soothe her mother’s irritation over the casserole.
She was the first to arrive at her parents’, another surprise. Usually, Devorah and Claudia were there before everyone else because Claudia often helped her mother make the meal.
When she walked through the front door, she found both of her parents sitting in the living room, drinking wine, and chatting. Another surprise.
“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad,” she greeted them.
Her mother got up and walked over to take the casserole and bag from her. “Hi, hon. Where’s your beau?” Her mother hated the word ‘boyfriend’ and used the old-fashioned term instead.
Astra took a deep breath. She’d hoped to have a few minutes before she got right into it, but it seemed that wasn’t going to happen.
“He’s not coming tonight because I have to talk to you about a few things before you meet him.”
Her mother frowned at her. She was a couple of inches shorter than Astra because she was barefoot, but that expression was still intimidating.
“Let’s go in the kitchen to put this food away and you can tell me everything.”
Astra’s father waved at her from his chair but, before he could get up, his cell rang, and he lifted it to his ear. “Hey, Devorah. Where y’at?”
