He held on to her for a long time, and eventually they fell asleep like that, in each other’s arms.
Over the next few days, things got back to normal, more or less. April rolled into May, and he was busy training Rumor and beginning Bug’s early under saddle work. His new boarder was set to arrive at the end of the week. It had been two months now since he arrived at Rosemont Castle, and he felt comfortably established here, personally and professionally. Hopefully, things would continue to grow, on both fronts.
An idea had taken hold in his mind, a surprise for Megan that he thought might end up being just what she—and Bug—needed. When they were alone together, though, something still felt…off. He wasn’t sure what it was or how to fix it, but she seemed distant at times in a way she never had before. Maybe he was imagining it. Or maybe he was even the cause of it. Maybe he was still adjusting to all the changes in his life, and she was just reacting to him.
On Tuesday night, they had dinner at the castle with Elle, Theo, and Ruby, sharing lots of laughter and good food. He and Megan walked back to the farmhouse afterward, hand in hand.
“Do you have photo albums?” she asked.
“What?” He had no idea where that question had come from.
“Pictures of you as a child, of you and Alana on your wedding day, anything. I’ve only ever seen those few photos you keep in the living room. You must have some, right?”
“I must,” he agreed. “I do.”
“Would you show them to me when we get home?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Thank you.” She leaned in to give him a kiss.
Barnaby greeted them at the door when they entered the farmhouse, tail wagging enthusiastically. Jake leashed him while Megan went into the living room to get Oreo and Cookie out of their crates so they could walk all the dogs together.
“I can really see how a fenced-in yard comes in handy,” Megan commented as they circled around behind the barn. “You can just open the back door and let them out.”
“That would be nice,” he agreed. They looped around the grounds and back to the house. “I have a few boxes in the office I haven’t gotten around to unpacking yet. I’m pretty sure one of them has photos in it.”
“Let’s go dig through them,” Megan said with a gentle smile. “I want to see young Jake.”
“There may not be many,” he cautioned. “My mom wasn’t really the photo album type.”
“I’m sorry.” She rested a hand on his biceps as they walked down the hall to the office together. “I’ve never really been in here,” she commented as she stood in the doorway, surveying the room. “That’s quite a bookshelf.”
He looked over at the built-in shelving he’d had installed after he moved in. The shelves extended from floor to ceiling along the back wall, and he’d already filled them with books. “It doesn’t compare to Theo’s library, but I’ve always wanted one of my own. Books have always been my escape.”
“Theo’s library is almost overwhelming, it’s so impressive,” Megan commented as she walked over to survey the shelves. “This is more personal and inviting. Have you read them all?”
“Almost all.” He walked to the closet and pulled out a box. “Okay, let’s find some pictures.” He pulled it open and sifted through various papers and odds and ends inside until he got to the framed photos beneath. There was one of him and his sister on the beach when he was about seven and she was ten, and one of them with their mom.
“Do you keep in touch with your sister?” Megan asked as she looked at the photos. “You never talk about her.”
“We call each other on birthdays and holidays. I see her once or twice a year. There’s no bad blood. We just…aren’t close, I guess. She moved away after Mom died and created a new life for herself.”
“That’s sad,” Megan murmured. “I’m an only child, but I always wished for a sibling when I was little. I made up for it with friends.” She smiled to herself.
“Elle and Ruby?”
“Yeah. Lifelong BFFs.”
He rummaged deeper in the box until he found his wedding album. He’d never had any of their wedding photos framed. The entire event was such a dichotomy of emotions, the overwhelming love and excitement he’d felt as they exchanged vows, the terror when Alana had fallen. He hadn’t fully grasped the severity of things until the next day, when Alana was still comatose and the doctors started talking about living wills.
He wouldn’t even have this album if Tina hadn’t made it for him. She’d given it to him on his and Alana’s first wedding anniversary, a bittersweet gift. That familiar heaviness spread around his chest as he handed it to Megan.
She squeezed his hand as she sat cross-legged on the floor and started going through the photos. “She was so beautiful in her wedding dress,” she whispered.
“She was perfect,” he said quietly, looking down at the photo of him and Alana exchanging vows at the front of the church. Alana’s blonde hair had been tied back in a sleek knot and covered with a long veil. Health and happiness sparkled in her blue eyes, so much life there, all of which would be snuffed out a few hours later. Her heart kept beating for another nine years, but he would never see her beautiful blue eyes again, never hear her laugh or see her smile, never carry her over the threshold into their home.
“We took all our wedding portraits before her fall, so her mom went ahead and put the album together for me afterward. We cut the cake, had our first dance. She went outside with a couple of her friends to get some fresh air, and…didn’t come back.”
