“In between what? Us and us?”
He wanted to laugh, but her face was somber now, her mouth twisted down. “I don’t know, Kels. But no, I didn’t. Just got distracted by the wingbeats for a second.”
She forgot her pursuit of a term as she looked up, craning her neck. “That hawk way up there?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.” Then she snapped her fingers. “I know what. The gap. We’ll call it the gap. So—no, you didn’t become a birdwatcher during the gap.”
“Works for me.”
“Okay, tell me everything,” she said, leaning forward a bit as if a few inches closer could aid her scrutiny. “You’ve hardly talked about yourself, you know. I keep talking about me.”
“Well…” Shoot, as if there were anything to say about him. He shrugged and shifted on the blanket. “You guessed the main points. I’m contractor and handyman and whatever else for the pack. For folks in town too, word of mouth referrals.”
“What else?”
A few backyards over a kitten gave a tiny mewl. Down the street a car door slammed. He would’ve heard these sounds before; Kelsey probably did too, though they’d be faint to her and she might not consciously register them. But to Trevor they were suddenly…loud. In fact everything was loud. Kelsey’s soft breaths. Maggie’s steady breaths from inside the house.
He felt like a pup again, awash in a sensory flood though only one of his senses was affected. No, his hearing wasn’t as keen as it had been before the fading. Hard to tell how he knew that, but he did. Still, he’d take what he could get. And maybe…maybe other gifts would return too, somewhat if not entirely. Hope rose in him, and his mouth curved.
His silence hadn’t been long enough for Kelsey to question it, yet he had no answer for her. “I guess my life’s been smaller than yours.”
“Oh, hogwash,” she said, sounding like his mom.
He laughed. “Don’t know what else to tell you.”
“Hobbies, trips, physical activities?”
“I still woodwork all the time. I’ve made a lot of the furniture on Lunar Lane, not just my own.”
“Okay, good, see, we’re getting somewhere.” Affection warmed her smirk. “And?”
How well she knew him, to include the physical as a life category. “There are a few park preserves around here, my go-tos for hiking and climbing. I make sure to go whitewater rafting at least twice a year, usually with Ezra and Cassius and Aaron. Sometimes Jeremy too, but since he’s had kids he’s tougher to nail down.”
“And?”
He grinned. She could read him too well, knew when he was saving the best for last. “My favorite’s this thing I just found a few years ago. Do you know about canyoning?”
“Ooh, I’ve heard of it. Extreme sport, scrambling all over rock faces and rafting and swimming and whatever on your way through a canyon.”
“Yep. The Tennessee River Gorge, that’s where I go. Sometimes I let Ezra or Cassius come. Usually I do it by myself, and it’s…it’s unbelievable, Kels. There’s this rush like nothing else I’ve done.”
“Where is it?”
“Chattanooga. I make the drive in a day, stay for a day, drive back.”
“Do you think I could handle it? Physically, I mean?”
His chest squeezed a little at the idea. He’d have to watch out for her. She’d be more vulnerable. But the sport was started by humans, and Kelsey had always been athletic. What a thing that would be, to share his favorite activity with his mate.
“You’d do great,” he said.
“Then it’s a date.” She giggled. “We’re dating again. Except…wow, not like before.”
“Better than before.” If he could just solve the fading. If he could just be whole again.
Her smile fell, and she looked down at the empty dinner cartons.
