“We’re in here,” Estelle answered from the kitchen.
Leo followed her voice, his bear alert and watchful within him. But what he found wasn’t what he had feared. Estelle stood at the counter making tea, and Adara sat at the table coloring with intense concentration, with Fizz propped beside her.
“Hi, Leo!” Adara said without looking up from her drawing.
“Hey there,” he replied automatically, his eyes fixed on Estelle.
She looked... different.
Not exactly carefree. But not on alert either. Something in her had eased. The tightness he had come to expect around her mouth was gone. Even the way she looked at him felt different.
Something’s changed,his bear observed, settling slightly.
“You got my text with Fiona’s number,” he said carefully.
Estelle nodded, pouring hot water into a mug. “I did. Thank you.” She glanced up, meeting his eyes directly. “She came over. But you already knew that.”
Leo dipped his head. “I did.”
A faint, wry smile touched Estelle’s mouth. “She had quite a lot to say. Her opening gambit was that she’d expected I would either come to my senses and call her or pack my bags and disappear again.”
Leo moved closer, lowering his voice. “Did she say which one she preferred?”
“I think she’d be pleased I stayed,” Estelle said, handing him a mug.
“Well, that’s a relief.” He closed his hand around the mug and brushed his fingers against hers. “What else did she say?”
“We talked about...” She hesitated only briefly. “About staying.”
The word landed between them with unexpected force.
She talked about staying,his bear said, hope rising cautiously.She must really mean it if she talked to Fiona about it.
“And?” Leo asked.
Estelle’s gaze drifted to Adara, then back to him. “And it helped. It gave me clarity. A different perspective.”
Relief went through him so fast that it left him almost light-headed.
She found an ally,his bear realized.Someone who knows what it means to be a dragon.
“I’m glad,” Leo said, meaning it completely. “I wasn’t sure whether giving you her number was the right thing.”
“It was,” Estelle said firmly. “Although she is kind of cryptic. She also thinks that she is the reason I came to Bear Creek. But I’m certain that was you.”
Leo chuckled. “She is a piece of work.”
“Mama, look!” Adara called, holding up her drawing. “I made a fairy market!”
Estelle turned, her entire face changing as she looked at her daughter. “A fairy market?”
“For buying fairy things,” Adara explained, as though it were self-evident. “Like sparkly rocks and pretty dresses.”
Leo chuckled and moved to look. “You can never have enough sparkly rocks.”
“Or pretty dresses,” Adara informed him seriously.
“Since I only have brothers, I’ll have to take your word for it. But speaking of markets,” Leo said, keeping his tone casual, “there’s the Monday farmers’ market tomorrow.”
