She opened the door to the suite. It was quiet—Gael must have finished his feast and his movie and moved on to reading comics.
“Sorry I was gone so long,” she said as she stepped inside.
But there was no answer. Panic started to slide icy fingers down her spine. She knew Gael couldn’t get into much trouble up here, but why wasn’t he answering?
It didn’t take long to get her answer.
Gael had curled up on the big sofa. One of his comics lay open on his chest, with more stacked on the table beside him, and the little boy was fast asleep with a smile on his face.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she murmured, slipping the comic out of his hands and lightly tousling his hair.
She could hardly blame him. It had been an exciting day out in the cold, followed by a deliciousmeal. At this point, he would probably sleep through the night.
She briefly considered trying to move him to his cot, but he looked so cozy on the couch that she didn’t have the heart.
Instead, she gathered up his nice quilt and a fluffy pillow and covered him, placing the pillow on the coffee table so he could grab it if he woke up in the night.
As she got ready for bed, she thought again about their day, and the sweet ornaments they had brought back with them. Watching Gael feed the animals and dash back and forth across the snowy grass had made her heart feel whole.
In the city, they never had as many opportunities as she would have liked to get outside. It was fun to fantasize about living in a place like Trinity Falls, where they could have more days like today.
Once she had on her warm pajamas, she grabbed a book and a blanket and came back out to the living room to settle in on the loveseat opposite the sofa. She was tired enough that she highly doubted she would notice the difference between the loveseat and her bed, and she had spent enough time away from her son tonight.
As she drifted off, she saw a blazing pair of green eyes in her mind, and heard a familiar husky voice.
I just can’t live without you…
10
ERIK
Erik was tired enough, but instead of sleeping, he spent the night tossing and turning, thinking about Jenny and Gael.
The two of them had been through so much already, and somehow turned it around into a bond so strong that it humbled Erik to see it. What they had was precious, a perfect balance that only a fool would tinker with.
But he’d let his own feelings out yesterday without meaning to.
He really wasn’t sure how he was supposed to live without them once they were gone.
When daylight finally leaked in around the shades, he got out of bed, did a hundred pushups, a hundred crunches, and a couple of stretches, then headed to the bathroom for a shower.
As steam filled the little room and the hot water pounded against him, he tried to clear his thoughts.
But it was no use, they kept going right back to Jenny.
And today, he was going to look at houses with her, in a game of pretend that he knew was going to cut a piece out of his soul when it was over.
Don’t think about it,he told himself.
But somehow, that advice didn’t work now that Jenny was back in his life.
He dressed quickly, grabbed his coat, and then went back for a small notebook and a pen, figuring it couldn’t hurt to take a few notes today. Even if he wasn’t ready yet, Jenny was right—he should eventually buy a house for himself. There was no point waiting for a fiancée who wasn’t coming. It only made sense for him to live his life.
He could always think about buying a house in Boston…
That kind of talk would scare Jenny away though. And even if she wanted him there, he had the Center to think about.
Her life was there, his was here, and everything between them was complicated by their situations and their past anyway.
