Page 34 of Mountain Struggle

“I don’t know. We haven’t figured it out yet. But you’ll be the first to know when we do, Sarah, okay?”

Sarah’s voice softened slightly. “I don’t mean to burst your bubble, Tess. I know you’ve been lusting over this guy for a long time, and it’s no surprise, really, that he’s lusting over you as well. I just want you to be careful. How do you know he doesn’t sleep with all his nannies?”

“I’m not his nanny, Sarah. I’m his son’s nanny.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do, I do. Listen, I’m not mad at you. I’ll be careful, okay?”

“Please do, Tess. I miss you!”

“I miss you too, sis. Have a good day at work.”

“You too.”

Tess hung up the phone.

She’s right.

That was the thing about Sarah—she was almost always right. She also hadn’t said anything Tess hadn’t thought of herself. Logic dictated she should stop this right now. She had a good thing going here, with her job, with Jamie. Maybe it wasn’t too late to go back to the friendly, professional relationship she and Damien had always had.

But something inside her rebelled at the thought. It wasn’t just the sex, though that had been spectacular. No—what she felt for Damien went way beyond lust. It wasn’t even the fact that he spent his days running around the mountain rescuing people. She actually, genuinely, liked him. As a man, as a person, as a father.

A boyish voice interrupted her thoughts.

Jamie!

“Tess?” he said.

Tess opened the door to let him in.

“Hey pumpkin, are you back from your grandpa’s already?

“He just dropped me off. Hey, Tess, could I ask you something?”

Tess’s heart nearly stopped. Just last week he’d asked her, his big blue eyes staring right into hers, if dying hurt. Tess had thought carefully before replying—it was her policy never to lie to Jamie—but she couldn’t help worry about the boy.

“Anything,” she said, going down on her knees in front of him so their eyes were level.

“Do you think we could go swimming today, up by the creek?”

Tess kept her expression neutral. Jamie hadn’t wanted to go swimming since the incident—she hadn’t pushed, knowing he needed to process what had happened in his own time, but hearing him say he wanted to get into the water again filled her with joy. Jamie had been to several sessions with an eminent child psychologist, but Tess hadn’t expected the sessions to yield results so quickly.

“Don’t worry, Tess,” the little boy said quickly. “I’ll be with you.”

She nodded quickly, swallowing back a sniffle.

“Of course we can go, pumpkin. Let’s get some breakfast first and then we’ll head out, okay?”

She dropped Damien a quick note to let him know where they were going, knowing he was sure to reach out several times during the day.

#

Damien

“Did you guys have a good time?” Damien asked from where he stood on the kitchen island, slicing some colorful vegetables.

“It was great, Daddy. We spent all morning swimming, ate with our feet in the water, and then went back again.”