Page 38 of Mountain Struggle

“He does?” Tess asked, embarrassed.

How much does she know about Damien and me?

“Not like that,” Kat said, laughing good naturedly. “He just told us you’re a writer.”

Am I that transparent?

“Is this your novel?” Kat asked, pointing at the notebook.

“Uh—no—that’s on my laptop. This is just how I start the day, with some free writing. It’s where you write without stopping for a certain amount of time, just to get the brain working.”

“Interesting—I wonder if it only works with books, or if it could help me get my reports done quicker. We write a lot of reports.”

Tess shrugged, smiling. It was impossible not to like Kat. “I’ve never tried, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.”

Kat’s reddish curls bobbed up and down. “I’ll have to try, in that case. Listen, I have to go into the office, but it was good meeting you.” She paused for a second. “I get together with a couple women friends once a week—there are too many men already in my life. One of them is a journalist, she writes a monthly column about the books she’s been reading. I think you’d like her—why don’t you join us next week?”

Tess’s mouth opened in surprise. “I’d love that, if you’re sure it’s okay.”

“Of course. Give me your number and I’ll share the details, okay?”

After she left, Tess sat there for a while, chewing on the back of her pen and wondering how much Damien had told her colleagues about their relationship. Finally, deciding not to worry about that which she had no control over, she opened her laptop and started writing.

By the time she looked up again, it was almost time to pick Jamie up, and she wanted to stop by the grocery store first.

She picked up her things, leaving her usual large tip on the table as a thank you for letting her sit there all morning, and walked up to the old-fashioned till. Shay, the owner, smiled widely at her.

“So, how was it today? How’s the story coming along?”

“Not bad,” Tess said, smiling. “I’m still struggling with the middle part, but starting to see the light.”

“Good, good. Keep working on it and come back soon.”

“Thanks, Shay, see you soon.”

Ignoring the large Carrefour, which was typical of the brand’s characterless establishments, Tess walked over to the Sherpa store, a smaller grocery store which carried local produce, and even some English products.

No good cheddar cheese, unfortunately.

As she shopped, she wondered how Damien was doing at work, and whether he’d be coming home early tonight. She wouldn’t mind a repeat of the previous evening, once Jamie was in bed.

Chapter 13

Damien

Over the last three weeks, they’d had sex in every position imaginable.

Damien had never stopped to consider whether he was an adventurous lover, but being with Tess made him want to explore limits—it made him want to give her all the pleasure imaginable.

He still hadn’t spoken to his son about him and Tess—not because he felt any differently about her, but because he wanted to wait until Tess was ready to share their relationship with his son. He’d decided it was something they should do together.

And Tess isn’t sure enough of us yet.

He sighed. He knew he needed to give her time.

They’d found a kind of routine, if it could be called that. She spent her days with his son, or writing her book when Jamie was at summer camp, and Damien spent his days at work and, on his down time, thinking about the next time he’d be able to hold Tess in his arms and sink himself inside her. At night, once Jamie was asleep, they got together.

But it wasn’t just the sex he craved, and this was harder for him to admit to himself—it was Tess as a person. She made him want to share everything with her—bits of himself that he’d never shared with anyone before and that, ever since becoming aware of Jamie’s existence, he’d never thought he’d have the chance to share.