Page 16 of Mountain Shadow

“And fresh croissants,” she said, looking into the oven. That’s where the delicious smell was coming from.

“Frozen croissants. But French, and therefore better than any croissant you could get where I come from.”

She laughed. “I think that applies in my case as well. It smells great,” she said, taking a seat at the large dining table. He sat across from her, holding his own cup of coffee.

“The view is incredible,” she said, staring out at the snowy peaks in the distance. It was exactly the kind of place she could have imagined living in, if she wasn’t a committed city dweller. “Thank you for everything, Jens. And I don’t mean breakfast.”

“I want to help you, Sarah. Will you tell me the rest of the story?”

“I might have overreacted last night. I was tired and—”

“You made up the stalker?” he asked, his voice neutral.

“No! Of course not. But I … there’s no reason to think he’ll follow me here. To France.”

“I hope not. I’d still like to hear the rest, though. When you’re ready. And we should call Damien and Tess.”

She shook her head quickly.

“No,” she said, looking Jens straight in the eye. “I don’t want to spoil their weekend away. My problems will hold until tomorrow.”

He sighed. “As you wish, Sarah. But Tess is going to be furious when she hears we kept this from her.”

She laughed at the obvious worry in his voice. “Tess is my little sister. Let me worry about that!”

“If you’re sure,” he said. He leaned his forearms on the table. “So, what would you like to do today?”

Dirty thoughts filled her mind, of everything they could do together—on this table, on the couch, and on the soft, soft bed she’d just left.

She giggled manically, hoping mind reading wasn’t one of his talents.

“Sarah?” Jens asked, looking confused.

“You don’t have to work?”

“He shook his head. Kat, Hiro and Gael are on duty this weekend. I have two days off.”

Sarah looked down at herself, remembered what she looked like dressed in his clothes.

Of course, he’s not thinking about sex.

“I probably need to buy a few things.”

“I dried your old clothes. Is that all you have?”

“I didn’t have time to go home to pack,” she answered quickly, not wanting to go into any more detail. “I had my passport on me, and a bit of cash, so I just left.”

“Probably a good move,” he agreed. “I’ll take you into Chamonix. I’m sure we can find everything you need there.”

Shit. Cash.

She felt herself blushing. She’d been independent for so long, she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d asked someone for money—probably her parents, and that must have been when she was still in college, ten years earlier.

“What’s wrong, Sarah? You look worried suddenly.”

“I’m sorry, I need to buy some things, but I … I don’t have any cash on me. I spent it all getting to Annecy. I figured once I saw Tess—”

He laughed. “Relax, Sarah, it’s okay. We’ll get you everything you need.”