Page 90 of Love By The Falls

“This is it,” she says when I turn off the car.

“It’s nice.”

We walk up to the front door, and she jingles the key in the lock before the door opens. “It’s been stuck like this for a while, but I haven’t had a chance to fix it yet.”

I nod, making a note to take care of it in the morning.

There’s a living room immediately to the right and not much of a foyer since the kitchen is open to the living room and front entrance. There’s a hallway to the left, which I assume leads to the bedrooms. The furniture is small, but modern. The colors are bright and cheerfuland there are several plants, pillows, gemstones, and colorful vases lying around. “Your place is really nice.”

“Thanks. You can leave your bag in my bedroom. It’s the last one on the right.”

The wood floors creak beneath my shoes as I walk to her bedroom door. The room is quite small, with barely enough room for a double bed and a desk. My closet in my apartment on Seaver is larger than her bedroom. But like the rest of the house, it’s neat, cheerful, and modern. I like it. It feels cozy.

“Did you find it okay?”

I drop my bag next to the door and walk back to the kitchen. “Yeah. All good.”

Charlotte is buttering two slices of bread and has tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and smoked ham on the counter. “Are you making me a sandwich?”

She smirks at the ingredients. “Yup. Are you okay with ham?”

“Sure. But you don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t know about you, but I need to eat every couple of hours now, so it’s not just for you.”

I smile, and my gaze drops to her midsection. The bump is barely noticeable in that pink babydoll dress she’s wearing. My fingertips tingle at the memory of caressing her stomach… and lower.

“When do you have to pick up Charlie?” I ask, distracting myself from that thought.

“I wasn’t sure how late I would be, so I asked Sage to pick him up for me after work. They should be home soon.”

She’s nearly finished making the sandwiches and I realize I’ve just sat here like aprima donna. “Do you mind if I go in your fridge to get us some drinks?”

“Not at all. The cups are in the cabinet over there.” She points to a cupboard next to the fridge.

I grab two glasses, along with a couple of sodas from the fridge, and take them to the wooden kitchen table. The tabletop has a few scratches, but they look like they’ve been buffed out and are smooth to the touch.

“Bon appétit,” she says before taking a bite. I take one too, but my gaze stays fixed on her face as she closes her eyes and moans softly. “I was so hungry.”

“How do you feel?”

“Pretty good now. The nausea in the beginning was the worst. But I’m in what they call the golden stage. The worst of the sickness is gone, and I’m not too heavy to walk comfortably like in the last trimester, so I’m doing pretty good.”

“That’s great to hear. You look good, too.”

She smiles at me and wipes her mouth with a napkin. “Thanks,” she says through a mouthful of bread and cheese. It should be off-putting, but her eyes shine and she looks adorable.

She talks a bit more about the town and what it was like growing up in Cedar Brook Falls. It sounds like a good place to raise a family. Although I could never imagine myself living here, I don’t mind the thought of my child being raised in a small town.

I was just about to ask her about the name of the school she teaches at when the front door opens, and Charlie runs inside. “Hey Mom!” He stops short at the entrance and stares at me. “Oh, hey.”

“Hi Charlie. Great to see you again.” I stand and walk over to shake his hand. A taller woman with long curly hair walks up from the driveway and blinks rapidly when she sees me. “You must be Caleb.”

“And you must be Sage.”

We shake hands, and she smiles widely. “Now, I completely get it.”

“Get what?”

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