Page 48 of The Cold Ride

“In a minute. I’m not ready to let you go yet.”

The smile she gifted me stole the breath from my body. I would never tire of having her look at me. And I made another vow. I wanted to be the reason she smiled. Because when she smiled that way and looked at me, I finally felt sunlight on my face when I’d been walking in the darkness for so long I’d almost forgotten what it felt like.

19

The next morning, I left Rory’s bed before dawn. I would much rather stay in bed with her all day long, or at least stay with her until she got up. But we had agreed, for Amelia’s sake, that we would not be seen together in her room or mine.

I rose and left her room, but I was too keyed up to sleep. I had a little over a week before I needed to head back to base and report in. But I didn’t want to go back. Not with everything we hadn’t resolved. And I wasn’t ready to leave Amelia yet either, not when I just found her.

But I was a man of my word. I’d sworn an oath to serve out my time for another two years. So that was what I would do. But I would be leaving my heart behind. Although perhaps I was only leaving it temporarily. Because it felt like this was my future. That they were my future.

What if I could make this the place I came home to? I knew it wouldn’t be all sunshine and daisies. And that Rory and I would fight. It was bound to happen in any relationship. But I couldn’t get past the feeling that we were meant to be, and that the universe had conspired to put us back together again—with a little help from Evan.

He was the elephant in the room. The crux of why we hadn’t gotten together ten years ago. And I struggled with mourning him while simultaneously cursing him. In retrospect, I wish back then I had had the balls to come clean about Rory and me. But I kept our night together a tightly guarded secret.

I blew out a breath. I wanted to do something special for my girls. For a change of pace, I made breakfast. This way Rory wouldn’t have to handle it. She was always cooking, cleaning, and taking care of everyone else. It was time someone took care of her for a change. It’s why I’d stripped my sheets and tossed them in the wash already too since I had begun learning her routine.

When a sleepy-eyed Amelia ambled into the kitchen in her pale blue pajamas, her dark hair askew, I grinned. The kid never failed to amuse me.

“Hiya, squirt, hungry? There’s pancakes and bacon.” I might not be nearly as skilled as Rory in the kitchen. But I had no trouble frying up a pound of bacon and flipping pancakes on a griddle.

Amelia glanced around the kitchen and frowned. “Where’s Mom?”

“Sleeping. She had a long day yesterday.” And an even longer night. We’d spent the night taking each other until our bodies plum wore out. Even thinking about our sexual escapades had my dick twitching.

“And you cooked?” She looked skeptical. Like she didn’t believe her dad could do something like make her breakfast.

“Yeah, I can do that too. Your mom isn’t the only one with a few skills.” I winked at her and spun the spatula in my hand.

She grinned and rolled her eyes. Boy, was the sass strong in her. “Can I have three pancakes with maple syrup on them?”

“Yep. And do you want any bacon?”

“Like you really have to ask, Dad. Of course I want bacon.”

“That’s my girl.” I loaded up a plate for her and poured syrup over the pancakes.

“That’s more than Mom would give me.” She worriedly glanced toward the hall as if she thought her mom would come strolling out and she would be in trouble.

After setting the syrup bottle back on the counter, I put my finger up to my mouth. “Shush, it can be our secret. And it’s a bribe so you’ll help me outside.”

“What are you doing outside?” She sat at the table with her plate and started munching on bacon.

I made a plate for myself and put the rest in the oven to keep it warm for Rory. And sat at the table with my kid. Fuck, I was going to miss sitting down with her like this. “Well, there’s a lot of dead branches and leaves that need to be raked up and cleared out of the way. I’m planning to rake it all up and put it in the big brown yard bags I found in the garage. It’ll give you more space to practice soccer.”

It was a bribery attempt to get her to spend time with me, but I didn’t care. I wanted to soak up as much time with her as humanly possible. It would be months before I saw her again.

“Okay, sure. That’s a great idea. It will help me prepare for club soccer try outs. But Mom says she’s not sure about it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a lot of practices. And Mom doesn’t know if she’ll be able to get away enough. Maybe if she can afford to hire someone part-time. But she won’t know until after we get the inn back up and running.”

Fuck. I knew Rory was struggling, but I didn’t know how badly. Although with the inn currently closed to guests, it made sense that she would be short on cash. I didn’t know what tourism was like this time of year. “Let me see what I can do to help out.”

“Will you be here this fall?” she asked with such hope shining in her eyes it fucking crushed me. Because I knew I wouldn’t be here. If I was a betting man, I figured I would be halfway around the world this fall.

I hid my wince as best I could. “I might have some leave time. But I can’t guarantee it, and I know that’s not what you want to hear. My job requires a lot from me and takes me away often. But the good news is, I’m up for retirement in two years.”

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