Page 47 of Mountain Summons

He knew that was meant to guilt him. And damn it, it was working.

His mother waited him out. It was her silence that let him know she wouldn’t be backing down. Tristan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine,” he muttered. “Send me the details,Maman. I’ll do my best to square it with my work calendar, but I can’t promise anything.”

His mother, however, sounded thoroughly satisfied. “Good. I’ll reserve a room for you. Enjoy your evening,mon coeur.”

Tristan let his phone drop onto the nightstand and exhaled, dragging a hand down his face. “I’m not a big fan of family events,” he explained.

“Sounds like your mother really wants you at this one,” Lena said lightly.

“My mother would do anything for my father.”

“I think that’s wonderful,” she said. There was a wistful look in her eye. “I wish I could call my mom and talk to her.”

“When did your mom pass away?” Tristan asked cautiously. He didn’t want to open old wounds, but he sensed this was important for understanding her.

“Six years ago.” She gave a small wince. “In fact, that’s something I wanted to explain to you. The night I stood you up?—“

“You don’t have to explain anything,” he interrupted.

Lena raised her chin defiantly. “I want to. I was already dressed to go out, when I suddenly realized it was the anniversary of my mother’s passing. It was the first time I’d forgotten and it … it shocked me.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“You don’t have to apologize. She must have been a great mom.”

“The best. My father’s not a bad parent, but he wasn’t always there, particularly when I was growing up. My mom … she more than made up for his absences.” Her tone grew lighter. “For what it’s worth, I think you should go.”

The question left his lips before he could think better of it. “Come with me, then.”

“Where?”

“To Basel.”

A flicker of something unreadable passed over her face. But the more he thought of it, the more right it seemed.

Her gaze sharpened. “What is it you’re inviting me to, exactly, Tristan? To have wild sex in your hotel room, or to meet your parents?”

Both. Definitely both.

“Come with me, Lena. Please.”

“Come on, Tristan. This—” She gestured vaguely at the bed, at the two of them still wrapped in sheets, tangled in each other. “This has been great. But we don’t know where—” She cut herself off, biting her lip.

Tristan’s stomach tightened.

“Iknow,” he said. “I know where this is going. It’s going as far as you let us go.”

“The last weeks have been wonderful, Tristan, but they haven’t been …real. You’ll be back at work soon, and everything that separates us is still there.”

“It doesn’t have to separate us. Your father knows about us already. In fact, he seems to be less hostile to the idea of us together than you are.” He searched her face, his pulse hammering. “Many of my colleagues have wives and families, Lena. Itcanbe done.”

Her face opened in shock.“Wives?”

Tristan smiled. “Too soon?”

“We should try dating first,” she said.

He pounced on her words. “Let’s do that. Come to Basel with me, Lena. It’ll be a date.”

Her throat bobbed, and he knew she felt it, too. That whatever this was—whatever had been building between them, tightening around them like a net—it wasn’t just a fling. It wasn’t just something that could be confined to four walls, to stolen weeks of recovery.

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