Page 16 of Wild Christmas
9
FREYA
As I follow Nate to the kitchen for lunch, I press my fingertips to my lips. They tingle from where he kissed me, and my entire body feels more alive than it ever has. He pulled away from the kiss, but I wanted him to keep going.
I want to find out where that kiss would lead. I thought he was going to retreat like he so often does and I walk quietly behind him, certain he’s going to change his mind about lunch.
When we get to the kitchen the food’s already pulled out of the fridge, and he lays four slices of bread on the counter and starts buttering them.
He started to open up about his wife, and I have so many questions. It’s a revelation that they were separating and I feel for him, the man away protecting his country while his wife carried on behind his back. It must have felt like a huge betrayal.
There’s a PC on the table, which I’ve come to see as arecurring theme. Even though Nate has an office and workshop, he says the light is better out here. I think he likes to be in the family area when the girls are around so he can be near them.
His backpack is on the table with computer parts spewing out of it. My gaze catches on a silver foil packet with the name of a DNA testing company written across it.
I pick up the package. “I’ve heard about these; you can trace your ancestry and find out loads of stuff that’s in your genes.”
Nate glances at the packet and frowns. “Snips gave it to me. I’m not sure if I’m going to do it.”
I turn the packet over in my hands. “I think it would be interesting to see where you came from. It might be surprising.”
Nate takes the packet off me and shoves it deep in his backpack. “Maybe.” He walks back around to the where he’s making the sandwiches. “You want mayo or mustard?”
His tone has a finality about it, and I take it the subject is closed. “Mayo please.”
Nate squeezes mayo onto my sandwich, puts a slice on top, and puts it on a plate. He slides it across to me, and I take a seat on one of the stools.
The sandwich is good, and we eat in silence for a few moments.
“Have you always been into computers?”
He swallows his bite of sandwich and nods. “I was the kid who spent recess in the computer room. Teachersused to come to me to get their laptops fixed. I made a bit of money on the side doing it.”
“It’s impressive. I don’t know a thing about tech.”
He shrugs. “Not really, not once you learn how. Just most people don’t bother to learn.”
He’s being modest. I’m pretty sure most people wouldn’t know how to do what he does. I finish my sandwich and take the plate to the sink. I don’t want to go back to my room yet. I want to hear more about Nate.
He’s gone quiet since he opened up to me earlier, and I worry I’ve made him sad by bringing up old wounds. “It’s not your fault, you know.”
“What isn’t?”
“That your wife cheated. I didn’t know her, obviously, but that seems like a shitty thing to do to someone when they were off defending your country.”
He shakes his head. “It was a long time ago. I should never have married her. She was too young, too much of a free spirit. She’s not the type of woman who could be left alone.”
“She must have known what she was getting into, marrying into the military.”
He drops his plate into the dishwasher and leans against the counter next to me.
“I was a bad husband, Freya. I shouldn’t have left her alone with the kids. But she told me she was fine.”
I think about my own mom and the struggles she had with me.
“How did you find out she cheated?”
“She told me.” Something passes across his face, and I regret bringing it up.
