I slapped his hand away. “No, there’s nothing nesting in there.”
“Well, there’s still time to prevent it. Nesting season starts in a couple months, so I suggest going to get your mate before the birds start looking to you for nesting material.” He laughed as he shoved his boots on. “I could make it an order, if you want?”
My shoulders sagged as I blew out a sigh. “No, I’ll be okay.” Pierre looked skeptical, and while I wasn’t sure how true that was, I hadn’t given up on winning Fable over yet. In fact, maybe enough time had passed for the serviceman to finish installing the internet.
“I have to go, Pierre, but thanks for the pep talk.” If you could call it that, which I didn’t.
Sure enough, by the time I got back to my cabin, the guy was packing up his truck. “Are you all done?” I asked, tromping up behind him.
“Yup, all done. Kinda surprising you guys have been living out here without basic necessities, like the internet. This really is the boonies. I barely found the place even with my GPS. My phone kept dropping the signal.”
I didn’t know how to explain to this man that basic necessities didn’t really include cell phones, but considering how desperate I currently was to lay eyes on my mate, my argument didn’t seem valid anymore. I quickly paid the man, and as soon as he was off my property, I raced back inside, connecting my phone to the brand-new wi-fi. Then, with quivering finger, I pressed the button for a video call.
The screen went black for a second while it rang, and I held my breath, waiting for the call to connect. And then, with a flare of light, there was Fable! “Hi!” I burst out immediately, and his responding smile was enough to ignite a flush of heat through my body.
“Hi!” he said back. “You got your internet fixed!”
I’d told myself that if Fable was happy without us that I could let him go. If that was what he needed, I would sacrifice whatever it took to ensure his future was perfect. Looking at him now, though, it looked like he’d been sick. There were deep bruises under his eyes, and he’d obviously lost some weight, his cheeks hollow.
“Are you okay?” I asked without thinking. “I mean, you look… Are you okay?” I repeated dumbly, because it was what I needed to know.
He laughed, shaking his head. “Wow, thanks. You look… great too.” He made a face, and I glanced at myself in the inset video and laughed too, smoothing a hand over my unruly beard, trying to tame it—a pointless attempt, it was untameable.
“Yeah, I know.” Our laughs died down, and I smiled sadly at my mate, still beautiful regardless of the haunted look. Thedistance was clearly impacting him just as it was me. “I miss you,” I whispered.
“Me too. I hope you don’t think this is too clingy of me to say, but I’m having a hard time being at work again. Anytime something happens, I think, ‘Guy would think this is funny,’ but then it hits even harder that you’re not there.”
“You can text me, you know. I want to hear it all,” I assured him.
“I know, but it’s not the same.” He sounded so sad, and I found myself replaying Pierre’s opinion of the situation—reveal myself to him, mark him, and bring him home. I couldn’t do the first two options yet, but maybe the third one was a possibility.
“You should come,” I blurted without waiting for the idea to coalesce into a full plan. “I mean, I know you probably can’t book any more time off so soon after Christmas, but—”
Fable’s eyes lit up. “YES! I have so much overtime banked, I can take a few days around a weekend. Wait, you’re serious, right? You weren’t just offering to be nice?”
“Of course I’m serious!” My heart was thrumming, my beaver’s mood perking right up. “How soon can you be here? I’ll pick you up at the airport.”
On the other end of the call, Fable got to work checking flights, and by the time it was dark outside my windows, we had a plan in place for a visit in two weeks’ time.
“You have no idea how excited I am for this,” he gushed.
“Trust me, I have a pretty good idea.” My fingers twitched with the urge to run them through his hair and over his body. I could perfectly recall his sweet scent ingrained in my very soul, but to know I would soon be able to breathe it straight from the source set my heart at ease—not to mention my beast.
My view of my mate shifted as he crawled into bed, his smile sleepy. “And I’m assuming you have a kitchen, so I can finallycook for you. I hope you’re feeling adventurous, because I have all kinds of new flavor combinations I want to test on you.”
“I can’t wait. And with my new internet, you can even update your blog from here if you want.”
“Ooh! Does that mean I can write this trip off as a business expense?”
I laughed. “I’m no tax expert, but it sounds legit.”
Whatever Fable had been about to say next was interrupted by a huge yawn, and even though it was hours earlier for him, I knew I needed to say good night. He clearly hadn’t been sleeping well lately. “You’d better get some rest,” I told him.
His lower lip stuck out in an adorable pout. “Okay, but only because the sooner I get to sleep, the sooner it’ll be until I can see you again.” I wasn’t sure about that logic, but just in case, I decided it was my bedtime too. “Can I call you tomorrow?”
“Absolutely. Anytime, I’ll be here.”
We said our goodbyes, the L-word hovering in the space between us. And when the screen went dark, the silence that was left felt suddenly suffocating. My body felt heavier, a pressure on my chest making it harder to breathe.
