His words swirled pleasantly around her, and the knots in her shoulders began to unwind. “I like you too,” she replied indulgently.
“And I want to keep in touch,” he added. “On a regular basis, if that’s okay. I hope that won’t be a problem.”
“Why would it be?”
He reached for his wine and took a sip. “If you get back together with your husband, he might not like it.”
“I see your point,” she replied. “But this is a professional relationship.”
Peter’s earnest eyes sought hers. “I hope you can think of it as something more than that. I will, no matter what happens.”
A group at a corner table erupted in laughter, and she and Peter glanced toward them. It was exactly what they needed to steer them out of the complicated analysis of where they stood personally. It would be best, she decided, to keep things light and open, at least for now. What the future held, she had no idea. She still needed to see Eric and discuss their relationship.
She and Peter returned to their meals, but Gwen felt a little wobbly on the inside. Their conversation had been candid and open, and now she found herself watching his lips and the strong line of his jaw and the movement of his hands. Her blood surged through her veins, and her heart shuddered as she became increasingly conscious of his virile appeal. Clearly her body was experiencing an aftershock from the kiss.
“Don’t worry,” he said, his blue eyes smiling at her. “It’s all good. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Gwen refolded the napkin on her lap and tried to return to her dinner, but it was hard to eat when her emotions were bouncing off the walls.
CHAPTER 29
Three days later, Gwen flew business class from Anchorage to Halifax and was the first person off the plane. As she wheeled her carry-on suitcase from the gate to the baggage claim, where Eric would be waiting, she began to perspire. It had nothing to do with the temperature inside the terminal. The sudden suffocating heat stemmed from a confusing compulsion to keep the details of her relationship with Peter a secret. But this made no sense. She was not returning to her husband after a weekend affair with another man. She and Eric were separated, and he had been living with another woman for months. There was nothing for Gwen to feel guilty about nor any reason to lie or keep secrets.
Nevertheless, when she walked through the glass exit doors and spotted Eric in the crowd and he smiled and waved, she felt wary. She thought of Peter and wished she was back in Alaska at the Wilderness Lodge, sitting with him in front of a roaring fire and reading about the wildlife of Prince William Sound. That had been so much easier than this. And strangely, it was Peter she felt unfaithful to in this moment.
“There you are at last.” Eric spread his arms wide for a hug. “How was the flight?”
She hugged him and muddled through the usual polite greetings—the thing you do when you get off a plane and say hello to the person who came to meet you. Eric asked about the food on the flight, andGwen responded appropriately as he pulled her suitcase for her. As they pushed through the revolving door and walked to the parking garage, they made weather comparisons between Alaska and Nova Scotia. He hoisted her suitcase into the trunk of his car.
It was clear they were struggling to find their footing, to reach familiar ground. At one time, they could talk about anything, or nothing at all, but this was painfully awkward.
They got into his swanky new BMW, and Gwen looked around at the dashboard and cream-colored leather seats. “Nice ride,” she said. “When did you get this?”
“Last January. The lease was up on the old RAV4, so I splurged a bit.”
It was mostly small talk for the first few miles of the journey, until Gwen couldn’t take it anymore. If she’d learned anything in Alaska, it was that life was short and unpredictable. She was done wasting time by dancing around what needed to be said.
“So what’s happening with you and Keri?” she asked. “Have you heard from her?”
Eric flicked the blinker and passed a slow-moving sedan. “Well, that’s an interesting story.” He glanced in his rearview mirror. “Last night she texted me, and I told her that you were coming home from Alaska today and that I was picking you up at the airport. Naturally, she had a conniption.”
“But I thought you ended things with her.”
“I did, but she’s not very good at taking no for an answer. It might take a while to fully cut the cord.”
Gwen observed him with intention. “Are you sure that’s what you want? To cut the cord?”
“I’m positive,” he replied matter-of-factly. “I just want you. I want to go back to how things used to be with us.”
Funny, she used to want that too, but how could it ever be the same after everything they’d been through?
Her silence seemed to have a sobering effect on Eric. He lost most of his earlier bravado.
“I hope that doesn’t scare you.” He glanced briefly at her in the passenger seat. “I don’t want to put pressure on you or anything.”
“It’s fine,” she told him. “But I hope you didn’t end things with Keri just for me, because it may surprise you to hear this, but I really don’t know what I want. We’ve been apart for a long time, and I’ve gotten used to living without you.”
He merged into the passing lane again. “I get that. I understand.”
