“Hey, baby girl.Leaving already?”
“Yeah, just to grab a cup of coffee.”
“Great, I want one as well,” said Declan, matter-of-factly.Ciaran was still in class, but clearly, he had passed on the information to his twin.
“Declan...”She hesitated, and his questioning look did nothing to reassure her.Dropping down to a whisper, she said, “I think ...I think I’d like to be alone.”
Declan opened his mouth to respond, but Tanya said hurriedly, “Alone in a coffee shop near a gym and a school?Good luck.Okay, baby girl, we’ll be near if you need us.”
Freya took the opportunity to leave, but not without kissing Declan on the cheek.Wrapping her in his arms, he kissed her long and deeply, letting his tongue dance with hers.
“Take care of my girl,” he whispered.Inside his head, his wolf was pawing furiously, but for now, he was still in control.Smiling fondly, Freya left, feeling almost giddy when she reached the coffee shop.
It was a small shop, and the smell of coffee was strong in the air.Behind the counter, the owner, an older lady with a kind smile, greeted her warmly.After that disastrous first day at the diner, both Freya and the twins had decided to keep their outings to a minimum and had replaced the diner for the small coffee shop.They also had a vast assortment of cakes and several kinds of pastries she had never heard of, but that were delicious.
The cake of the day was a small custard tart filling the inside of a puff pastry.Delicious both with and without cinnamon.Freya decided to try one and ordered a latte to go.
Jon was already there, a cappuccino on his right side and, in front of him, a laptop open.His fingers flew on the keyboard, and he only noticed her when she sat.
“You came!”he said, and there was so much happiness in his voice that Freya smiled.
“I told you I would.”
“My God, I still can’t believe you’re here!You wouldn’t believe the stories that I heard after your parents died.Are you really all right?”He rubbed his face in his hands, still looking incredulous.
“I already told you, I’m fine.”
“What happened, where have you been?”
She’d feared that question, but had the day to think about it.She decided he didn’t need to know the truth.She was starting to come out of her shell, and the last thing she wanted was to go down that path again.So, she settled for a half-truth.Not what had happened, but what she’d like to have happened.
“I went away when the house burned down.I was in a bad place.Now I feel much better and I decided to settle here.”
Half-truths or lies concealed that covered all the past three years.She was proud of herself.
“Why didn’t you come back?”
“There was nothing for me there.Not anymore.I needed to start over.”
He was still looking at her as if he was seeing a ghost.She started to feel uncomfortable.Could he see through her lies?Jon shook his head, still in disbelief.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am for having found you.You won’t disappear on me again, right?”
“Of course not,” she smiled, fondly.“This is my home, now.”
“Great.I’m also here to stay, at least for this school year.I have a one-year contract, and if everything goes according to plan, I intend to stay around longer.”
“That’s great.”
They chatted a bit more, and when Freya looked outside, she was surprised to see it was already dusk.
“I need to go.”
“Go?Go where?”
“Home, of course.It’s getting late.”
“Why, your husband at home, waiting for you?”
