Page 27 of Devil’s Torture

I still looked like a hot mess most of the time.

Rune glances up and answers the question before I even ask it. “I know last night was a lot. I couldn’t leave you like that.” He closes his eyes briefly and sighs the words, “I just couldn’t leave.”

“It was a lot,” I murmur.

I feel awkward in my own home, which annoys me even more and forces me to plop down on the other end of the couch like I’m taking over territory. Because I am. Mine.

Apparently, I’m just annexing a portion of the couch at the moment.

Rune’s finger barely brushes against the curve of my belly in the picture. “You were,” he pauses and swallows hard, his voice turning reverent in a way that makes my eyes sting, “so beautiful.”

“I was an exhausted mess,” I sass with a small laugh.

“A beautiful one,” he whispers. “I missed so much.”

“You did.” My mouth twists to one side. “Now, though, instead of it feeling like a choice, it feels like it was stolen from us.” I almost wince at how harsh that sounds, and how true. Too true, probably. “I’m not sure which is worse, knowing or not knowing because now I’m looking at things differently.”

“You don’t need to. Knowing why it happened doesn’t change what ended up happening. I still left and while it didn’t entirely feel like a choice at the time, I wasn’t completely without options.”

“Not necessarily good ones,” my tone is sarcastic as hell. Which happens before coffee and he is more than aware of it.

He chuckles, not at all bothered. “You’re right about that.”

It looks like he wants to say something else, but Dawn comes staggering into the room. Her hair is sticking up in the back, and she looks a little rough. Which is how she wakes up most days. I’m not much better, and I remember that just as Rune looks at her and then me and tries to hide his smile behind his hand.

I narrow my eyes at him, but Dawn doesn’t even notice. When I run my fingers through my hair, he coughs.

Dawn immediately focuses and takes him in along with the baby book on his lap. “Oh, hey Dad,” she says it like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Rune blinks once and his hand falls to his lap limply. “Hey. Sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” she tilts her head to the side slightly. “I did have a strange dream involving potatoes taking over the world. Like they became sentient and marched across the globe, slowly taking over.”

Dawn shivers slightly at the memory and Rune’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “That sounds like a nightmare. Were they human sized potatoes or actual size?”

The giggle that comes out of our daughter has my heart melting. “They were real sized potatoes but there were so many of them and they were armed.”

“Who was producing potato sized weaponry?” Rune asks the question with complete seriousness, and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

“I don’t know,” Dawn’s words are filled with amusement, “it was just a dream. Maybe it was also the chance for toy companies to turn toward a new opportunity.”

“I can’t believe I’m listening to this conversation right now,” I mumble to myself.

Rune smirks and I ignore the way my heart flutters in my chest. For a second, the ten years between us dissolve completely. Or maybe they don’t matter as much.

Either way, I fortify those walls quickly.

“What are you ladies up to this weekend?” There’s a hopeful note in Rune’s voice.

“I have some laundry to do, and Dawn needs to pick up a few things in her room.”

He makes a humming sound and nods slowly. “I won’t intrude any longer. I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” as he speaks, his eyes trail over my face. I’m sure he can still see the toll last night, and the truth, took on me.

“There’s a Halloween party at school on Friday,” Dawn pipes up before Rune can stand up. “Will you come? And will you come trick-or-treating?”

“As long as it’s okay with your mom, I’ll be there.”

They both look at me, but neither are performing and hamming it up with puppy dog eyes. Their eyes, which are the same, are steady. Waiting.