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He’d missed it since leaving home, though he now realized it might not be remorse or unrequited love that would do him in; he’d definitely die of a heart attack if Mia kept feeding him like this.
“Want another?”
“Don’t ask ridiculous questions, wife.”
She laughed and slid another warm cinnamon roll onto his plate. She refilled her coffee mug and sat across from him.
He let his eyelids drift down as he closed his lips around a forkful. “You’re definitely making these every weekend.”
She snorted.
He opened one eye.
“You’ll get pancakes,” she said.
He opened his other eye and grinned. “I’m okay with that. You can take next weekend off, though. I’m climbing with Graham.”
“Yeah? Where?”
“Eldo.”
“Of course.”
Eldorado Canyon was his favorite place to climb, even though it could get busy with tourists in the summer. His brother had always preferred Flatirons, and in high school they’d hit that area every chance they got for climbing and camping.
Noah hadn’t been back to that particular spot since Nathan died.
He swallowed another bite and leaned back in his chair. “So. Are we gonna tell people we’re married today?”
Her eyes widened a fraction. “Like our parents?”
“Yeah. Graham, too, probably.”
She nodded. “I guess we should. I’ll just call mine.”
“You don’t want to stop by and tell them in person?”
She winced. “Not really.”
He wondered if she might say more, and just regarded her for a few moments. Her strained relationship with her parents was hard on her, and for her sake, he wished they could figure things out. They used to be so close. But no one seemed to know how to overcome what happened, and he wasn’t sure they ever would.
“Do you think they’ll be upset?” he finally asked.
“Only surprised, I think. Besides, they have no room to get upset. They’re no strangers to keeping secrets.” She looked down at her lap, then back up at him. “They’ve always loved you.”
She didn’t know, but after their big fight, Noah had promised her dad he’d look after her, especially during those months when they weren’t on speaking terms. Noah’s allegiance was to Mia first. Always. But every day he’d passed her parents in the waiting room of that hospital, Mia having put them on the unapproved visitor list, and the pain and worry etched on their faces had been more than he could bear.
He’d simply stopped in front of them one day and said, “I’ve got her.”
Her mom had started crying, and her dad had hugged him, while Noah stood stiffly with his arms at his sides. That was two years ago, and as far as he knew Mia had only spoken to them a handful of times since.
“Your mom’s gonna be pissed we didn’t have a real wedding,” Mia was saying. “And that she wasn’t invited to the courthouse.” She glanced behind her. “Think I can take the rest of those cinnamon rolls over as a peace offering?”
He straightened. “No. Those are mine.”
“I made two dozen.”
He locked eyes with her. “I don’t like to share.”
