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I nodded, my neck and cheeks prickling with heat.
“I didn’t realize things had progressed that far.” She frowned. “I really wish you would carry your phone more. It’s so hard to get a hold of you. We never know where you are lately.”
“Loïc belongs to himself. He doesn’t owe us communication. He doesn’t answer to us.”
She waved her hand. “I didn’t mean it like that. Most families stay in touch if they like each other. It’s not about restricting someone’s activity.”
“Oh.” Severin lowered his brows in contemplation. “You’re asking about the phone because we love him and want to make sure he’s okay.”
“Yes, exactly.” She smiled at me in the way that always made me see she cared about me the way she cared about the other members of the family. It was different than how she loved my brother, their husband, and their children, but strongly all the same.
“I’ve been carrying my phone more often, but sometimes I forget.”
“That’s fair. I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached to my shoulders lately. Thank you for trying to remember.”
“Will you text me when it’s time for the babies to come?”
She looked pleased. “Of course.”
“I’d like to come to the clinic to wait, if that’s not uncomfortable for you—just to be near when our new family members join us.” I hadn’t been welcome in the family when Prospero was born, and I’d accidentally missed Concordia’s birth while traveling around Australia for two months.
“Absolutely!” Minnow looked ecstatic.
Severin’s silver-blue eyes crinkled at the corners, and he gave me a nod of approval.
Let people know I cared about them.
I could do that.
How hard could it be?
Chapter Two: Loïc
Tarryn is a reflection of all that is good in the world.
Every bright thought.
Every tender feeling.
Loïc Leduc, Journal 15
Far below the balcony, the occasional car trundled down the deserted, lamp-lit street. Wind tugged playfully at my clothes, drying my sweat. I’d never climbed quite so high before, but it needed to be done.
As usual, the drapes weren’t closed. Who would bother closing the curtains when they lived so high up? None of the surrounding buildings were quite as tall, giving every floor above the fourth a feeling of relative privacy.
The sliding patio door was locked, which pleased me, and even when I unlocked it, the thing wouldn’t budge, meaning she had a bar in the track to keep it shut.
Good girl.
The window next to it was not locked, however, so I slid through and climbed onto the loveseat. The apartment was so familiar now that the dimness wasn’t disorienting. Light from the city had a way of creeping into almost any room with a window.
My boots made no sound as I found my way into the bedroom. In the warmth of the apartment, she’d thrown off her blanket and sheet, leaving her vulnerable.
If she’d been standing, her nightshirt would probably reach her knee, but in sleep it barely covered the top of her thighs. Little flowers were scattered across the pale fabric.
My woman was so very beautiful. I didn’t deserve her.
But…
