Page 81 of Mountain Trial

Chapter 29

Kat

Kat stood in Luc’s kitchen, waiting for the water to boil. She’d put away the wine and the cheese―although it was nearly midnight, neither of them felt much like eating.

Luc had little choice in terms of tea in his cupboard, and for a moment Kat wished they’d gone back to her place instead.

She berated herself for the selfish thought. Luc had been through a lot tonight, and he needed to be comfortable. It also didn’t matter that much to her where they stayed. As long as they were together, she felt … safe.

She listened now for any sounds coming from the bathroom, where he’d gone to take a shower. He’d been there for a long time, and she couldn’t hear any water running anymore.

Should I go see him?

She didn’t want to crowd him, but he’d been awfully quiet since they got home.

Moments later the decision was made for her, as Luc rolled himself out into the living area. He’d removed the remains of Bull’s blood splatter from his cheek, and changed his clothes. His hair was wet, and he smelled of fresh rain.

“I’m making us some tea,” she said, pointing towards the water boiler.

Luc opened up one of the lower cupboards, taking out a bottle of Jack Daniels. He poured himself a generous shot and placed the glass carefully on his lap, rolling his chair to the window. His back to her, he stared out in the direction of the mountains, though in the darkness there wasn’t much to see.

“I don’t think alcohol is a good idea, Luc. There’s a high chance you have a concussion.”

Luc turned to look at her, his blue eyes flatter than she’d ever seen them before. Eventually, he nodded and placed the glass on the table beside him, untouched.

“You’re right,” he said softly, then kept staring out into the darkness.

Kat busied herself with the mugs for a few minutes, preparing the chamomile tea. As she strained the tea bag, her internal conflict grew. In her mind’s eye, she saw two possible futures―one where she sat down at the kitchen table and quietly sipped her tea, waiting for him to open up to her … and a completely different one where she went up to Luc and addressed the elephant in the room.

She smiled ruefully. For better or worse, she’d always been one to face her problems head on, and tonight didn’t seem a good time to start doing things differently.

She brought both mugs over to the small table by the window.

“Luc, what’s going on? Are you angry at me?”

With a flick of his wrists he spun his chair so it faced her. He didn’t look angry anymore, just incredibly sad and tired.

“At you?” he said slowly. “How could I be angry at you?”

“Does your head hurt? Should we go to the hospital?”

Luc sighed. “My head’s fine, Kat. I’m sorry if I’m not better company tonight.” His hands clenched into fists on his lap. “I’m obviously angry, just not at you, believe me.”

“If you’re angry at Bull and Dogfish―whatever their real names are―I’m angry at them as well.”

Luc shook his head.

“I’m angry at myself, Kat. I can’t stop running through everything that happened―everything that could have happened―and in all those scenarios, I’m unable to protect you. All I can do is watch.” Luc’s voice broke and his eyes glistened with tears.

Kat clenched her teeth to stop herself from exploding. She knew, intuitively, that what she said next would determine the course of their lives―whether they had a future together or not. But how could she convince Luc that he wasn’t to blame, when he’d so clearly decided he was?

“It didn’t happen, Luc. None of those scenarios are real.”

“But they could have been real, Kat. And I would have lain there like a … like a slug.”

“But you saved us, Luc. You saved me. You saved us by thinking of the tracker. You fought Bull inside that helicopter, even with your hands tied behind your back. Don’t you think I felt your love when you looked at me?” she cried out. “We worked together as a team out there, Luc. And now you’re telling me that meant nothing to you?”

“You also saw your teammates carry me back to this fucking wheelchair,” he said bitterly.