Page 21 of Mountain Shadow

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Jens

Jens opened his front door and stepped back just in time to avoid a collision with the slim blonde who rushed past him and crashed into Sarah.

Jens kept the door open for Damien, who followed behind his wife. As he walked by, Damien arched an eyebrow at Jens. They both turned to look at the women, who were squeezing each other as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. Jens thought back to his own siblings—he’d always been close to them, and didn’t get to visit them as often as he’d like.

“Sarah!” Tess squealed. “You’re okay. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Sarah confirmed.

Finally, Tess released her sister. “What are you doing here? How long have you been here? Why didn’t you call me?”

Without giving her sister a chance to respond, Tess turned towards Jens, her green eyes blazing.

“Hi Tess,” he said mildly.

Still holding on to Sarah’s hand, Tess took a threatening step forward, apparently unbothered by the fact that he towered over her by more than a head.

Jens held his ground. He’d known this moment was coming from the time they’d reached out to Tess and Damien the night before. If anything, he was surprised they’d waited for the morning flight, rather than driving through the night to get back to Chamonix—but then again, Sarah had sworn she wasn’t in any immediate danger, and Tess and Damien had been with Jamie at the time.

Tess’s green eyes blazed.

“You. Why didn’t you call us when she first arrived? I would have expected better from you.”

It was Sarah who came to his rescue, squeezing her sister’s hand to get her attention.

“It’s not his fault, Tess. All Jens has done is keep me safe. He wanted to call you and Damien, but I asked him to wait. I’m okay. Nobody knows where I am.” She led her sister to the couch. “Sit down, Tess. You look like you’re about to fall down.”

“Oh, Sarah, I’ve been so worried ever since your call last night. We took the first flight over.”

“I knew you would … and now I’ve ruined Jamie’s holiday. He’s going to hate me,” she said unhappily. “Where is Jamie?”

“We dropped him off at my father’s place,” Damien said, speaking for the first time. “He doesn’t hate you, and he’s going to be just fine. I’m sure we’ll go back to Legoland sometime. I’m glad you’re okay, Sarah.”

“Fine, let’s go,” Tess said decisively.

“Go where?” Sarah asked.

Jens was struck by how two women could look so similar and so different at the same time. Where Tess’s hair was blonde and straight, Sarah’s hair was light brown and wavy. They both had large eyes, framed by long eyelashes—Tess’s eyes were green, while Sara’s eyes were caramel-colored. Both of them were beautiful, but only Sarah made his heart beat a staccato rhythm when he looked at her.

Sarah raised her eyes to his before replying. Jens nodded encouragingly, somehow knowing what she was going to say already, even though they hadn’t discussed it ahead of time.

“I’m not going with you, Tess.”

“What?” Tess fairly screeched. “Of course you are!”

“No,” Sarah said softly, getting up to stand next to Jens. “If it’s okay with Jens, I want to stay here with him.”

“Stay here?”

Sarah nodded. “Is that okay, Jens? I know it’s a lot to ask—”

Jens nodded, meeting Damien’s eyes over the heads of the two sisters.

“Of course you can stay here. Nobody will hurt you here,” he said, softening his voice so his words didn’t sound as fierce.

Not while I live.