Page 76 of Mountain Void

“You … you still want me? Even after what you’ve learned tonight?”

Want her?

Didn’t she realize the only thing that scared him was the thought of living the next decades without her?

“Nothing you’ve told me changes what I feel for you, Charlie. I love you. I always have. And now that I know you feel the same—if you feel the same—I don’t want to keep living in the past for a minute longer.”

Her breath hitched. For a second, he thought he’d gone too far. That maybe it was too late. Maybe—

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he repeated. “Okay, as in, you agree with everything I’ve said?”

A real, unsteady smile broke through her tears. “I don’t know about everything, but I agree that I love you, and I agree that … I’d like us to see what a future together looks like.”

His throat felt tight with something akin to relief—except calling it relief was like calling Mount Everest a hill.

She glanced down to his chest, where their hands met, then back up at him. “Now, I’d like some dinner. Which means you’re going to have to let go.”

He remembered Val’s words. Warm food. Hot tea. That was what Charlie needed, after everything she’d been through.

“Right,” he said, releasing her hand. “Food first. Then we plan.”

23

Charlie

Happiness had a distinct shape.

That morning, it looked like sunlight pouring through the classroom windows. It reached the aquarium and caught there, making the pebbles inside glow like golden coins. Even the fish looked happy as they drifted lazily through the brightness, exploring their small territory as if for the first time.

Charlie’s stomach fluttered. She, too, was exploring new territory. Later that evening, she was going on a date with Lorenz. Not coffee. Not dinner. Not—or not just—sex. An actual date.

The thought was enough to make her cheeks warm, even now, alone in her classroom. It felt absurd because this wasn’t a first date—she and Lorenz had been married—but it felt like a first date.

She wasn’t even tentatively happy. No. There was no tentative about it. Today she felt truly, absolutely happy. Happy because she understood how right she and Lorenz were for one another now, in a way that perhaps they hadn’t been ready for before.

The last couple of nights, Lorenz had tucked her into bed, but hadn’t touched her. He’d wanted to touch her. She’d seen it in his face, in the hard line of his jaw and the tension in his body. But he’d held firm. Tonight, things were going to be different. She might even stop by a store on her way back to his place. A new, sexy nightgown wouldn’t go amiss.

But before that, she had a big day ahead: their second field trip of the term. She set her large handbag on her desk and glanced automatically at the clock on the back wall. The kids would start arriving any minute, ready to head out into the forest to collect leaves, twigs, and rocks for the spring exhibit.

It was the kind of outing she loved best. No museum schedules, no complicated scavenger hunts, no endless reminders not to touch displays … no walls to climb. Just a long walk, fresh air, and second-graders choosing their favorite stones and twigs to bring back with them.

She sat down for a minute to check her email. There were plenty of new messages, but none from social services. They’d reached out to her and Sean the previous day, but hadn’t set a meeting yet.

Don’t they realize how urgent this is?

She clicked refresh, knowing it would have no effect.

Charlie exhaled and sat back in her chair. It was still early. Social services probably had to coordinate the agendas of several people. That could take time. But she’d hoped for some signs that things were moving in the right direction—that somebody was thinking about Théo.

She was about to click refresh a third time when her phone rang.

She snatched it up at once.

“Allô, oui.”

“Charlie? This is Sean.”