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Please let someone be home.
Anyone.
Then I saw movement beyond the little mottled glass windows that stood on either side of the front door. A light flicked on.
Relief flooded me.
The door opened, and a man stared at me like I’d appeared out of nowhere.
‘I’m Cara. Landry. Cara Landry,’ I said through a frozen stutter.
The man looked no wiser upon hearing my name. Fuck, had I gotten the house wrong?
‘Adam’s girlfriend. From university. Is he here?’
The man ran a hand through his hair while shaking his head.
‘He’s not here, I’m afraid.’ His voice was deep and low. It vibrated with his thick Scottish accent.
‘Can I come in and wait? The weather’s turned and I’m freezing. Sorry, I should have called ahead, but I wanted to surprise him. Are you his dad?’
The man laughed and shook his head before swallowing hard. ‘No, just a friend of Bash’s.’
My face must have shown my confusion.
‘Sorry, Sebastian’s... Adam’s dad. I’m Damien. Come on in. I’ll go fetch Bash.’
Standing aside, he let me into the reception hall and hauled my case in after us. The warmth wrapped round me as I removed my soaked coat. I hung it awkwardly on the handle of my case, both leaving a slowly expanding puddle on the tiled floor.
‘I’ll grab you a towel and a cup of tea. Go into the sitting room and get yourself heated by the fire. Back in a minute.’
I watched as Damien left the room, my face burning at the embarrassment of showing up and Adam not even being there.
Where was he? Catching up with friends? At a bar? I should have called ahead.
So stupid.
Damien reappeared and handed over a towel and a blissfully hot mug of tea. I had no intention of drinking the foul stuff, but the heat warmed my fingers as I perched on the edge of a leather armchair by the fire.
When Sebastian walked into the room, my heart all but stuttered. He looked a lot like Adam, but older and more rugged. Grey Peppered his dark hair and his stubble was similarly silver tinged. Thick muscles corded his arms where his t-shirt sleeves rode high on his biceps. Where Adam was clean cut, impressive tattoos etched over Sebastian’s arms, darkly swirling up into his clothing. A tingle gripped me between the thighs, and I let out a tiny squeak as he grasped one of my hands in a firm shake.
‘Sebastian Rudolph.’
‘Cara Landry.’
Sebastian sat in the leather chair that mirrored mine on the other side of the fire.
‘Damien tells me you’ve flown in from Canada to surprise Adam?’
‘Yeah. He was sad we couldn’t spend the holidays together and said he missed me, so I decided to surprise him. I hope it’s not too much of an imposition. In hindsight, I should have called ahead.’
Sebastian looked at Damien, who shrugged. Nerves tickled at my insides. He looked back at me and let out a sigh.
‘Where is he? I’d call him but I don’t have any signal here...’
‘Cara,’ Sebastian said, ‘Adam is spending Christmas at his fiancée’s family’s house.’
He hesitated and took a breath before adding, ‘It’s their last one before the baby arrives.’
