Finding Forever: A Bluebird Bay Novel by Christine Gael

Author:Christine Gael [Gael, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-09-24T16:00:00+00:00

13

Stephanie

“Are you sure I can’t give you a hand with that?” Ethan asked, sidling up next to Stephanie and putting his chin on her shoulder. A smile stretched her lips as his strong arms encircled her. He drew her flush against his chest as she stirred the sauce that was simmering on the stove.

“Nah,” she said, hoping she sounded breezy. “It’s just pasta. Easy, peasy.”

“I just feel bad watching you cook while I’m sitting around doing nothing.”

Steph gave his arm a little pat. “That’s called being a couple, Ethan. Sometimes you do stuff, sometimes I do stuff.”

There was a rumble in his chest as he chuckled, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck and giving her a squeeze before letting go.

“So how was your day?” he asked, moving away from her and dropping into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “I feel like I’ve been going on so much about the Peterson case, I haven’t even asked you how you’ve been doing. Work is good?”

Stephanie blanched a little at this, and was glad he was no longer close enough to see her expression. Aside from having a panic attack over a noise in the alleyway and her trying not to fall asleep between patients due to nightmare induced exhaustion, sure. Work was just swell.

“Yeah, same as always,” she said, not turning around.

“You sure?” Ethan pressed.

For a brief, panicked moment, Steph wondered if he had caught on to something. She’d been doing her best to come across as normal, and she thought she had been doing a decent job of it so far. Ethan had been assigned as the lead officer in charge of a racketeering investigation, which had left him with little free time. Between his long hours and overall mental fatigue, he hadn’t seemed to pick up on the fact that she was struggling. If it was up to her, she wanted to keep it that way.

She glanced over her shoulder to find him studying her intently.

“I’m good,” she murmured, forcing a smile. His expression was so loving it almost made her want to burst into tears. She took a shaky breath and added, “Don’t worry about me. I’m just distracted with Pop and all. It’s nothing I can’t handle. Focus on your case. You’re in the thick of it.”

Yeah, piped a tiny voice in her mind. You and him both.

Ethan leaned back, stretching over the back of the chair with a yawn. “We’re partners, babe. We worry about each other sometimes. But if you say you’re good, I’ll take your word for it.”

“Yup, doing fine.” She swallowed the rush of guilt and turned her attention back to the bubbling sauce.

Sometimes she wondered why she was hiding her troubles from this man she had come to love, something she hadn’t thought possible after Paul had died. Things were so good between them. So easy, and comfortable. The last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize that.

In spite of her efforts to act like nothing was wrong, though, she was definitely fraying at the edges.

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