When We Let Go by Delancey Stewart

Author:Delancey Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Delancey Stewart

When I woke, it was to a steady tapping sound. Light, rhythmic, like soft rain hitting the windows. But it wasn’t raining. I opened my eyes to bright sunlight streaming in through arched windows revealing the tops of trees stretching for the limitless blue sky. And when I rolled over, there was Connor. Typing furiously. He was absorbed completely, focused on his work.

I watched him with sleepy eyes, resisting the urge to smooth the furrow between his brows, to run my fingers over the curls on his bare chest. I contemplated interrupting him completely in another way, but he stopped typing as the thought formed in my mind. His lips curled slightly and he turned to look at me.

“You’re awake.”

“You’re busy.”

“I know, I hope I didn’t wake you. I didn’t want to leave you, so I brought it up here.”

I smiled. He didn’t want to leave me. I loved the sound of that. “You didn’t wake me. I’m glad you’re writing again.”

He sighed. “I am too. It’s coming fast. Like these are words I’m supposed to write. That’s how it’s been before, when things are good.”

“So things are good?”

He slid the laptop onto the nightstand and pulled me into his arms. “In so many ways.”

His phone rang downstairs, breaking the moment. He planted a sweet kiss on my forehead and then slid from the bed. “I should get that, though I don’t want to. It’s only ever bad news.”

My heart sank a little as he walked out the door. He wore the flannel pajama bottoms he’d been wearing when I arrived the night before and I wondered if those were his working pants as I stretched in his bed for a few minutes more. Finally, when I heard his voice on the phone downstairs, I rolled out of bed and got dressed. I was thankful I hadn’t worn the sundress, since I’d be taking a walk of shame around the meadow now. I wished I had brought my car.

When I got downstairs, Connor was making breakfast, the phone beside him.

“Stay for pancakes?” he asked.

“Is there anything you don’t do?” I laughed.

“Nope. Learned to fend for myself at an early age.”

He smiled as he said it, but I wondered about his childhood. It sounded like maybe it was true, that he and his sister had been on their own. I wondered about the circumstances that would have left them alone, but it was not the time for heavy questions.

“Anything important on the phone?” It felt intrusive, but I found myself dangerously close to caring about him, wanting to help shoulder his burdens in some small way, as if I didn’t have enough of my own.

“No, not really. My lawyer. He doesn’t think there’s a solid case against me. The detectives are trying, but it seems like it’s turning into a smear campaign. He said there’s some tabloid talk at this point, but nothing substantial.”

“I hope it’s not bad,” I said. I had no idea how a person handled having their name splashed across magazines in supermarkets.

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