Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Her cell phone dinged with a message, and Morana knew what it would say even before she opened it. They wanted her help locating Sam. She typed a quick response and then turned back to the computer. Yes, Sam’s luck wouldn’t last. It might take her a while, but in this day and age of computers and cameras and backdoor entries into every digital system under the sun, no one could stay hidden for long.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Autumn kicked the cottage door closed behind her, her arms full of the chopped logs she’d gathered from the pile near the shed outside. She halted, spotting Sam standing near the table, his hands behind his back. There were two bowls of what appeared to be mac and cheese on the table, steam rising in the air. Autumn smiled, turning to the fireplace and squatting as she set the logs down on the hearth. “You made dinner?” She’d stayed outside longer than it took to collect the firewood, just gazing out at the lake and thinking about their complicated predicament, thoughts that had turned to hopeful daydreams of how this all might turn out well. The first star had appeared in the sky, and she’d closed her eyes and turned her dream into a wish. “Thank you, Sam.”
Sam gave what looked like a forced smile, his hands still behind his back.
“Are you okay?” Her gaze went to the mac and cheese. Was he nervous he’d messed up dinner somehow? It was almost foolproof. The three-step directions were right on the box.
Sam brought his hands from behind his back, set down the pad of paper he’d asked for the week before, and stepped away as though it might bite him. As if it was best that he distance himself from it.
Autumn took off her gloves slowly. It appeared that he couldn’t look at her, his eyes glued to the table.
“I wanted to thank you,” he finally mumbled. His cheeks were flushed. Was he blushing? “For taking care of me. For helping. And for staying too. For not leaving me here alone.”
“You already thanked me for caring for you,” she said with a smile. “And I wouldn’t have left you alone.” She threw her gloves aside and then shrugged off her oversize sweater and tossed that onto the back of the couch. She took in his nervous expression, and tenderness took hold. What a sweetheart he could be. So uncertain. Looking so hard for acceptance. “But I appreciate a nice dinner. Thank you, Sam,” she said again, this time with more meaning as she sat down. “That was very thoughtful of you.”
“I would’ve, ah, made you something…better for dinner, except…”
Oh my gosh, the guy looks utterly lost and completely flustered. She wanted to laugh, and she wanted to hug him.
“Don’t be silly. Mac and cheese is my absolute favorite.”
He released a breath and took a seat too and then picked up the pad of paper and handed it to her. “I…did this for you. Made it. Copied it.” His blush deepened, his cheekbones tinged a deep shade of pink. “For you, to give it back. I shouldn’t have taken it. I tried to figure out a way that I could give your journal back to you. Even though it’s just…not as good.” He pushed the pad of paper across the table and then withdrew his hand quickly.
Autumn tilted her head, confused as she picked up the pad. She turned back the cover, her heart giving a small gallop. It was her name and her birth date, written in precise all-caps printing.
She brought a hand to the silver necklace at her throat that Bill had given her on the day her adoption had become legal, the one she never took off. Something clogged her throat, and she swallowed around it as she turned the first page, and then another and another, her heart beating ever more swiftly.
“You rewrote my journal,” she whispered. She raised her gaze, meeting his. His face was still flushed, eyes wide as he waited for her reaction. It looked like he was holding his breath. Scared. Oh, he cares so very, very much. Autumn stood, rounded the table, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, Sam, thank you. I can’t believe you did this.” He’d had it memorized. All these years. The entire thing. And she couldn’t begin to understand how or why, but he did, and he’d rewritten every single word.
It was a moment before she realized how tense he was and that his breath had turned to small, almost-silent staggered pants. She unwrapped her arms and leaned back slowly. She’d noticed before that he seemed to tense each time she touched him, but she’d thought it was due to his injuries.
Now she realized how averse he was to being touched at all, and her heart pinched.