“You have Danny.”
Now he saw the whole baby drama with Blake in a new light. Perhaps there had been a seed of truth in it after all. “You think having Danny made Kim’s death hurt less for me?”
The quiet stole around them when she fell silent. He let it lengthen, unsure if she would answer him.
“I thought it might have helped,” she whispered. “At least you have a piece of her in him.”
He swiped at the tears in his eyes, thinking about how his heart stopped every time Danny smiled like his mother or made a gesture with his hands that reminded him of Kim. “We all have a piece of her in Danny, Nat.”
This time she remained silent, and he knew she wasn’t going to say anything else.
“Well, I should get back so I can give Danny a bath.” His watch told him it was nearing six-thirty. The babysitter would have fed him by now.
He rose and offered her a hand, which she took. He didn’t release it once they were both standing. “I love you, Nat.”
She bit her lip and pulled away. “I love you too. Just…please give me some space about this.”
She was already heading to her car as he folded up the blanket. “You’ve had too much space, Nat. Two whole years of it.”
Her response was to slam the car door. He took a moment to enjoy the quiet. Between the hospital and Danny, he didn’t have a lot of silence except in the darkness of the night. Silence during the day was spectacular, filled with the vibrant colors of blue, green, and brown. He didn’t feel as alone in this silence.
Keep helping her, Kim. We have a long way to go.
As he left, he patted the letter he’d tucked back into his pocket. Natalie wasn’t the only one feeling trepidation over the future. He’d never wanted to imagine a future without Kim, but it appeared he would have to start.
He always kept his promises, even when they broke his heart.
Chapter 10
When Natalie heard someone rapping their knuckles in a peppy tune on her back door, she knew it was Blake. She took a moment to compose herself.
She’d spent an hour rearranging the items in her kitchen pantry after her chat with Andy, but it hadn’t done much to shove Andy’s concerns to the back of her mind. In fact, she was having a tough time receding to the quiet, numb place she ran to whenever she became too frazzled, too charged with emotion.
The sweet dog was already at the door, barking with animation, pawing excitedly at the frame. Blake smiled at her when she opened the door. The alluring scent of truffle fries hit her nose, followed by the char of hamburger, and she looked down at the picnic basket he was carrying.
“Did you eat at Ajax earlier?” she asked.
“Without you?” He shook his head. “No, I haven’t been back there since we went together. But Aspen is only forty minutes away, so I thought I’d bring you something special as a way of saying thanks for agreeing to do the catering this weekend.”
He opened the picnic basket—she recognized it as the one she’d bought for them when they were dating. She tried not to think of how thoughtful it was that he’d brought one of her favorite possessions from their home. Inside lay her favorites: the tavern’s signature cheeseburger and truffle fries.
“The chef said you could broil the fries to make them crispy again,” he told her.
A flash of pain tore through her chest. “Thank you.”
He dug into the basket for a stainless steel frozen container—something else she’d bought for them—and thrust it out to her. “Open it.”
When she did, her knees went weak. “You brought me their salted caramel and banana milkshake?” Hadn’t she just eaten a few of her secret stash of caramels in the laundry room after coming home from Black Lake?
His smile was lop-sided. “It is your favorite. And I stopped at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and bought you an English toffee apple.”
Now she was deeply suspicious. “But you never approved of me eating that much sugar…” She bit off the words when we were together.
He barked out a laugh. “I was full of myself. I just want you to be happy, and little makes you happier than food.”
Andy’s words came back to her like a wave, powerful and impossible to fight. Blake did want her to be happy. Maybe it was time to stop fighting that quite so hard. “Thank you,” she repeated, her throat clogged with emotion.
The smile turned into a besotted grin, the one she remembered from their courtship. He was embarrassed, but happy to have pleased her.