He has a room at the Mission Inn.

So he’s treating you okay? I don’t have to worry about you tonight?

She smiled. Tobias was so protective. She’d seen the way he’d reacted—the intensity in his eyes—when Axel had nearly made her fall. Yes.

Can you come over so we can talk?

Not tonight. I’m exhausted, and tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. Let me focus on my family for now, make the holidays fun for my girls and get through these next few days while Axel’s here on my own, so there are no more problems. I just want you to know—

She hesitated, unsure whether she should say what she’d been about to tell him. But then she decided there was no reason to hold back. It was the truth. I just want you to know that whatever the future holds… I’m hoping you’ll be part of my life.

When he didn’t respond right away, she bit her lip. Maybe she’d assumed he was more serious about her than he was…

No. When they were together it was almost magical. She couldn’t have misread their chemistry, the way he touched her, the way he looked at her. At the moment, what Tobias felt for her was the one thing she was convinced she could trust.

Finally, his response appeared on her phone. Do you mean that?

As she remembered their time in the bathtub last night, she wished she could go back to his place, peel off her clothes and climb into bed with him. She didn’t care if they made love—she just wanted to feel his warm body and soft skin against her own.

But it was the holidays. Now was not the time to worry about what she wanted.

Absolutely, she wrote.

Tobias thought his heart might burst by the time he reached the top of the ridge. He hadn’t started to train in earnest and yet he’d made it, difficult though it had been, carrying a hundred-pound pack. The Topatopa Mountains above Silver Springs didn’t feature many trails that were as difficult as what he’d face in Yosemite, and his pack was a lot more stable—as well as lighter—than it would be when carrying a human being, but he’d made decent time.

It was a start. And he’d done well enough to build some confidence that he might be able to carry Atticus.