“Jenny,” he whispered, kissing her cheek and then her lips. “Wake up, honey. You’re dreaming.”

Her eyes were full of tears that spilled down her cheeks when she opened them, seeming disoriented as she stared at him.

Undone by her tears, Alex brushed them away. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, but he could tell she wasn’t okay, especially when the tears kept on coming.

He rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.

“I’m sorry,” she said after a long period of quiet. “The dream… It was upsetting.”

“You don’t have to apologize for being upset.” He continued to rub her back, wishing he could do something to make her feel better.

“I’ll be right back,” she said as she got up and went into the bathroom.

Moved by her obvious sorrow, Alex fell back against the pillow, running his hands through his hair while he waited for her. He had so many questions, but he wasn’t sure if he dared to ask any of them.

The water ran in the bathroom for several minutes before she emerged, free of tears, and slid back into bed.

“Do you want me to go?”

She turned on her side to face him. “No.”

He took her hand and flattened his palm against hers. “Could I ask you something?”

Nodding, she focused on their joined hands.

“Who’s Toby?”

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jenny held back a gasp at his gently worded question. She’d had the dream again, twice in the same week, which hadn’t happened since Toby first died. What did it mean that she’d had it again now, right when she’d started something new with Alex?

And she’d obviously spoken in her sleep. What had she said? Did she want to know?

“He… He was my fiancé.”

“Oh.” Alex continued to stroke her hand, his touch sending electric currents up her arm and through her body. “It ended badly?”

“You could say that.” Tell him! Tell him what happened so it’s out there. I don’t want to tell him. I don’t want him to know. I want to enjoy being with him without my overwhelming tragedy standing between us.

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” She forced herself to look at his face. “Will you tell me what I said when I was sleeping?”

“I don’t want to upset you.”

“I want to know.”

“You said his name and asked him not to go.”

Jenny closed her eyes tight against the unreasonable blast of pain. That it still could hurt so badly after all this time…

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Okay.”