Isola had large brown eyes, and they seemed even larger when they were filled with tears. “I just wanted to feel close to him again. The blanket smells like him.” She narrowed her eyes a little, but she didn’t seem angry. “Well, it used to.”

“I’m sorry. I know it was your place. I just didn’t know where else to take him.”

Isola stared at Leelo for a moment. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

But Isola only shook her head slightly. “Come find me when you have time to talk. I really do need to get back.”

Leelo swallowed and waved goodbye as Isola disappeared among the trees. She returned to the cottage, shutting the door behind her.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Leelo, I—”

“Jaren—”

They both laughed nervously. She wasn’t sure why things should be awkward between them, but they had been tipsy when they’d kissed, and now they were both completely sober, with Isola’s presence still hanging in the air like clouds after a storm.

“I’m sorry I was away for so long,” she said, taking a seat on the floor next to him and raising her eyes to his for the first time since she’d arrived. She was afraid of what she might find there: anger that she’d abandoned him; hurt that she hadn’t come when she’d said she would; fear that Isola wouldn’t keep their secret.

But all she saw there was longing. Sweet, desperate longing. For her.

Leelo raised onto her knees and took his face in her hands. He had a few light freckles across his nose that she’d never noticed before. “I’m so sorry. There were a dozen reasons why I couldn’t come, but it doesn’t matter. I should have found a way.”

He blinked slowly, his lips curling in a soft smile. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”

“I can’t believe Isola found you,” she whispered. “I was so scared.”

He rubbed his hands absently up and down her bare arms, sending a shiver up her spine. “It’s all right. I’m all right.”

Her lip trembled when she thought of how close she’d come to losing him. She’d known how tenuous this was, how fragile. But today had shaken her more than she would have thought possible. “Jaren.”

“I know,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her, his voice low with understanding.

They eventually ended up lying beside each other on the blanket, though Leelo had been so absorbed in kissing Jaren that she didn’t actually remember how. He had been the one to pull back, though she could see it hadn’t been easy for him.

He sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You probably need to get home, don’t you?”

She pretended to sit up. “Well, if you want me to go...”