Page 45 of On the Edge

“Wish I could do this every night.”

“Me too.” He had zero idea how much I wanted that to be true, nor how much I knew it couldn’t be, which was why I couldn’t waste this weekend.

The next day, I wasn’t about to waste our golden weekend with another minute more of work than I had to. Accordingly, I practically bolted up the walk from the driveway to the backdoor. I’d spent all morning counting down to being back home with Declan, and his pleased expression as I opened the door was worth every bit of hassle.

“You’re back early.” He was installed at the breakfast nook, Oz at his feet, a cup of coffee in front of him along with the remnants of a sandwich.

“I am.” I grinned at him. “I called in a favor from a friend so I didn’t have to stay as late.”

“You did that for me?” Declan’s cheeks were pink and his eyes sparkled. Making him happy was both heartbreakingly easy and incredibly gratifying. Like last night, he appreciated little things more than anyone I knew.

“For us.” I held his gaze. I needed this as much as he did, and learning to flex mynomuscles wasn’t a bad thing either. We’d left our cozy blanket nest on the couch, and I couldn’t wait to get back to it. “This is our weekend alone, after all.”

“What’s that?” Declan gestured at the white paper bag in my hand. I’d visited the hospital gift shop on a break, and although limited in selection, I was pleased with my discovery.

“A potential hobby.” I handed him the bag to open. He withdrew the large, colorful rectangular box.

“A puzzle?” He made a slightly suspicious face.

“You can say no, but it’s got a mystery component.” I gestured at the picture on the front of the box, which depicted a drawing of a tall Victorian house not unlike this home. Unlike Eric’s, this house was decorated with period details and lots of great-grandmother-esque knickknacks. The artist had provided a peek at crowded rooms and secret hallways, and the back of the box revealed the secret we’d be trying to solve. “I thought we could give it a try? Might be fun.”

“Sure. Why not? Guess we can’t spend the entire weekend in bed.” Giving me a toothy grin, Declan leered at me.

“Well, wecould.” I glanced toward Declan’s room, but Oz barked and paced toward the patio door.

“I don’t think he’s ready for us to go back to bed.” Declan laughed as I let Oz out to do his business. “Let’s do the puzzle instead.” He started to set aside the paper bag but paused as an envelope fluttered out. “Whoa, what’s this?”

“A cheesy card.” My face went hotter than an autoclave sterilizer. I’d seen the card in the gift shop and thought of Declan immediately, but as he opened it, I had second thoughts.The Valentine’s card depicted a cartoon couple of older dudes on a vintage motorcycle, with a mercifully blank interior free of sentiment neither of us was ready for. I’d added a small bag of conversation hearts and scrawled a drawing of one saying. “Be mine?”

As Declan stared down at the card and candy, I shifted my weight from foot to foot, increasingly certain I should have added a “for now” or “for the weekend” qualifier, but then Declan smiled broadly.

“My first real Valentine’s card. I love it.”

“Good.” I bent down to give him a soft, relieved kiss. I’d been accused of being too mushy before, so I was glad Declan appreciated my efforts.

I helped him clear the breakfast nook table, and we started working on the puzzle. We made a good team, Declan coming up with an order of operations and me happily finding him edge pieces while we hunted potential clues for the puzzle’s hidden mystery.

“You’re good at problem-solving.” I smiled at him as he linked together several more pieces. He was cute when he concentrated with the tip of his tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth and his brow wrinkled.

“Thanks. Tell that to every math teacher I ever had, but I’m good at strategy.”

“Your race record shows that.”

“It does.” Declan’s blue eyes went cloudy as he nodded. Breaking eye contact, he glanced down before brightening. “Hey look, these pieces fit together to make another clue.”

“Good work.” I made my voice overly enthusiastic because Declan clearly wanted to shift the conversation away from racing.

“I like this puzzle.” Declan pushed himself up from the table to refill his water glass. “It was a great idea.”

“I’m glad.” After he set his water down, I pulled him onto my lap. He let out a little squawk.

“We’re gonna break the chair.”

“Nah. These things are sturdy enough to survive a house full of teens.” I tightened my embrace before kissing him.

“Mmm. Okay, worrying less about falling.” Chuckling, Declan kissed me back. I slid a hand up the back of his hoodie as he deepened the kiss. Shutting my eyes, I lost myself in the magic of making out with Declan. The kitchen was sunny with late afternoon sun. The outside world was chilly, but things were getting plenty heated indoors.

Until the backdoor creaked.

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