Page 12 of One Night With You

She shook her head, then held out the tin awkwardly. “I’m here with cookies. A peace offering.”

I frowned again, trying to keep up. I was still a little off, it seemed. “A peace offering for what, Claire?”

Her face fell, as did her arms. So she set the tin down on the coffee table and let out a deep breath. “I’ve been really off since the attack. I’ve been mean to you. And I don’t know why. Well, I sort of do, but that’s fine. I heard what you did, and I just want to say that’s amazing.You’repretty amazing.”

I shook my head, uncomfortable for a completely different reason now. “Anyone would do it. I’m not amazing for doing the right thing.”

She moved forward then, a frown etched on our features. I didn’t like seeing her frown. I wanted to make her smile.

“It’s more than that. Not everyone does something so unselfish, not everyone can. You are trying to save someone’s life, something you do all the time, and you don’t even realize it. So I’m just here to say I’m sorry. I should have been here before…before you donated bone marrow and saved someone with cancer. I should have said thank you for helping me that day, and I’m sorry that I’ve been out of it. I’m trying to get back to being myself. I’m trying to be better. So I just wanted to come here and let you know that I won’t be mean anymore. And I won’t ignore your calls.”

I really felt like I was missing something here, but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. “Just like that. You won’t tell me why?” I asked.

“Just know it’s really me. It’s not you.” She winced. “I know that’s trite.”

“I’m not even sure I know what trite means,” I said with a laugh.

She smiled then, and it felt as if I had once again won the lottery. Or maybe just finally won something. “Are you really okay though? Does it hurt?”

“It’s going to in a bit. I’m still a little dozed out from the anesthesia. And they did a nerve blocking thing, I think? I’m not really making up good words right now.”

“Do you want me to go?”

“Stay,” I blurted, not even realizing I was saying it until the word was already out.

“You want me to stay? Isn’t your brother here? Or is someone supposed to be in the room with you the whole night?”

“No, I can take care of myself, I just want you to…stay. Let’s watch a movie. Do something. And not talk about bone marrow or the fact that I just want these saltines and ginger ale.”

She studied my face then, and I had to wonder what she was going to say, what shecouldsay in that moment. But she set down her bag and finally sat down on the couch.

She was close to me, but it didn’t feel close enough, so since I was just sitting there, I rearranged myself so that way I was leaning against the back of the couch, close enough to her.

And without any words, because I wasn’t sure there were any words to say, we turned on a movie—I wasn’t even quite sure what was happening on the screen—and I was able to eat a cookie. And as I fell asleep on the couch, with my head on her shoulder, I finally relaxed for the first time in far too long.

And it felt good.

And later, when I was in that half-dozed sleep and the movie was over, it felt as if her hands were in my hair.

But that couldn’t be right. And that wasn’t her whispering goodnight.

Instead, I just fell asleep, feeling content, as if I could save the world, and do anything.

Because Claire had come to me.

Finally.

Only I hadn’t realized I had been waiting all this time.

4

CLAIRE

In the two weeks since I’d realized that I needed to heal the rift I’d caused between the man I’d had a crush on and myself, I hadn’t really seen him. He’d been healing and then gone back to work on desk duty, and I’d been working overtime making sure that everything was set for me to take a week off for this trip.

I still couldn’t believe I was going on a hiking trip in the Rocky Mountains in the middle of winter in Colorado with the Montgomerys, but once my friends began asking, it was hard to say no.

Honestly, it was always hard to say no to a Montgomery.

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