Page 31 of Unhurried Hearts

Chapter fourteen

Chris

“Is this how you want it?” Berg grunts, waiting for his eight-year-old daughter's approval on the positioning of her new bed.

Natalie nibbles her thumb nail and tips her head side to side, “I think maybe where we had it before.”

Berg groans, letting his end of the solid wood frame touch down on the carpet, “Nat, I love you to the ends of the Earth. But, if you don’t tell us where this monstrosity is going to live, I’m returning it.”

A dazzling smile spreads across her face and she bats her eyelashes. “Do you need a break, Daddy? Maybe another of your younger friends could comeand help.”

Berg sputters and I roll my lips tight together at his daughter’s sass. Berg is almost forty and she likes to needle him about the grey hair around his temples.

“How oldishe?” Louisa asks from the doorway where she’s watching the activity cross-legged.

“Old enough,” Berg grunts as he stretches his back.

I know he’ll put this couch on the top of a mountain if that’s what his daughter wants.

“Phew, moving stuff is hard work,” Nat announces. “Let’s have some chocolate milk,” she says to her sister, and they bounce from the room.

“One glass!” he hollers after them. “You heard the lady,” Berg says, bending his knees deeply in preparation for another bed deadlift.

After Natalie’s furniture is moved into her bedroom, Berg and I enjoy the comfort of the sectional in his living room and a couple cold beers. A preseason hockey game plays quietly in the background.

“Daddy? Can Lou have a sleepover in my new room tonight?” she asks, popping her head around the corner.

“I thought I moved that bed because you wanted your own room.”

He gives up trying to understand kid logic and tells her to get ready for bed.

“It’s Saturday, don’t you have somewhere better to be than here?” Berg gestures to the living room floor littered with Lego and stuffed sea creatures.

I glance at my phone on the arm of the couch, “Not really. I’m…taking it easy.”

Hangouts with Anna that take place in the daylight seem safest.

Slapping my hands on my thighs, I hoist myself off the soft cushions. “Time for me to head back to my dungeon.”

“Be gone, mortgage helper,” Berg bellows, pointing to the door.

Goosebumps rise on my arms as I step out. It’s even colder than after the hike last night. I pause on the stone steps anyway to take deep breaths of the fresh air and look up at the smattering of stars. I can hear the girls giggling through their slightly open bedroom window. Berg’s right, this is a pretty lame Saturday night. But I really wouldn’t trade it for something meaningless knowing the regret I’d have the next day. I glance at my Jeep in its parking spot and then at my blank phone screen. After messaging with Anna last night I was sure I’d hear from her today. She was so damn witty over text and she’s been on my mind all day. Even behind that paper take-out box I could tell she was topless and if she thought a funny selfie would deter me, it didn’t. The way her damp hair brushed overher shoulders and chest made me wish I could explore the same areas with my lips. Warm in my suite, I push back into my leather recliner, the springs groaning as I tip into the most comfortable position. Yogi takes that as her cue to arch her back shakily and abandon her cat post in favour of my lap.

“Make yourself comfortable,” I tell her while she kneads my thighs.

My phone buzzes with an incoming call, earning a glare from Yogi.

“Hello.”

“Hi, it’s me, Anna.”

I smile at the way she announces herself like she isn’t already one of my favourited contacts.

“How was your day?”

“It was okay. Um…I was wondering, if you aren’t busy, if you’d like to come by to, um, watch a movie?”

I nearly groan at the idea of curling up with her. We said slow, not a dead stop. I can do this. An evening of snuggling and watching a movie.

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