Page 77 of Mountain Summons

She looked calm, composed, radiant in a navy blue cocktail dress that left her shoulders bare and billowed gently around her knees. Tristan knew some of his friend’s wives and girlfriends had surprised Lena with a shopping trip a few days earlier.

Tristan turned away before anyone could catch him grinning like a fool.

“Tristan!”

He turned to find Hugo and Jo standing nearby. Jo rested one hand lightly on Hugo’s arm, the other on her very pregnant belly. She looked flushed and content.

“Hugo. Jo. I wasn’t sure you’d make it,” he said, crossing over to them.

Jo grinned. “Please. I wouldn’t miss this. I love art exhibitions.” She tilted her head. “I like when Hugo describes things for me. And I like the finger foods.”

“She means the mini quiches,” Hugo said dryly. “She’s eaten four.”

“Five,” Jo corrected. “Make sure you tell me if somebody walks past me with another tray. I only have a couple more weeks to eat for two.”

Tristan chuckled. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine a future where he and Lena might start a family as well. A few months earlier, he wouldn’t have imagined that as a possibility for him, but now, it was one of many options that had opened up. Even if it wasn’t something they’d talked about yet. “You look great, Jo.”

“I feel like a small planet,” Jo replied. “But thank you.”

Hugo leaned in and murmured something in her ear. Whatever it was, it made her smile widen.

“Sorry we’re late,” a voice said behind them. Tristan turned to see Isla and Ry rushing towards them. “How’s it going so far?”

Tristan glanced around. “People seem to like Lena’s work.”

“Of course they do,” Yvette said, walking up with Alex and Drake.

“Damien and the rest of the team are on their way,” Drake said. “They were late getting back from a rescue, so I left without them.”

Tristan shook hands with him.

“Thanks for coming out tonight.” Truth be told, he’d hoped some people from his own team might show, but hadn’t imagined their sibling PGHM team might join them as well.

Yvette winked at them and grabbed the arm of someone who appeared to be a reporter as he walked by. “So. What do you think?” she began, leading him away. “The thing I like most about Lena’s photographs is that they let me see things about the world I otherwise would have missed.” Her companion nodded eagerly and wrote something down in his little notebook.

And then Lena was there, slipping her hand into his like it was the most natural thing in the world. “I should hire Yvette to sell these,” she laughed.

“You shouldn’t sell any of them,” Tristan said, pulling her in tight against his side. “I think we should keep them all.”

Lena leaned into him, her body soft against his side. “I’m not sure Madame Guillaume will agree. She’s already planning a second show in Tokyo in the spring.”

Tristan pulled back just enough to look at her. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” Her eyes sparkled. “She thinks they would be perfect for her gallery there.”

Tristan smiled slowly. “Congratulations, sweetheart. You deserve this, you know.”

She tilted her head, amused. “Tokyo?”

“All of it,” he said. “The attention. The success. People seeing the world the way you do.”

Before she could answer, someone gently tapped Lena’s shoulder. Madame Guillaume herself stood nearby, elegant in black, her silver hair swept into a soft knot.

“Chérie,” she said, her French accent lilting. “There is somebody I would like you to meet.”

Tristan squeezed her hand and let go. “Go. I’ll be here.”

Tristan waved to his friends and turned back toward the display wall, meaning to take another quiet lap around the gallery himself. But instead, someone touched his shoulder.

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