Page 77 of The Locksmith's Promise

He chuckled and squeezed my hand. “Based on your pink cheeks, I definitely do. What colour are your toes today?”

My eyebrows rose. “My toes?”

“Yeah. You change the colour every day.”

“Hm,” I teased. “Let’s see if you can figure it out.”

The calloused pads of his fingertips stroked the back of my hand. “Oh, I’ll figure it out,” he promised. “I’m very observant, especially where you’re concerned.”

I laughed. The sweet familiarity of that touch in this place fused the past and present together into one continuous timeline where our son bridged the gap of our separation.

He’d been part of my life even when he wasn’t with me.

I squeezed back. “Finding out about Corwin must have been crazy. We were linked this whole time, and you didn’t know. It must have been a shock.”

He rubbed a rough hand over his chin and tilted his head to the side as we walked. “You’ve never not been in my thoughts and plans, I just didn’t know about Cor. If I had known, I would have gone to you, Maggie. I couldn’t go back to Moose Lake, but I would have met you wherever you were.”

“Do you think we would have made it back then?”

After a moment, he shook his head. “No.” Wincing apologetically, he explained, “I was a mess. I was terrified I’d turned into my father. Chances are, even if I did know about Corwin during that first year or two, I would have run in the other direction.”

His shoulders slumped. “I’m not proud of it, but it seemed the best and safest for you at the time.”

“When did things change for you?”

“After that first year, I started working out and cleaning up my health. Played guitar every night and eventually joined a cover band. Worked with a general contractor and started my locksmith apprenticeship.”

“I bet you were good at that,” I teased.

He laughed. “Well, I certainly had the experience.”

“Funny how Sergeant Elliott never arrested you for all the locks you picked.”

“I never took anything and always locked things up again, but it was a challenge. And it was something I was good at. Elliott always had my back, even when it seemed like he didn’t,” he mused. “He’s the one who made sure my father dropped the charges.”

“I can’t believe he pressed charges against you after everything he did to you,” I fumed.

He pulled me under his arm and held me against his side. “I don’t think about him or talk about him, Maggie. He hasn’t been part of my life for a long time. If you have questions, I’ll answer them. But I’d just as soon leave the past in the past.”

“I understand,” I murmured. “Bax? Why didn’t you come for me later?”

“I didn’t feel I’d done enough to be worthy of you.” He sighed. “And I figured you never going back to Moose Lake meant you wanted nothing more to do with me.”

Was that part of it? If I was brutally honest with myself, was I also running from him all this time?

I couldn’t think about it anymore.

Maybe Baxter was right, and looking back was a waste of the gift of our second chance. “Just so you know, you’ve always been worthy.”

Before he could argue, I grabbed his hand and tugged him in front of a storefront window and stared in wonder.

“Baxter, look at this one!” I laughed. “I forgot how intense these displays are!”

In Mistlevale, the little town that celebrated Christmas all year round, they took their window displays seriously and changed them with every season.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a spooky Santa,” he murmured, moving closer to the window. “It reminds me of that Hallowe’en slash Christmas movie about the skinny pumpkin guy in the striped pyjamas.”

My smile stretched wider across my face. “Not sure I’ve ever heard it described like that, but I know what you mean.”

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