Page 82 of Blindsided
“The other part wants answers. Needs them.” He glances at me, vulnerability flashing across his face before he shutters it away. “What would you do?”
I consider this carefully, knowing my answer matters. “I’d go,” I say finally. “Even if just to say all the things I’ve been holding inside. Even if it were only to close that chapter properly.”
He nods slowly, digesting this. “And what about you? Would you come with me?”
The question catches me off guard, though maybe it shouldn’t have. We’ve been in this together from the beginning—from that first meeting on the plane to this moment in the mountains.
“To Alberta?” I ask, buying time as my thoughts race.
“Yeah.” His voice is gruff, but there’s something beneath it—uncertainty, maybe even fear. “I know you have your own life to get back to, your own shit to deal with. But...”
“But?” I encourage him when he trails off.
“But I don’t want to do this without you,” he admits, the words coming out in a rush. “You’re the only thing that’s made any sense in this whole mess.”
My heart thuds painfully against my ribs. What he’s asking—it’s not just about a trip to Alberta. It’s about something more, something neither of us hasbeen ready to name.
“My life in Toronto isn’t exactly calling me back with open arms,” I say carefully. “Mark, Lana, the divorce... none of it’s going anywhere.”
“So that’s a yes?” A hint of hope creeps into his voice.
“It’s a‘let me think about it’,” I replied honestly. “This isn’t just about a trip, Kane. It’s about what happens after. Where do we go from here? What are we doing?”
He steps closer, his hands finding my waist with a sureness that makes my breath catch. “I don’t have all the answers, Kori. But I know I want you in my life. However, that looks.”
“We barely know each other,” I remind him, though my hands have already betrayed me by settling on his chest.
“Bullshit,” he says, his voice rough with conviction. “I’ve spent more honest moments with you in the past week than I have with anyone in years. You know the real me—not the mask I wear for everyone else.”
I can’t argue with that. Despite the shortness of our acquaintance, I do know him—his strengths and vulnerabilities, his humor and his pain. And he knows me too, in ways Mark never bothered to learn.
“One day at a time?” I suggest, feeling my resolve weaken.
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth—that crooked, genuine smile that makes my heart flip. “One day at a time,” he agrees. “Starting with Alberta.”
“I didn’t say I was going yet,” I protest, but there’s no conviction in my voice.
“But you will,” he says, suddenly confident. “Because you want answers as much as I do.”
“What answers could I possibly find in Alberta?”
His gaze softens as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Maybe not answers. Maybe just possibilities.”
The word hangs between us, full of promise and uncertainty. Possibilities. A new path, uncharted and scary but potentially wonderful.
“Kane! Kori!” Declan’s voice breaks the moment. “We need to head back before we lose the light.”
Kane sighs, his forehead briefly touching mine. “To be continued,” he murmurs.
As we walk back to the cabin, his hand finds mine, our fingers intertwining naturally. I’m still not sure what I’ll decide about Alberta, about us, about any of it. But for now, this connection is enough.
The others are already packing up when we return. Marie stands in the doorway, a small package wrapped in brown paper clutched in her hands.
“Before you go,” she says, approaching Kane. “Ella wanted you to have this. If you came looking.”
Kane takes the package with trembling hands. “What is it?”
“Open it when you’re ready,” Marie says cryptically. “She’ll explain the rest when you see her.”
