Page 139 of Chosen Road

We rolled into town close to one o’clock, and Amber was due to go to Ruby’s at three. That was not a whole hell of a lot of time to reconnect, but Alex stayed with Vander, Pappou, and the boys, so it was something.

Inside the house, Yiayia hummed happily as she puttered around the kitchen.

“What’s shaking, Yiayia?” I bent and offered my cheek. “You cooking for us for tonight?”

“Yes, agori mou. We having a stag party!”

I chuckled. “You’re making pastitsio?”

She smiled and lay her palm against my face. “For you, agori mou.”

Something flickered in her eyes, and I decided to take the bull by the horns. “How’s Amber? Where is she?”

“She upstairs. She came down for a little while. She suffering, agori mou.”

I kissed her cheek. “You need anything before I go up there?”

“Just look after her, agori mou,” she asserted. I heard her muttering as I headed up, “the scars that woman left on my Amber…”

The master bedroom was empty, but I could hear noise coming from the ensuite bath. I pushed the door open. She didn’t hear me.

The bath was filled with bubbles, and music played from the speaker on the counter. A scented candle burnt on the side of the tub. Amber lay motionless in the tub, her head propped on a bath pillow, her face drawn and pale as her chest rose and fell rhythmically.

I knocked on the doorframe. “I’m home, Amber.”

Her eyes flew open, and a startled scream burst from her as she surged up causing a small tsunami.

“Gus!” she gasped, her hand over her chest. She closed her eyes for a second to collect herself. “You’re home.”

I stood with my hands on my hips, assessing my wife. The fright brought color to her cheeks, but pain and fear fractured her eyes. I pulled my shirt over my head and unsnapped the top button of my jeans.

“Alex. You can’t, because Alex.”

“He’s with Vander and the boys,” I informed her.

“Yiayia. Yiayia is downstairs,” she tried again, her eyes darting between mine and the door. Why she tried to push me away when she most needed me was a mystery for finer minds than mine, but finer minds couldn’t give her what she needed. I could.

“I’ve already spoken to Yiayia. She’s fine,” I assured her.

Her eyebrows went down. “You talked to Yiayia before coming to talk to me?”

“Our ‘conversation’ is going to take a lot longer.”

She sat back petulantly. “I’m trying to take a bath.”

I nodded. “I can help with that.”

A small smile tugged at her lips as I knelt on the floor beside the tub. Lifting the candle to the counter. “Let’s move this somewhere safer.”

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she stared at me, her eyes broadcasting all that her mouth could not.

I traced the contours of her face with my finger and pressed a gentle kiss to her unresponsive mouth.

I picked up her loofah and added her body wash to it, then smoothed slow, easy circles over her back.

She rested her cheek on her knees and closed her eyes, her long hair trailing into the water beside her.

I swept the rest of her hair off her back, replaced the loofah with my hand, and gently rubbed away her tension, watching as the lines around her mouth softened, and her eyebrows smoothed.

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