ge hug, holding her close.
“Oh, Christian,” she chokes, wrapping her arms
around him, weeping into his neck—all self-restraint
around him, weeping into his neck—all self-restraint
forgotten—and Christian doesn’t balk. He just holds her,
rocking to and fro, comforting her. Scalding tears pool in
my eyes. Carrick hollers from the hallway.
“He’s alive! Shit—you’re here!” He appears from
Taylor’s office, clutching his cell phone, and embraces
both of them, his eyes closed in sweet relief.
“Dad?”
Mia squeals something unintelligible from beside me,
then she’s up, running, joining her parents, hugging all of
them, too.
Finally the tears start to cascade down my cheeks.
He’s here, he’s fine. But I cannot move.
Carrick is the first to pull away, wiping his eyes and
clapping Christian on the shoulder. Mia releases them and
Grace steps back.
“Sorry,” she mumbles.
“Hey, Mom—it’s okay,” Christian says, consternation
still evident on his face.
“Where were you? What happened?” Grace cries and
“Where were you? What happened?” Grace cries and
puts her head in her hands.
“Mom,” Christian mutters. He draws her into his arms
again and kisses the top of her head. “I’m here. I’m good.
It’s just taken me a hell of a long time to get back from
Portland. What’s with the welcoming committee?” He
looks up and scans the room until his eyes lock with mine.
He blinks and glances briefly at José, who lets go of
my hand. Christian’s mouth tightens. I drink in the sight of
him and relief courses through me, lea一ving me spent,
exhausted, and completely elated. Yet my tears don’t
stop. Christian turns his attention back to his mother.
“Mom, I’m good. What’s wrong?” Christian says
reassuringly. She places her hands on either side of his
face.
“Christian, you’ve been missing. Your flight plan—you
never made it to Seattle. Why didn’t you contact us?”
Christian’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “I didn’t
think it would take this long.”
“Why didn’t you call?”
“No power in my cell.”
“You didn’t stop . . .
本章未完，点击下一页继续阅读。