Chapter 38
Within a month and a half, the paperwork was done.
Sage had managed a kind of temporary truce with Ronin.
David, meanwhile, was unusually eager about the move.
The reason surfaced soon enough—there was a girl on the football team, Kira, who also lived in the new neighbourhood.
She kicked his arse at football, and he was in love.
Her name kept floating up in conversations with the lads, and every time it did, David went scarlet, his ears on fire.
Sage, biting back her smile, would shoot him a sly expression.
It was finally moving day after weeks of estate agents and lawyers, and she was taping up yet another cardboard box when a knock rattled the door. She wiped her hands on her jeans, her hair in a messy bun, and pulled it open.
Euan stood at her doorstep.
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to go silent. Her eyes widened as her heart beat like there were a thousand butterflies trapped in her chest. His gaze was fixed on her, blue and intense, as though he'd walked all the way from Scotland on nothing but sheer will.
"Sage," he whispered.
She was barely able to speak, the name she returned sounding more like a penny dropped in a wishing well. "Euan."
Her eyes blurred with sudden tears, and before she could blink them away, he had closed the distance.
His arms swept her up against his solid chest, her feet leaving the ground as if she weighed nothing.
She buried her face in him, in the smell of him she had forgotten in those months apart and now remembered.
Then his mouth was crushing against hers, all hunger and relief, a thousand unsent words pressed into one.
She matched him, clutching his shoulders, tasting salt and desperation.
Then, slowly, the urgency softened. His lips gentled, turning coaxing and lingering.
His hand cupped her jaw gently but firmly, as if he wanted her to feel how much he meant it.
By the time they drew apart, she could feel the rapid beat of his heart against hers and the unmistakable way his body betrayed just how glad he was to see her. He was handsome as ever with his full beard and moustache, wearing a sweater which stretched over his massive chest and faded jeans.
He pressed his forehead to hers, still catching his breath. "Is David here?"
Sage nodded, her pulse still racing.
"Are you...alright to introduce me?" he asked carefully. "Or should I come back later? I just moved things quickly because I wanted to help you today."
She shook her head, smiling through damp lashes. "No. Come in. Just...give me a minute to tell David you're here."
She climbed the stairs, her knees trembling. In his room, David was bent over a cardboard box, stacking his books with exaggerated care. When he straightened, Sage caught the faint shadow in his eyes as he glanced out the window, but quickly masked when he saw her.
"David," she said gently, hesitantly. "Euan's here. He wants to meet you. Did you know he was coming?"
One day, a couple of weeks ago, she had sat David down and talked about how she had met Euan.
With her face betraying her nervousness, she asked him how he felt about it.
David had been thoughtful and had asked for time to think about it.
One week later, he had asked to meet him, and they met over a video call.
She had never known Euan to be nervous, but there was a first time for everything.
She needn't have worried because an hour later, they were on the Xbox playing Fortnite.
David was quiet for a long moment, chewing the inside of his cheek. Then he nodded. "Yeah. But he wanted it to be a surprise."
They walked down together, Sage's hand brushing his shoulder as if to protect him.
Euan straightened when they appeared. He was a towering presence in the hallway, but his expression softened as he looked at David. He extended a hand. "You are taller than I thought, lad. Let's do this right. My name's Euan. And I...like your mum."
David blinked, his mouth twitching. "This is a weird conversation," he muttered, suddenly shy.
Euan chuckled, his big hand still held out, waiting. "Aye, lad, it is. But we'll figure it out."
The day had been swallowed whole by boxes and tape.
Every corner seemed stripped bare, the house echoing with the absence of furniture.
Sage had made sandwiches—David was always hungry, and she didn't want a hangry teenager on her hands.
With nothing left to sit on, they camped on the kitchen floor, unwrapping foil packets and drinking from mismatched mugs.
It finally turned into a competition between Euan and David over who could demolish the most sandwiches.
"You're going down," David announced, grabbing another triangle like it was a shotgun pickup. "I've got cracked aim today."
Euan raised an eyebrow, stuffing half a sandwich into his mouth in one go. "Lad, I've got full shield. You don't stand a chance."
"That's cap," David shot back, grinning as he reached for another. "You're moving like a bot. Watch me get this Victory Royale."
Euan pretended to choke dramatically, then pounded his chest. "You're sweating harder than Tilted Towers on day one."
David laughed so hard he nearly dropped his food. "Please, you wouldn't last two minutes in Tilted. You'd be boxed like a fish."
"Oh, yeah?" Euan leaned forward, lowering his voice with mock seriousness. "I'd crank ninety-nines so fast your head would spin."
"Crank nineties," David corrected through his laughter. "See, you don't even know the lingo. Such a boomer."
"Boomer? Who are you calling a boomer?" Euan repeated, feigning outrage.
Something eased in Sage's chest as she watched them—how her son's bright eyes lit up, his laughter spilling into the empty kitchen, and how Euan leaning in, grinning like he had won the lottery. It felt like the fragile start of something new.
An offer on the house had already gone through, but Sage had asked Ronin to stop by and pick out whatever pieces of furniture he wanted. He had walked the rooms slowly, sadness in the lines of his face, before finally settling on a handful of things, including his old study bureau.
She had tried, more than once, to get Euan to open up about why he was here, but he'd been evasive, deflecting with quiet smiles and vague answers.
By nightfall, exhaustion settled over them like a heavy fall of snow.
The plan was to sleep here one last time, finish moving tomorrow, and close the door behind them for good.
David had gone upstairs, rolling out a travel mattress on the floor of his empty room.
Before disappearing, he had tugged Sage aside, his voice a conspiratorial whisper.
"I like Euan," he confessed. "He's cool.
He was trying to be sneaky, but he kept asking about you. "
Sage blinked, surprised, then broke into a smile. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
David nodded, his eyes earnest. "Yeah. He makes you happy, and that makes me happy.” He said kissing the top of her head. “Goodnight, Mum."
Her chest felt full, but she only kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, love."
When she went back downstairs, Euan was waiting, leaning against the doorway as though he'd been rooted there the whole time. Without a word, he reached for her hand.
"No more stalling," she said, her voice low, steady. "Spill."
His thumb brushed over her knuckles. "You're looking better," he said softly. "Happier."
"I am." She met his gaze, a flicker of warmth stirring in her chest. "Thank you for those letters."
Ten of them, over the last three months. Ten pieces of him she had read and reread until the pages grew soft at the edges. Ten reminders that, even as everything else was falling apart, someone had been reaching for her.