Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Sloane
“Uncle Jonus,” Zoe calls out, “we saved you pancakes! I put extra chocolate chips in yours!”
“Thank you, Zoe.” His voice is on autopilot.
Laurie hands him a plate. “You look like you could use some breakfast, honey.”
“Thank you, Laurie.” He takes it without looking at it.
Dane asks something about the security cameras, and Jonus gives a one-word answer that is clearly meant to end the conversation. Aldar appears at his elbow with his tablet, wanting to discuss something, and Jonus says “Later” with enough finality that even Aldar retreats.
He navigates through the chaos of his family like a man on a mission, deflecting every attempt at conversation, until he reaches me and drops into the chair beside mine. His thigh presses warm against my leg. He leans close, his breath on my ear. “I need to talk to you.”
A shiver of heat runs down my spine. I search his face. “I can tell.”
“It’s important.”
I lick my lips. “I know that too.”
“Can we—”
“Sloane, look at my drawing!” Zoe materializes beside me, waving a piece of paper. “I made it at school. It’s you and Uncle Jonus and Loki.”
I laugh and take the drawing. It shows a green figure with horns holding hands with a smaller figure with orange hair (close enough to auburn, I suppose). Between them is a brown blob with four legs that must be Loki. They’re standing in front of a house with mountains behind it.
My throat tightens. “Zoe, this is beautiful. I love it.”
“You can keep it.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Zoe bounces away, satisfied. Jonus watches her go with an expression that’s half frustration, half tenderness.
“She drew us holding hands,” I say softly.
“I see that.”
“In front of a house.”
“Yes.”
We look at each other and for a moment the crowded kitchen fades and it’s just us, the way it was that first night in the jungle when he said my name and everything changed.
Laurie asks me how my feet feel. I answer. Ellie wants to know if Melissa has responded about the article yet. I check my phone and say no, not yet. Dane makes a comment about the weather. Someone drops a fork. Loki barks.
Jonus is vibrating beside me with barely contained frustration.
Then breakfast starts to wind down. Dane and Laurie move to the living area with their coffee. Ellie is clearing plates. Garlen wipes down the stove. Zoe settles on the floor with Loki and kid’s tablet. Aldar is in the armchair with his grown-up tablet.
The room isn’t empty. It’s not private. But apparently Jonus decides he cannot wait a single second longer.
He turns toward me and takes both my hands in his.
His grip is warm and firm, the bruised knuckles press against my fingers.
“Sloane. Last night you told me you love me,” Jonus says, his deep voice carrying across the quiet kitchen and living area.
“And I didn’t say it back. I need to fix that right now. ”
The rooms go completely still. In the living area, Laurie slowly sets down her coffee cup.
“I need to let you know that I didn’t say it because I was afraid.
” His jaw works. “When I was young my mother left the commune. Left us both. She’d once told my father that she loved him and she wanted to build a life with him in the commune, but then later regretted that decision and she left us both and we never saw her again.
My father didn’t survive the loss. I was afraid that if I said those words and you left, I wouldn’t survive it either. ”
I stare at him. He’s never told me about his mother. I didn’t even know.
“But someone I trust told me something this morning.” His eyes flick to Garlen for just a second. So brief I almost miss it. “He said that you took the risk first. You said the words before I did, and the least I can do is match your courage.”
His hands tighten around mine. “I love you, Sloane.” His voice is raw and completely certain.
“I’ve probably loved you since our first video call, when you told me you weren’t interested in my soundbites.
I loved you when I flew to Colombia to rescue you from certain death and found you in that jungle holding a rock. ”
My eyes are warm and watery. This ridiculous, beautiful, stubborn orc. He’s saying it here, in front of his whole family, because he couldn’t wait another minute. “I love you too,” I remind him.
“I know,” he grins. “Your editor wants you in DC,” he continues.
My stomach drops because here it comes, the impossible choice—
“If DC is where you need to be, I’ll go with you.”
My mouth drops open.
“I’ll buy a house in Georgetown. I’ll coordinate media from the East Coast. I don’t care where we live, Sloane, as long as we’re together. You should never have to choose between me and your career. I refuse to put that on you.”
It literally never occurred to me, not once, in all my agonizing about Truckee versus Georgetown, that he would offer to come with me. Ryan never even considered it. No man in my entire life has ever looked at me and said “I’ll rearrange my world for you.”
“Hold on, you’d leave your family?” My voice comes out as a whisper. “Truckee? Everything? To move across the country and live me?”
“Family isn’t a zip code. My family is a phone call and a plane ride away, no matter where I am. But you...” He meets my eyes. “I’m not letting you go.”
I’m openly tearing up now. Right here in the kitchen, in front of Laurie and Dane and Ellie and Garlen and Aldar and Zoe and Loki. And I don’t care.
“Also,” he adds, and there’s a slight smile tugging at his lips now, “if you happened to decide you wanted to stay in Truckee though... there’s a house for sale two doors down from Dane and Laurie. Four bedrooms. Big yard. Mountain views.”
I let out a wet, broken laugh. “Four bedrooms? Did you already contact the real estate agent?”
“I might have.”
“Jonus Irontree. You’ve been house shopping while I was agonizing about whether to stay or go?”
“I like to plan ahead. At the very least it could be our vacation home.”
From the stove, I hear Garlen say, very quietly, “Good. You fixed it.”
Laurie has her hand over her mouth, eyes glistening. Dane wears a small, satisfied smile. Ellie looks teary-eyed at the sink. Even Aldar’s face has gone soft, and I see him glance at his tablet. He’s definitely texting Lucy.
And Zoe looks up from her tablet. “Why is everyone crying?”
“Because they’re happy, baby,” Ellie manages.
I wipe my eyes with one hand, keeping hold of Jonus with the other. “Maybe I don’t want DC as much as I used to,” I tell him. “I really like it here in Truckee and these mountains and Saturday breakfasts and that house with four bedrooms sounds wonderful.”
“You can’t give up your career. You are an amazing journalist and I want to support your work.”
“Thank you,” I whimper. “Thank you for saying that. I sent my article to Melissa this morning which reminded me that I can write from anywhere. I’ll pitch remote work. And if the Times says no, I’ll find another way.”
“You’re sure?”
I squeeze his hands. “I’m sure.”
The tension in the room breaks like a wave.
Laurie sweeps over and hugs us both at once, which is a feat considering one of us is a seven-foot orc.
Dane clasps Jonus’s shoulder. Ellie wipes her face and comes around the counter to squeeze my arm.
Someone mentions champagne. Someone else says it’s too early for champagne.
Laurie says it’s never too early for champagne when someone says “I love you” in your kitchen.
The next hour is the happiest I’ve experienced since before Colombia.
The household settles into warm, buzzing Saturday energy.
Everyone is still here, still lingering.
No one wants to leave. Zoe is back on the floor with Loki.
Dane and Laurie are on the couch with their coffee.
Ellie and I talk about the house two doors down — how many bathrooms, does it have a yard, is the kitchen big enough for orc-sized appliances.
Garlen is reading a large textbook with one eye on his family, the way he always does. Aldar is in his armchair.
And Jonus is beside me, his arm around my shoulders, more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. He keeps his hand on me at all times — my shoulder, my knee, my hand. As if now that he’s said the words, he can’t stop touching me. I don’t want him to stop.
For the first time in ten days, everyone is simply happy.
I lean my head against Jonus’s shoulder and close my eyes. The kitchen smells like coffee and pancakes and the particular warmth of a house full of people who love each other. Through the window, I can see the mountains, snow-capped and glittering in the late morning sun.
This is where I want to be. Right here. With all of them.
And then Aldar’s tablet makes a sound I’ve never heard before. A sharp, electronic alert that cuts through the warm hum of conversation like a knife.
Everyone stops talking.
Aldar looks at the screen. I watch his face change in real time — warmth draining out, jaw tightening, eyes going hard. The transformation takes less than two seconds and it’s terrifying.
“Aldar?” Garlen’s voice is sharp. He’s already on his feet.
“Vehicles.” Aldar’s voice is flat and controlled. “Multiple. Approaching from the south. Moving fast.”
The room goes cold. I feel it in my chest, that instant plunge from safety to danger that I know too well.
Jonus is on his feet. “How many?”
“At least three.” Aldar’s fingers fly across his tablet. Then his jaw clenches harder. “I’ve lost exterior cameras. They’ve been cut.”
Jonus turns and looks at me. His expression is one I’ve seen only once before — in a Colombian jungle, when he found me in the dark holding a rock. “They’re here,” he growls.