“Goodnight, Isabelle.”
Even his goodnight sounded like a promise. Or a threat. She was surprised she made it all the way up the steps without her knees giving out. Her wolf very much liked what he said and the fact that he hadn’t been with anyone else except her.
Would it be so bad, he had asked. And now she found herself asking the same question.
Chapter Sixteen
“Thanks so much, Uncle Dante, Dominic,” Isabelle said into the screen of Silke’s laptop.
“Anytime, sweetheart,” Uncle Dante replied. “You let me know how it goes.”
“Thank you, sir,” Silke added. “I already have a few ideas I can start implementing.”
“It’s my pleasure, Ms. Walker.”
“I look forward to seeing any improvements,” Dominic added. “And if you have any questions, just relay them to Isabelle, and we’ll do our best to answer you.”
After saying their goodbyes, Silke closed the laptop lid. “I can’t believe your uncle is the Dante Muccino. He has, like, six restaurants all over the world, five cookbooks, plus that line of organic sauces and pasta.” She shook her head. “I can’t thank you enough, Isabelle.”
“Don’t thank me,” she said. “My uncle and cousin are the chefs. I’m still figuring things out myself.”
When she asked Uncle Dante for help with the lodge’s restaurant situation, he had happily agreed, and since he was with Dominic—his other son who ran the French restaurant his wife owned—he put him on the call too so he could lend his expertise. Though Uncle Dante had asked about her and Evan’s condition, Isabelle decided not to tell him or anyone in her family about Ransom yet. It was still a delicate situation, and with tensions running high back in New York, she figured it was one more thing they didn’t have the bandwidth to handle.
“But without you, I wouldn’t have gotten their expert advice.” Silke drew her in for a quick hug. “You’ve already helped us. In more ways than you know.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silke bit her lip and leaned in closer. “Now, I don’t want to get into your business, and I promise I’ll shut up if you tell me to. But … have you given any more thought to you and Ransom?”
Did she have any thoughts? How could she think of anything else? “It’s more complicated than you think. I’m just …” How could she describe it? Apprehensive? Afraid? Worried? All three and more?
“You know, Ransom’s never had a serious girlfriend. Sure, when he was growing up he was randy as any teen boy. But,” she lowered her voice, “though he never tells me or anyone, from what I overhear from the guys, he’s been living like a monk for the last couple of years.”
Isabelle was floored once again and she didn’t even want to think about that. “I don’t know—”
“It’s all right.” Silke put a hand over hers. “Sorry for being nosy. I just … I don’t want you and Evan to live so far away if things don’t work out. He’s such a wonderful kid, and you’re a wonderful mother. Thank you for taking care of him.”
“I love him, I’d do anything for him.” Her chest tightened at the thought of her son. “And someday, you’ll be a mom, too, and have a baby of your own to love.”
Silke’s face faltered for a moment before she put on a tight smile. “Thanks, but that’s not really in the cards for me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. You’re so young and—”
“No.” She shook her head. “I can’t. Have children, I mean. There was this … incident.” She swallowed. “Anyway, the doctor said it’s impossible.” The scar on her cheek deepened as pain crossed her face.
Isabelle stared at the other woman, unsure what to say. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“It’s all right,” she said. “I’ve … accepted it. This place, the lodge, it’s the only thing I have left of my own mom. So now it’s my baby, my everything.” An inscrutable look flashed across her face, but she quickly pasted a smile on her face. “Speaking of babies, why don’t we go and get Evan back from Arlene? Her break’s almost done.”
They left Silke’s office and made their way to the lobby. To their surprise, Arlene was already behind the front desk, but Evan was nowhere in sight.
“He’s outside with Ransom,” the older woman said as they approached, jerking a thumb at the doorway that led to the outside deck.
“I thought he wouldn’t be back until later?” Isabelle asked.
That morning, Ransom had left early to go into town. He usually worked at a garage when Silke didn’t need him at the lodge, and because he’d been gone a couple of days, his boss, Bucky, asked him to finish up some work he’d left undone.
“He just showed up,” Arlene replied. “Said he was all done.”
“I’ll go find them.” Isabelle made a beeline for the outdoor deck where they had the party yesterday. There, she found Ransom bent over, letting Evan hold onto his fingers as he helped him walk, encouraging him gently as he crossed the sunny deck. When they reached the end, Evan let out a squeal as Ransom hoisted him up in the air and caught him.
“Good job, Evan,” he said triumphantly. “That’s my boy.”
Her heart flip-flopped at the sight of Ransom holding Evan. She found herself unable to move or speak, content to just watch them together, her son’s face lit up in delight as he patted Ransom’s face.
Feeling eyes on him, Ransom turned toward her. “Oh.” A guilty look flashed across his face. “I uh, got back early, and Arlene was trying to eat her lunch in peace, so I offered to watch him for a bit.”
“I … that’s nice.” She strolled over to them, and when Evan realized she was there, clapped his hands and reached out to her.
“Mama!” he cried.
“I—Oh! Evan!” Tears formed at her eyes. “Yes, that’s me, I’m your mama.”
“He’s never called you that before?”
“Never.
