From just outside the door, Ashleigh watched as Fiona recognized her son before her eyes. As she embraced him and clung to him with the fear that he might disappear at any moment.
Ashleigh smiled to herself. She turned away, the sound of Caleb’s voice comforting and reassuring his mother slowly fading as she made her way down the hall. This was their time. There was no reason for her to stay.
She had wanted to keep him back at the inn for as long as possible. Locked away from anyone else, just the two of them, reconnecting.
Part of it was her desire to be with him, to make up for all the time they had lost. But much of it had been her fear of bringing him home and letting him see how the world had moved on without him.
She had tried to keep that from him, to preserve the bubble of joy and love that surrounded their reunion for as long as possible. But Caleb knew her better than that. He knew she was holding back, and once she told him the truth, the bubble around them burst.
