The skirt was full and fell from an empire waistline, while the halter top showed off her shoulders and most of her back. It was feminine and sexy and it was time to wear it again.
Sabrina quickly changed. She took some time to put on lip gloss and then added a bit of smoky shadow to her eyes. She found a pair of white shoes in her closet and after one more look around the bedroom, she left and headed back to the main room of the cottage.
“Mommy,” Morgan squealed. “You look beautiful.” Her daughter flew into her arms, with Harry following suit, and when she glanced up, the look in Teague’s eyes got her blood heated.
“I’m going to have to agree with Morgan. You look…” His eyes moved over her slowly. “You look amazing.”
“You do too,” she said.
“I’m hungry, and have rumbling in my tummy,” Harry piped in. “Can we eat now?”
They sat down and ate a lovely meal. Sure, Morgan turned her nose up at the fresh green beans and Harry thought that Sabrina couldn’t see him hiding his vegetables under his plate. There were scalloped potatoes and salad as well as grilled fish that the boys had caught the day before.
The dessert, a carrot cake that Morgan had helped Sabrina make, was moist and delicious. After the table was cleared they moved to the living room so that the kids could opened their presents. From their mother they got the usual. Clothes. Toys. Books. But Teague had bought Harry his own fishing pole and for Morgan a basket of nail polish in ever color imaginable. The kids were animated, more than a little hyper, and when Morgan and Harry brought out homemade goodbye cards they’d made, Sabrina almost lost it.
But she kept a smile pasted to her face and by the time she got the kids tucked into bed, her cheek muscles ached and she was emotionally drained.
She closed their bedroom door and was immediately enfolded into two strong arms that belonged wrapped around her, not halfway across the world.
“Hey,” Teague whispered into her hair. “Come with me.”
His hand found hers and he led her outside into the cool night air. Sabrina leaned back against him, her body finally relaxing when his arms slid around her from behind to hold her close.
“That was nice,” he said. “Dinner.”
“It was.”
Her eyes were on the stars and she kind of lost herself in them because when he spoke again, she jumped.
“I want you to know that I’ll be looking at those same stars every night and thinking of you. Tell me you’ll look at them and remember this last week.”
A lump formed in her throat and she couldn’t hold in the moan that erupted from inside her. Teague immediately turned her around and she had nowhere to look but up at his face.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Leaving you and the kids. You need to know that, Bree.”
She nodded but remained silent.
“I’ll be back. I promise, I’ll be back.”
“When?”
“I could lie…”
“Don’t.”
“I can’t be sure.”
She had to take a moment. And then she took another.
“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Teague. I hope you find some kind of peace and I hope the faces that haunt you are finally put to rest.”
He exhaled.
She shuddered.
And then his mouth was on hers with a fury. Teague kissed her like a man who was dying and when he finally dragged his mouth away, she couldn’t stop the tears from creeping into her eyes. This was not the way she wanted this night to end and she shook her head, looking away from him.
“I wish we had more time.”