It looked the same as it had the other day when she'd peeked inside and as she gazed around the room, she felt nothing but shame. How could she dishonor the life she'd shared with Brent by neglecting their things?
She walked over to Brent's side of the bed and picked up the picture that sat on his night table. It was a candid shot of Sabrina, taken when they'd been in New York City before the twins were born. They'd been in Central Park amid all the glorious fall colors and a passing clown had made her laugh.
She held the photo close and closed her eyes, smiling at the memory. It was bittersweet. Painful. Lovely.
After a few moments she put the photo back on the table and walked over to the closet. She touched one of Brent's suits, spied his old Bruins ball cap on the shelf and then she pulled out the blue dress.
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."
"So do I," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "I have to go."
His flight was an early one and he was meeting with Bowen beforehand to discuss their agenda. She knew this.
"I've got something for you." Teague led her back into the house and retrieved a large envelope she'd not noticed before. "Open it after I leave, okay?" He grabbed her close, his hands in her hair.
"Be safe," she whispered.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then he was gone.
Sabrina held the envelope close to her chest. She heard the engine of his truck rev and she listened intently until the rumble was swallowed by the night and the forest.
And then there was nothing.
Eventually she got her feet to move and she shut off all the lights in the cottage. She locked her doors and then headed for the sofa, but at the last minute she swerved to the right and seconds later found herself back in her bedroom.
The stars shone in from the window and she walked over to it and yanked it open to let in some fresh air. Carefully she set down the envelope that Teague had left for her. She would open it. Just not tonight. Tonight she was done.
She slipped the dress off and let it fall at her feet, kicking off her shoes at the same time. She glanced around the room one more time and then climbed into bed. Her bed.
She listened to the silence of her home, happy in the knowledge that her kids were sleeping in the next room. Happy that they were healthy and alive and safe. Happy that Teague Simon had come into their lives, however briefly it had been.
She snuggled into the blankets, not caring that they smelled old and musty. The mattress was soft, the breeze off the water amazing and she gazed up through the window at the stars, wondering what they looked like on the other side of the world.
She stared at them until her lids got heavy and eventually she drifted off to sleep right there in a bed she'd abandoned for over a year. It was time for her to move on. Even if moving on meant that she'd be alone.
Chapter Twenty-three
Teague was in Syria for exactly three weeks. The conditions were dangerous and there were more than a few close calls, but in the end he and Bowen were able to confirm that Dallas had been killed in the initial assault. There was closure for Dallas' family and that meant a lot to Teague.
He had every intention of returning stateside and then heading up north. Hell, it was all he could think about, but then a leading British publication contacted him about a related story to his piece on the child porn ring. It was a gig he couldn't refuse. There were new leads on one particular girl he'd been trying to help identify-a child who'd been abused for years and whose pictures were the most heavily shared images to date-and before he knew it, he was off to Europe with Bowen along for the ride, deeply immersed in the seedy underbelly of child pornography.
If he'd forgotten just how dark and evil the world was, he was baptized into it again right off the bat. And even though the light that Sabrina had brought to him was still there, he knew it was diminishing and for the first time in his adult life, his work didn't help calm him.
Things were out of sync. He was out of sync.
He'd talked to Sabrina once, just after he'd left Syria. She was busy with the kids and didn't have long to chat. She asked him if he was coming back now that he had his answers, and he hoped that she understood when he'd said that he couldn't. At least not yet.
She'd been silent for a few seconds and then they'd made small talk. She told him that Harry and Morgan were trying out for a rep hockey team. That she'd decided to move to Gravenhurst and leave the city.
He told her that his brother Beau and wife Betty were about to give birth to their first child. Already over-due the world was waiting with bated breath. Not that he'd be there to see the kid, but it was news and it made him feel as if he had something to share that was good and wholesome. Something untouched by the darkness he'd been living in for weeks.
She wished him well. Told him to be safe. He told her to tell the kids that he said hello. And that was that. He called Sabrina again from Paris but got her voicemail. He left a message which she returned, but he didn't get the call in time.
Since then, his brother Beau had welcomed a baby boy and at the moment little Trent Simon and his famous parents were the most photographed family in the world. William and Kate and their brood had nothing on the so-called Southern Kennedys and their new prince. The media frenzy in the states was so crazy that it was the main reason Beau and Betty headed up to the Simon cottage to host the little guy's baptism.
And wonder of all wonders, Teague was finally back on American soil to enjoy it. He'd flown into JFK an hour earlier and was on his way to meet Tucker and Abby for dinner at her family bar, and then the three of them had an afternoon flight the next day to Canada where the Simon clan was gathered.