31. Connor

So now I knew why ciabatta wasn't as good at most restaurants.

Mattias was a fucking wonder. And that he'd noticed my preferences and prepared for them—made bread. How did you even make bread? I mean, assumedly someone had to do that before it was sliced and put in a little plastic sleeve, but like?—

Shit, I was going to have to get back into running, because if Mattias made bread for me, I sure as fuck wasn't going to let it go to waste.

When we got to the park for our picnic, the sun was high in the sky, the weather nice and warm for April. Right then, everything was so damn sweet that I felt a little like I was floating. Weird, how happiness felt so light after being weighed down for three years.

We talked about normal things, where we'd gone to school, what Mattias had always wanted from life. It was something of a relief to know he'd always imagined himself taking over the inn. I couldn't stand the thought of him being there and miserable about it.

Not that he seemed like it, but lots of guys would've resented having to give up a job at a big, popular restaurant in the city to move back home and take care of an aging grandparent.

He'd went to culinary school because he loved cooking, sure, but he also wanted to give the Cider Inn an edge that it hadn't had before.

"I'd kind of imagined, I don't know, expanding the restaurant? I think if we had more help, it wouldn't be that hard. We have space in the dining room, and there aren't that many places to eat downtown, so in the off season, we could keep more money coming in."

"Absolutely. Diversifying like that is a great idea. Why haven't you done it?"

Mattias shrugged. "It's a lot of work. Like, a lot. And I came back and Grandpa was dying and just—it was too much to work around. Not really a priority for me or Gran. And we—we'd have a hard time affording that kind of expansion right now."

I hummed, thoughts already swirling. "Yeah, that'd be a big project for the two of you to take on alone."

I was mulling over fixes when I saw a flash of white through the shadows at the tree line. Something in the way I sat straight up had Mattias craning around too.

He cursed under his breath when the little girl from before stepped out of the shadows.

"I'm definitely not imagining her, right?" I asked.

Slowly, Mattias shook his head. "Not imagining her."

"Why are you back?" the little girl snapped, her eyes narrowed our way as she marched toward us.

"I—" I glanced at Mattias, all around us, and sucked my cheeks in. Jessamine had said it. Mattias had welcomed me with open arms. It was time I took responsibility for this on my own. "I'm making Cider Landing my home. It's the last place I saw Jessie, and the place where there are the most people I care about. I'm not going anywhere. Why do you want to know?"

"Because you're trying to mess things up," she sneered, stamping her foot. "You keep coming back. They never come back."

"Well, I do. This is my place, my people, and I'm not giving up on Jessie."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "And what makes you think you're any better than you were three years ago?"

She knew!

She knew how long it'd been. Had to know Jessie.

Somehow, this strange girl had the answers, and I couldn't let her leave before I got them. I rushed to my feet.

But something kept me from lunging forward and trying to grab her—be it the optics of an adult man trying to snatch a strange child or that prickly, uneasy feeling the girl gave me.

I held up my hands in peace. "I can't say I've done everything perfectly in my life, but I'm a good dad, and they're a great kid, and if it takes the rest of my life, I'll wait to see them again."

She hummed and stuck her nose up in the air. "I doubt it."

Mattias rolled to the side and got up beside me. "When I was still a kid, you asked me to play with you. Said I could stay with you and play forever."

I stared at him. Was he serious? How could he not?—

Well, when I was a kid I wouldn't have assumed someone who'd asked me to play forever was serious, but there was obviously something going on here that was beyond what I could comprehend.

Anger flashed in Aurora's eyes, bright and dangerous. "I remember, Mattias. You left."

A cold, slimy feeling worked up the back of my neck. The way she was looking at me reminded me of a mountain lion eyeing up a rabbit who'd gotten away. I was already thinking about dragging him back, though I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do if this girl decided to take him.

Aurora's gaze flicked to me and her lips quirked. "I don't play with grownups," she said, like she could look right into my skull and pick out the thoughts.

Either way, I shuddered, moving closer to Mattias's side.

He was braver than I was, standing there, facing her head on. "But the other kids don't leave, right? Why not?"

"They're happy in the forest."

"Happier than I've been with my family all these years?" Mattias asked. "Happier than I was getting to live my life and chase my dreams? Happier than I am with Connor?"

Without looking, he reached over and slipped his hand into mine.

"I don't think that's true," Mattias continued. "People aren't happy when you split them up from the people who love them. Connor's a good dad. He loves Jessie, and they love him, so if you have them, you have to let them go."

Aurora scoffed. "Let them go? I'm not keeping anyone. I give them a place to stay and play and never be sad."

God, even I could understand the appeal of that, but?—

"Sometimes life is sad," I cut in. "But the good parts make up for it. Please, just—just tell me if Jessie's okay."

Aurora's glare turned my way, and I froze, but I had to know. If—if this was real, not some shared hallucination or—fuck, I didn't know.

But it felt like my kid was right there, like if I stretched my arm out far enough, it'd catch on their bright green sweater and I could pull them back in.

"Jessie's never been happier," Aurora snipped. Then, she disappeared in a swirl and a rustle of lace.

I was stuck, staring at the spot she'd been standing, my throat tight. Was Jessie really there this whole time?

Fuck, was that a relief or a nightmare?

I breathed out slow, the air hissing through my teeth. "I can't help feeling like there's a big piece of the puzzle I'm missing here. Something, I don't know, otherworldly? Or at least, not a part of my world."

Mattias slipped his arm around my waist. His hand brushing my opposite hip was grounding. "I know what you mean. Like she's magic, or it's even possible to believe in that kind of thing."

The way he grimaced and ducked his head made guilt swirl, turning my stomach sour. Was I dragging him into something neither one of us were prepared to face? How could I know, when I didn't understand what the fuck was going on?

"Thank you," I muttered, voice gruff with feeling, "for speaking up for me. For—I don't know, facing this with me. If I were alone, I'd be pretty damn convinced I was going crazy."

He shook his head. "You're not. This is... weird. The woods have given me the spooks since the first time I saw those kids."

Kids, he said.

How many were out here, kept by some strange, creepy girl in the woods? Taken from their families. I shuddered. I couldn't think about it. Not without a hot chocolate, preferably filled with peppermint schnapps.

"I hope you and Jessie can get to know each other one day."

I had a spike of worry that this one thing in my life that I couldn't compromise on would be a step too far for him. Jessie was my kid, and even when they weren't beside me, that'd never change. Maybe it was too much to expect Mattias to take on fatherhood at the same time as a relationship.

But I glanced down, and he was smiling at me, no reservation in his expression. "Me too." He squeezed me tight against his side. "I can't wait."