And he got up and walked away, without speaking. And she wished, more than anything, that she could find a way to be something to him other than an opponent, worthy or not. She wished that she... She didn’t wholly know what she wanted from Gunnar. Or perhaps she was simply afraid to put voice to it.
They were them. Like nothing else. This had reminded her of that period of their long history. Of the years that had not been this. This fraught, terrible thing. But the last few months could not be altered or changed. They had to find a new way to be.
And she ached. With wanting him. Not just physically but... She wanted to piece back together the emotions.
But tomorrow the test results are going to come back, and they are going to be positive. And he’s going to marry you. That grim man who hates you now so very much.
And it was a long future that stretched before her, married to that man. One that reminded her far too much of the cold in her childhood.
She was going to have to come up with a plan, because she did not think she could bear it.
She’d already had a lifetime in offices, with no birthday parties. She could not philosophically consign herself to more of the same.