When There Is Nothing Left But Love

As soon as I got out of the airport but before I realized what was going on, I was pulled close by a pair of strong arms and held in a tight embrace.

After getting a whiff of his familiar scent, I realized that it was Ashton. Joseph must have told him about the incident at the cemetery.

Without saying anything, we got in the car. He asked Joseph to go home and rest well. Then we went back to the villa in the eastern suburbs.

Back at the villa, he put Summer in bed. In our bedroom, he hugged me tightly and gazed deep into my eyes.

He said, “I missed you so much.” Adults express their love in ways that are different from children.

When little children say they miss someone, it is said directly. When adults say that they expressed it in a totally irrelevant way, such as, ‘The moon is beautiful tonight.’

I looked up at him and laughed. “That’s not romantic at all.”

He smiled. “What should I say?”

I thought about it. ‘The moon is beautiful tonight’ would sound awkward coming out of his mouth. Maybe a straightforward sentence would be better.

Finally, I laughed, tugged at his hand, and said, “I miss you too.”

In fact, I did not want romantic phrases. If we could look into each other’s eyes and just said simply, ‘I really miss you,’ we could understand what we really felt.

After taking a shower and lying on the bed, I felt I had to talk about what happened in J City.

Resting my head on his arm, I confessed, “In front of my Grandma’s grave, I met a man who was cold and distant. He saved us today, but I don’t know his name.”

I chose my words carefully to make light of the situation. Ashton turned his eyes on me. His worries were well-hidden. “Joseph is investigating now. This won’t happen again in the future.”

this narrow escape

disasters. Leaning on his arm, I smiled, “Grandma said

softly, “You’re great at

that as a compliment. I had thought it over but I really could not understand, so I said, “Who would want to see me so

lips and his gaze darkened as he changed the topic. “Aunt Sally wants us to go over and have dinner with

Souls’ Day came around, we were expected to pay

I looked at him with a

slightly, still holding me, and said in a low voice.

it was an isolated incident but if it happened a few times, it was

don’t want to see the blood on the bed every time I wake up.

or perhaps it was his warm embrace; I

I fell into an unusually

woke me. I had no idea what time he had gotten up. He was holding a mobile

he had just taken a shower. “Someone’s

still groggy as I took my phone, accepted the call, and put it next to my

Do you have time today? Let’s go out

but my voice was a little hoarse, “Oh, I am sorry! I have an appointment today so

day after tomorrow, then. Don’t make

agreed and hung up the phone. Then I noticed Ashton was staring at me and I

As he asked, he placed some clothing on the

up and changed quickly as

wrist and stopped me. “Slow down. We’re not in a hurry. You’ve missed

for me to check, his attractive fingers were buttoning for