Page 14 of Muskoka Miracle (Muskoka Shores #7)

T he first week in Muskoka passed in quietude, much like their time before. It was good to switch off, to exist in their bubble of just them, especially now Dan seemed to have come out of his shell and was talking to her again.

She wished she was physically able to show him her affection, but even that seemed too hard. And while her heart was willing, her flesh remained too weak, as evidenced by more spotting.

Dan was good though. He’d gone fishing a few times while she’d read and slept.

It felt like her body was slowly trying to resume normality, and she couldn’t wait until she stopped bleeding, and the weather was warmer, and she could swim again.

Swimming and reading had proved two of the biggest enjoyments of her time here over the years.

Mind you, the lake would have to be a lot warmer for her to enjoy a dip. But the hot tub could be nice.

Dan returned from his trip and cooked the walleye he’d caught, and she was reminded of back when they’d first started hanging out.

“What’s that look for?”

She shrugged. “I was just remembering when Mr. Fit and Healthy had to have moussaka made with sour cream.”

He chuckled. It was nice to hear. “I’m happy for you to make that again any time you like.”

“With no Rob and Jason?” she teased, referencing his friends.

“Definitely not.”

“Whatever happened to Rob?”

“Are you asking your husband about a man you once dated?”

“ Once being the operative word. We went out one time, Dan. I didn’t think you were so insecure.”

His low laughter came again. “I don’t think I’m insecure. Am I?” he teased.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “That sounds like a comment from a very insecure man. Someone who needs reassurance.”

His eyes darkened, his lips twitching. “And just how do you plan to reassure me?”

“Like this.” She tugged his head down and pressed her lips to his, and showed him some of the passion the rest of her body could not yet.

He made a noise at the back of his throat and clutched her closer, dragging her hips flush against his.

Soon all thought of food was consumed by a different hunger, something that was only stopped by the scent of—

“The fish is burning!”

He dropped his arms and tried to salvage the meal, but the charred remains suggested it was destined for the trash.

“I’m sorry,” she said, as meekly as she could.

“I’m not.” He faced her again. “I’d much rather kiss you than fry fish.”

“In that case…” She tilted her lips invitingly.

They ended up eating cheese and crackers for dinner, ice-cream, and canned peaches for dessert.

Now his off-season was here, Dan didn’t have to be quite so vigilant with his diet, which made a nice change from the chicken, vegetables and pasta that seemed to make up most meals between October and April.

Maybe she could treat him to a five-star degustation at Alphonse’s at the Muskoka Shores Resort.

Or maybe she could investigate a nice foodie getaway for their anniversary in two months.

She tucked her head into his chest. From their position here on the two-person lounge on the deck they could see a few stars twinkling above the trees.

“Do you think we could have dinner with Ange and John soon?”

“Sure.”

Good. She snuggled closer. “I think they’d like that. I know they’ve been praying for us.”

“They’re good people.”

“Yes.”

The minutes passed, and she wrapped his arm around her tighter. “What about asking Sam to come stay?”

She felt his nod. “It’d be good to see him.”

“Where is he with his journey to finding God?”

Dan’s chest inflated then sank. “Last we talked he’s still on the journey.”

“I really thought that your missions trip with him to the Philippines had helped.”

“I did too. But I think he’s not wanting to have things packaged up nicely for him, he wants to find it for himself.”

“We’ll keep praying then.”

“Amen.”

It was nice to feel like they were back to being them.

Comfortable, at ease. Their fish-burning kiss in the kitchen was the first time of real passion in nearly two weeks.

Funny how honesty and passion could bring something good.

She hoped the rest of the things that needed to be said would lead to a similar result.

She shifted on the lounge. “Have you heard anything more from your agent?”

“I haven’t checked my phone yet.”

Her chest tightened. Neither had she. This time of peace was exactly what she needed.

No stress. No obligations. No decisions—apart from what to eat each day.

The bigger questions that faced them—Dan’s future playing contracts, her potential travels with Heartsong, hearing their blood test results, telling their friends and fans about the miscarriages—had been shelved for the moment. Allowing this sense of… peace.

“We should probably do that soon,” he murmured.

“Do what?” she asked sleepily.

“Check our phones. Deal with the real world.”

“I don’t want to,” she admitted.

“Neither do I.”

She slipped her hand under his shirt, her fingers traveling to the smooth skin just above his heart. “Besides, this feels pretty real to me.”

He glanced down at her, eyes dark, heated. “In that case...”

“Ready?”

Dan wrinkled his nose. “Are you sure about this?”

Nope. But apparently adulting meant interacting with the wider world, much as she’d prefer to stay in this cocoon of love. Last night had seen more stirring of that heat in the kitchen. “After three.” Sarah braced, holding her phone in her hand. “One, two, three.”

She pressed the power button, and it zipped to life with scores of notifications.

Her heart sank, and she scrolled through the emails, deleting the ones that didn’t require a response.

Sure enough, there were some from Heartsong, and a couple from Dr. McKinnon.

She left those to deal with later, and quickly scanned her social media comments.

She should probably follow the advice of some of the other Heartsong peeps and employ a VA, an assistant she could deal with virtually, to reply to her social media.

She’d always resisted, as that felt a little inauthentic.

But right now, she realized she had little emotional capacity to reply in a genuine way.

So she simply hearted some of them, replied with a “thanks” for others, and “God bless you” for others.

She closed the app. Glanced at Dan. He was frowning at his phone. “What’s wrong?”

He peeked up. “My agent wants a meeting.”

“By phone or online?”

“He’s suggesting in person. He’s in Toronto tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

He winced. “This is what happens when I don’t check my phone.”

“Why would he want it in person?”

“Probably so he can talk to the team bigwigs at the same time.”

Which meant Dan would have more chance to extend his career with them. “Do you want to work there again?”

“And finish my career a Maple Leaf? Yeah, I’ve been praying about it, and I think I do.”

“Is he certain that there’s no way this can be conducted online?”

“It shows I’m more committed to another contract if I’m there in person too.”

True. She drew in a breath. “Then in that case, go.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t want to cut our time short here.”

“Our time? No, I’ll stay here.” And avoid any more baby sightings. “I’ll go see Ange or something. Why? You don’t plan to stay in T.O. do you?”

“Not a second longer than I need to.”

“Okay, then. I’ll be waiting for you when you return.” She smiled. “But first you probably need to reply so he can set it up.”

He nodded, and moved away to make the call. Leaving her to check her own emails from Heartsong and Dr. McKinnon. Oh, she hoped it wasn’t bad news.

She opened the Heartsong one first. Yes, they’d love to have her in a tour that would start in Sydney.

Sydney? Her heart leapt. Go see her family?

Oh, she’d love that. She checked the date.

Her heart sank. Except that would be in October, just when Dan’s season was starting.

She chewed her lip. What would he think about her not being there for that?

Since marrying him and becoming a team WAG, she was conscious of trying to support him as much as possible, which meant saying no to some tours.

Yes, she was an independent woman, but she also wanted her husband to feel like she had his back.

They had fans in very different worlds, and while he avoided social media, they both knew his fans were way more passionate about him than hers were about her.

Which was probably just as well, because her job meant she was supposed to be pointing people to loving Jesus rather than loving her.

But balancing fame was yet another of those weird things that made their relationship knotty at times.

Like his comment about wanting more followers.

Her heart pinged. She knew he’d said that in the spur of the moment, that he was sorry for saying that to her, but the mouth only spoke what the heart entertained, so he obviously must’ve thought that to some degree.

Hmm. It was probably wise to talk to him about this tour soon.

She peeked up. He was still on the phone, now out on the back deck, one hand on the railing.

Lord, have Your way with his contract . So that meant she should be brave and open the doctor’s email.

Oh, what would they do if he’d written to say the blood tests had showed they were chromosome incompatible?

“Lord?” she whispered. “Help me be brave.”

She winced, and opened the email. Stared at the words.

Her chest released. The reports hadn’t come in yet.

It was simply a reminder of what they’d talked about last week, with advice regarding looking forward.

Along with something new: That if the results came back as incompatible, then maybe they should consider alternatives like IVF.