Hold You In My Arms (Stevens book 9)

Chapter 22

One week went by and then another with no word from Henry. It worried Fiona on many levels. She knew whatever he was doing was dangerous and potentially life-threatening, but she also knew that he had meant it when he said he felt like that unwanted boy in a tree.

Fiona attended classes and had dinner frequently with Charlie and Kellan while she waited for word from Henry. At first, the personal relationship with one of her professors had concerned her, but being over thirty and having known them since she was a girl had somehow made it acceptable for those who found out.

Charlie had assured Fiona that Kellan had blurred the relationship between professor and student once before, and it had worked out all right in the end.

On the third week, at the beginning of April, Fiona had gotten an email from Henry that had simply read, 'Thinking of you, H-' It didn't clarify anything, but it had eased the ache in her heart.

The truth was she had messed up in her immature attempt to block her family from what they would eventually find out anyway, especially if her and Henry's relationship was as serious as she hoped. Either way, it had made Henry think that he was less and that she wasn't proud of him.

Fiona couldn't figure out how she was going to prove to Henry that she did love him and not the idea of him. Fiona thought she had made it clear when she had talked about following him across the country, but the reality was that she didn't have a lot to lose by following him. He was right when he had said that her family saw the world as a small place.

Fiona was in school, but only for another year, and when she finished that, she had no real commitments. She wouldn't be giving anything up to go to him. Half her family lived on the west coast, and he knew it.

Even after her talk with Laura, Fiona still wasn't willing to let Bebe and Lenora into that inner circle that had been mentioned. She liked them, but they were so much younger than her that she felt a long-lasting friendship was not in the future, and she was O.K. with that. One thing she was starting to realize was that there was an ebb and flow to friendships. Some people came and went, and that was a natural thing.

What she needed to make sure of was that Henry knew he was permanent. Fiona had loved him since she was six, and she would love him forever. Nothing he did or said would change that.

Spring term ended, and Fiona joined her Aunt Grace and Uncle Bryce in New York, their son Alistair was there as well, and he had been squiring her around town along with Beth and Wyatt.

It had felt good to spend time with her cousins again, and she was looking forward to the majority of the family being present at Aunt Cassie and Lily's concert. Even her parents were coming. There were so many of them they had to purchase two boxes to hold everyone.

Fiona pulled out all of the stops with her appearance in hopes that Henry would be there. She had curled her blond hair so that it fell in waves over her shoulders, her dress was a blue floor-length silk sheath that matched her eyes, and she had on her highest heels. She had even pulled out some of Aunt Laura's old makeup tricks to make her eyes look bigger and her lips fuller.

"I still say you should have let me get you into modeling," Laura said as she greeted her and Alistair with nods.

"She does look stunning, doesn't she?" Alistair agreed with a grin.

"What would you two like to drink? Davis is at the bar now." Laura pulled out her phone.

"Nothing for me," Fiona said as she smoothed her dress. She was too nervous.

Laura and Alistair started talking while Fiona kept her eyes constantly scanning the lobby. At one point, she noticed a woman who kept covertly looking at her and Alistair, and after a few minutes, she felt the need to point it out.