It was around four o’clock the next morning when Sophie woke. The morning sun was on the rise, the solar lights dimmed from the night before. They had slept in a tangle of limbs, one of Sophie’s legs looped around Alex’s as they’d slept. She should have had the beginnings of a hangover, but she felt strangely calm and very, very good as she stared up at the dome of the yurt. Sleeping with Alex had felt so absolutely right; like being with no one else ever had.
Waking gradually, she took a moment to realise she was alone in the bed. There was a slight chill in the early morning air, and as she came more fully to consciousness, she realised that the fabric doors of the yurt were slightly ajar. Swinging her legs over the bed, she pulled on her T-shirt and wandered over to the entrance. As she poked her head out, she saw Alex sitting in one of the chairs that he’d pulled out of the yurt. He was dressed in his T-shirt and boxer shorts, and his face was turned towards the rising sun.
‘Hey,’ Sophie whispered softly, approaching him over the dew covered grass.
‘Hey,’ Alex replied. ‘I didn’t wake you, did I?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘The light did that. And I need to, er, pop to the loo.’ There was a Portaloo behind the tents, although they’d have to trek a little further towards the show ground if they wanted to visit the shower block.
‘I couldn’t sleep once the sun started to rise. Thought I’d spend a little time watching it before the day starts properly.’ Alex smiled.
‘I might join you when I get back.’ When she’d done the necessary, she headed back to where Alex was still sitting. He looked more peaceful than she’d ever seen him; she hoped it was her influence.
Sophie pulled up the other picnic chair and flumped down into it. The silence between them extended for a moment or two, but it was a comfortable one. The sun was gradually rising, casting the sky with a warm pink glow, and bringing even more warmth to Alex’s eyes as he turned towards Sophie. ‘Come here,’ he said softly. He reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet, before dragging her back down onto his lap. Capturing her mouth in a kiss, he brought a hand up to her face, deepening the kiss with a sudden intensity that surprised Sophie. Luxuriating in the moment for a few seconds longer, she eventually broke away.
‘Wow,’ she said softly. ‘We ought to wake up like this more often.’
‘Must be the fresh air,’ Alex said, a husky note in his voice. Then, his expression became more serious.
‘What is it?’ Sophie asked, sensing his abrupt change of mood.
‘I want you to know… last night. It was special. Amazing.’ He paused, and Sophie couldn’t tell if it was the rose pink glow of the morning sun or if Alex was blushing. ‘Since Mom died, I feel like I’ve been in a kind of stasis… and last night I felt as though I’d finally broken out of that.’ Seeing Sophie’s expression, he hurriedly added, ‘But I don’t want to put any pressure on you, Sophie. I’m going home at the end of September.’
Sophie was stunned at how desolate she felt when Alex said it out loud. Of course, she’d known all along that his internship was only for four months, but somehow, since they’d started seeing each other, she’d managed to block it from her mind. Of course he would be going back to Vancouver; the question was, what did that mean for her?
Raising a hand to Alex’s face, she felt the prickle of his dark stubble under her palm, and her fingers tingled at the sense memory of his kiss. ‘I know what you mean,’ she said. ‘Since Mark and I… well, I’ve not felt like I can get close to anyone. And then you came along and suddenly here we are, sharing a bed in a yurt.’ She laughed. ‘And to think I was worried about that, this time yesterday.’
‘But what about tomorrow, and next week, and when I have to go?’ Alex said. ‘Sophie, I need you to know that whatever happens over the next few weeks, you mean a lot to me.’
Sophie laughed again nervously. ‘You sound very fatalistic. What do you think is going to happen?’
Alex shook his head. ‘Nothing,’ he said quickly. ‘But you know… sometimes things don’t exactly turn out the way we expect. I never thought, in a million years, that I’d find you.’ He pulled her close.
When they broke apart again, Sophie glanced at her watch, which she’d forgotten to take off before bed. ‘We should get going. We’ve got another busy day selling today, and if it’s anything like yesterday, we’re going to be rushed off our feet.’
Alex nodded. ‘I’m going to head over to the shower. Unless you’d like to go first?’
‘No, you go first,’ Sophie replied. ‘To be honest, I wouldn’t mind another half an hour in bed before we get set up for the day.’
‘Fair enough. And at least, at five a.m., the showers aren’t likely to be busy!’
‘Don’t you believe it!’ Sophie said. ‘Some of these farm boys won’t have been to bed at all – they’re likely just to take a cold shower and keep selling!’
Alex laughed. ‘I’ll bear that in mind!’ Pausing to grab his towel and washbag out of the yurt, he loped off in the direction of the shower block. Sophie watched him leave with a mixture of lust and curiosity. Those long, slightly bowed legs were a sight to behold, but something nagged at her brain. What had Alex meant when he’d said ‘whatever happens over the next few weeks’? She couldn’t help wondering if there was something he was hiding, and she couldn’t help worrying that, whatever it was, it might end up hurting her. She’d made herself vulnerable to him; not just last night but from the moment they’d really started to connect. Was he just going to walk out of her life at the end of the summer, leaving her with nothing but a few good memories and a bruised heart?