Chapter 29:

"What are you doing outside?" Abigail asked, pulling her shawl tighter around her. "You will catch death. »

In the middle of the night, Abigail got up to go get a glass of water. She did not know why, but she could not sleep. And it had been that way since Henry moved in with her two days ago now. She knew she had dark circles that almost touched the bridge of her nose, but she could not sleep.

She and Henry had not had much time for them, despite living together. Yes, Henry was not allowed to do anything with his days while he waited for test results, but Abigail had found herself so overwhelmed with work that her mood took a hit. She had knots in her shoulders that never seemed to want to leave her. And Henry's mood grew more and more sullen. She did not know what was wrong with him, he seemed very thoughtful most of the time, but she suspected that his own absence was affecting his behavior.

"I can't sleep..." Henry sighed sullenly.

When Abigail had crossed the hallway upstairs to get to the stairs, she had passed by Henry's room which was empty, the door wide open. She had come downstairs and found herself puzzled not to find him in the living room or the kitchen. Then she looked out the window and saw him there, perched on the railing of the café outside, in the middle of the freezing winters.

"What happened to you?" she asked softly. "Are you worried about your test results?"

"A little bit, but in reality, it's not that..."

Henry slowly turned to Abigail and looked into her eyes, his elbow resting against the icy railing.

"I didn't tell you everything…" Henry hesitated. "My son didn't just play dead when he got my letter. He sent it back to me open…"

Abigail stared at Henry for a few seconds without saying anything, realizing that he needed to talk.

"I don't know why I'm so surprised. After all these years… What could I have expected?" he laughs wryly, turning back to the railing to stare in the distance at the sign of the still bustling saloon at this hour. "I would have liked him to answer me…"

Not knowing what to say and feeling Henry's pain as if it were her own, Abigail leaned over to her companion and gently rested her head on his shoulder. They stood like that for a long moment, gazing at the night and the stars, when a shiver ran through Abigail's body.

"You're frozen, let's go inside." Henry finally decided, feeling guilty realizing that Abigail just wanted to spend time with him, no matter if it was in the snow or in the hot sun.

When they were both inside, Henry allowed himself to remove his companion's coat and shawl. He gently placed both hands on her shoulders with her back to him and gasped quickly.

"You are tense, Abigail."

"Yes, I know."

Henry pressed his hands a little more on Abigail's shoulders, and she sighed slightly in pain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." the former mayor of the city said hurriedly, quickly removing his hands from his partner's shoulders.

"No…no it's fine." Abigail gently took Henry's hands in hers and repositioned them on her shoulders. "Can you continue?"

Henry remained motionless for a few moments at Abigail's timid request and finally complied. After all, it was nothing more than massaging her shoulders. As he continued and he felt Abigail slowly relax under his fingers, he felt her pull away from him a little bit. She took his hand and led him up the stairs. When Henry realized where she was taking him, he panicked.

"No… You'll regret it…" Henry started talking.

"Of course not." Abigail sighed sadly at his apparent lack of confidence. "And I just want you to massage my shoulders while sitting on my bed. I start to doze off."

Henry swallowed hard but nodded uncertainly. When he finally entered Abigail's room, he was grateful he was not in her old home. The one she had lived in with Noah and Peter. What would have happened otherwise? Would he have entered the bedroom and gazed at the bed in which Noah once cherished his wife?

Henry shook his head trying to get his thoughts out of his head. Noah was not among them anymore; he should not keep imagining that kind of thing. He hurt himself for no reason.

Abigail sat down on the bed, and she watched as her companion absentmindedly closed the bedroom door behind him and came to sit next to her on the bed. He started gently massaging her shoulders again and her drowsiness kicked in again. When Cody's mother began to feel her resistance to sleep breaking down, she gave up and lay down on the bed.

Henry smiled tenderly at the sight and decided he could not leave her in that position: half-lying with her legs sticking out of the bed and bent over. So, he lifted her up a little – without straining too much or Carson would certainly not be happy – and he managed to place her under the covers in a more natural position than the one she was sporting just before. But, to her amazement, Abigail grabbed Henry's arm and pulled him towards her. The gray-haired man did not immediately understand what his companion wanted. Then it jumped out at him. She wanted him to stay with her. Let him sleep with her.

He did not quite know how he had come to this. Yet he was so hesitant to lie down next to her, yet he too was now under the covers, his arms wrapped around an already sleeping Abigail. He gazed at her face for long minutes wondering what he had done to deserve such a woman after all his past mistakes. Would his son ever forgive him after all ?