One evening, they walked through the gardens outside his building.
“Can I ask you something?” Elena said.
“Anything.”
“Why were you alone in the car that night?”
Matthew smiled faintly.
“I had just left a meeting.”
“At that hour?”
“The meeting lasted longer than expected.”
“And you always drive around in storms rescuing strangers?”
“No. You’re the first person who has ever tried to stop my car with both hands in the middle of a flooded road.”
Elena laughed.
It was the first time he had heard her laugh without immediately covering her mouth.
He found himself wanting to hear it again.
But he also knew that she had come to him in terror, and he would never use that moment to make her feel indebted.
So he said nothing about his growing feelings.
He let her set the pace.
And slowly, without either of them planning it, trust began to take the place of fear.
