Forever, Actually...Chapter 8

After a moment of stunned disbelief, dozens of details began to swirl inside Meg’s head—the magically appearing car seat and high chair, the "used" toys, Russ’s lashing out at her after saving Abbie from falling in the pond. His reaction to kids in general.

“Oh, dear God,” she whispered, suddenly not hungry. “Why on earth didn’t he say something?”

“Because he was raised to believe that men didn’t talk about their pain,” Nova said drily. “All the months our mom was sick, Dad did the stoic thing. If he shed any tears after her death, we sure as heck never saw them. And yet I know a piece of him died with her.” She forked a chunk of hard-boiled egg into her mouth. “In fact, he was gone, too, within a year.”

“Man. You guys… You’ve really had it rough.”

Nova lifted her eyes to Meg’s. “On the surface, it would certainly seem so. Except both Russ and I… We both had happy marriages. Very happy marriages. So did our parents. When stuff happens…” She shrugged. “You can choose to let it take you under, or make you stronger. To move on, or not. Obviously I have no idea if you can help my brother or not. If he’ll give you—give himself—another shot. But if there’s even a chance that you could get though to him—”

At Meg’s apparently dumbfounded expression, Nova shook her head, her lips curved in a sad smile. “I’m sorry, I’m being totally selfish. I’ve got no right to ask you…”

“Yes.”

Nova met her gaze. “You could get hurt again.”

Meg signaled for a container for the rest of her food. “Not if I know what I’m getting into.”

Nova’s smile told her she was doing the right thing.

Meg’s stomach, however, wasn’t so sure.

***
Russ had lost track of how many times he’d thought about calling Meg over the past week. How many times he’d thought about her and Abbie. Period.

He thought this was what they called a losing battle.

Because what was he supposed to say? He’d never had to apologize to Sarah; had never made a fool of himself with her. Not this big a fool, anyway. He’d never even thought twice about laying his heart on the line. Because he’d known, almost from the first moment he’d seen her dripping wet, running through the sprinklers on campus, that she’d been exactly what he needed—

“Hi.”

Out in the greenhouse, he turned so fast he nearly knocked over the topiary beside him. Meg covered her laugh, her eyes twinkling over her hand, and his heart somersaulted.

“Hi, yourself,” he said.

She lowered her hand. “Nova thinks I should give you another chance.”

“Oh, she does, huh?”

“She meddled. It’s what siblings who care about each other do. I should know.”

Russ smiled. “But what do you think?”

“I think you should get over here and kiss me before I change my mind.”

She didn’t have to ask him twice. A split second later they were in each other’s arms. He lifted his hands to cradle her dimpled, laughing face, her curls whispering over his knuckles as he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. She murmured something into his mouth and kissed him back, and something sweet and warm and fierce surged through him, instantly burning off two years of grief and fear and hopelessness.

Then she pulled away, frowning, even as she lifted a hand to his face. “Why didn’t you tell me, for heaven’s sake? About your wife and son?”

He lowered his eyes. Took a breath. Pressed her hand to his heart. “Because it hurt.”

One side of her mouth lifted. “Does it still?”

“Not as much as it did five minutes ago.”

“Good,” she said, hope shining in her eyes, and Russ drew her close, resting his chin on her curls. “I’m sorry I was an ass.”

“So am I,” she mumbled into his chest, then leaned back to meet his gaze. “Bit was your son’s, wasn’t it? And the car seat and high chair…”

“Yeah. I kept telling myself I’d get rid of them one day, but one day somehow never came. I honestly don’t know what possessed me to give Bit to Abbie. But it helped.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

She blew a soft laugh through her nose. “After you left the other night, I very nearly tossed him into the trash. But I couldn’t. Good thing, too, ’cause Abbie asked for him the next morning. They’re BFFs now.” When he laughed, she touched soft fingers to the side of his face. “Tell me about Sarah.”

Russ smiled. “In some ways, she was a lot like you,” he said softly. “Funny. Brave. Crazy. She made me… She made me stop taking myself so seriously, which was a very good thing. Then she and Adam died…” He hugged Meg again. “And I didn’t think I’d ever be able to not take things seriously again.”

“Is it scary that I understood that?”

Chuckling, Russ cupped her face again, touching noses. “But just so you know, I didn’t fall in love with a clone of Sarah. I fell in love with you.”

He saw her swallow. “Nobody will believe this, you know.”

“So screw ’em. This is about us. Nobody else.”

She linked her hands around the back of his neck, her lips curved. “You’re what I need in my life, too. Somebody to keep me tethered to earth. Okay, maybe not always, that would be boring, but without you as the constant in our lives, all the rest of it means nothing. As long as…you’re sure you’re ready for this? For us?”

“You have no idea how ready I am.” Russ smiled. Then he kissed her again, feeling whole and sane and happy again for the first time in forever.

THE END