I shook my head as I searched her gaze.
“Remember when we decided to redo the floor in your mom’s kitchen for her anniversary? And we insisted we could pick everything out and do it ourselves.”
My head fell back with a thud before I barked out a laugh.
“We thought it would besoeasy.” I shut my eyes as Thea’s carefree laughter chafed my sore and battered heart. “And it would have been ifsomeonehadn’t made me go back to the supply store so many times because she couldn’t decide on the right shade of blue.”
I fought a smile when her mouth fell open.
“I could decide,youwouldn’t listen. That was the whole issue. Linda wanted a blue tiled floor, and what you picked out was purple.”
“It was a purplish kind of blue.” I tilted my hand back and forth. “Little of both. You were just closed minded and stubborn.” I shook my head with an exaggerated sigh.
“And they couldn’t use the kitchen for two weeks because we scraped up the old floor before we could decide. She wanted tokillus.”
The both of us burst out laughing. Thea’s arms wrapped around her torso as she chased her breath. I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed so hard I gasped, but I was fairly certain that it was probably with her.
“Then, to add insult to injury, when we took her and Steve to the diner at the last minute to make up for it, you told her they made the best lasagna. First time I ever saw my mother drop her fork in horror. When I saw her the next day she made me promise to have you over for dinner more often so you didn’t mistake that for real food ever again.”
She clenched her eyes shut and groaned.
“Yes, that’s when she offered to teach me how to make meatballs on Saturday afternoons.” Her smile faded as she stared off into the distance. “I think I almost became good at it.”
“You did,” my voice softened, strained from the flood of emotion triggered from the memory of them both side by side in front of my mother’s counter. “She said she was proud.”
“She told me that too, but I wasn’t sure if she was just trying to encourage me. It was fun. Linda was the best.”
“That she was.”
I pushed off the wall and let my arms fall to my sides. Even remembering the good times with my mother before she got sick still knocked the wind out of me.
Thea slid her palm over mine and entwined our fingers. I raised my head to hers, and her warm smile brought me peace. I lifted her hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to the top of her wrist. Her grip tightened around my fingers, but she didn’t pull away. If I would have found a way to accept her comfort all those years ago, maybe she’d have my ring, and I’d still have her.
I brought our joined hands to my forehead and exhaled a long gust of air. Since we’d reconnected, I’d apologized so many times for pushing her away. In those heavy but poignant moments of silence, my skin both relaxing and coming alive as it brushed against hers, it was as if I finally found the right way to say sorry.
“Arguing with you was always fun.” Thea’s voice was thick with unshed tears as she cracked a joke. “It made me feel alive.”
I lifted my head, still holding onto her hand.
“Youmade me feel alive.”
Her grin faded as she bit her quivering lip.
“Thea! There you are.” A familiar male voice echoed against the bare walls. “The woman in the front office said you might be down here. Sorry I’m late, still up for lunch?”
As he came closer, I recognized who he was. Adam was a close friend of Thea’s, at times a little too close. It wasn’t Thea I didn’t trust, but I’d noticed little things that she didn’t.
I never wanted to come across as an alpha asshole who didn’t want her to have male friends, but I’d known his feelings for her had always been a little more than friendly.
“Hey.” Thea slid her hand away from mine and padded over to where he stood, greeting him with a quick hug. “Sure, just let me get my purse from my office. You remember Dominic, right?”
“Sure. Hey, Dominic.” His smile was tight as he squeezed my hand a little too hard.
“I’ll meet you back here.” Her gaze shot back to me before quickly averting.
Talk about bad timing.
“How have you been?” Adam shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki shorts.
