“Not as eventful as what we just walked in on,” Daniel comments, his knowing grin way too pleased.
My cheeks flush a solid shade of bright red. Daniel and Drew are more like fathers to me than my own dad ever got the chance to be. They’ve seen me at my worst and at my best and every milestone in between. From walking me down the aisle at my wedding to college graduation to the birth of each of my children to helping me survive after Ryder was gone. My life has been filled with tragedy, but it’s also been filled with an eternity of happiness and love.
“Funny how she never mentioned Fallon, not once, during any of our phone calls.”
“You know how she is, Dan. Stubborn and wanting to do things in her own way,” Drew replies.
I pop a hand on my hip, elbow bent. “I’m standing right here.”
“We know, dear.”
“So there’s no need for third-person commentary.”
Daniel grins. “In this case, I must disagree.”
Good grief. Fine. Let’s put everything out on the table.
“He found me in Italy.” After whipping the eggs and oil together, I cut open the plastic packages of brownie mix and slowly pour everything into the bowl to mix until the batter is smooth.
“Didn’t she call us several times from Italy? Somehow that escaped her mention,” Drew says.
Wow, they’re laying it on thick with the emotional guilt today.
Closing my eyes, I just say it. “I love him.”
It comes out in a whoosh, as if my lungs are being squeezed like bellows. They are the first people I’ve told—actually said the words out loud—and it’s like a humongous load has been lifted and I can finally breathe normally again.
Daniel and Drew exchange a look, something deep and knowing passing between them before Daniel reaches over and takes my trembling hand. “That’s wonderful, sweetheart. We are so happy for you.”
I blindly nod while swallowing the pebble lodged deep in my throat. “It took me a while to get there. To even let myself feel something for someone else. And there were times that I thought—” I pause, looking down at my wedding rings. “I thought I was betraying Ryder.”
Daniel rubs comforting circles over my back. “Ryder would want you to be happy, Elizabeth. Love doesn’t disappear just because you find it again. Your heart will always love Ryder, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to love someone else.”
Drew shifts to my other side. “What do the kids think?”
That’s easy to answer. “They need him in their lives.”
“What about you?” Daniel gently inquires.
I blink back tears. Taking a silicone spatula from the rooster jar of cooking utensils, I scrape batter into one of the buttered baking pans and glance out the kitchen window to where Fallon and Christopher are talking next to the grill. The love that I never thought I’d find again is standing right there, embodied in the enigmatic man who has been an essential thread in the tapestry of my life since I was a teenager.
“It’s terrifying…but Fallon is worth the risk.”
That’s the hardest part—allowing my heart to be vulnerable again. To love someone, knowing better than anyone how they can be taken away in the blink of an eye.
Drew walks over to the breakfast nook table and peels back one of the lids on the top of an aluminum pan, taking a sniff. “You have a lot of food here for seven people.”
Sliding the brownie trays into the oven, I wipe my hands off on a dish towel. “About that. I may have invited a few more people over.”
“How many more?”
I snatch a potato chip from the bowl I left out and munch on it to cover my mumbled, “Maybe thirty or so…including Jayson.”
There’s a lot they missed in the weeks they were gone.
Daniel quirks an eyebrow. “Jayson?”
Munch. “Uh-huh.”
