But, as some would say, with age came maturity, and part of that maturation process was acknowledging that life wasn’t meant to be lived alone. Of course, Tabitha had the security of her sister and her best friend. But in recent years, she’ddiscovered she wanted the security Ben could provide, too. A safe and precious place for her to be the woman she’d become, no judgement, no criticism.
As her vehicle hugged the California coastline, Tabitha cherished this new reality she found herself in. Life was good. Predictable even, which was something Tabitha never thought she would enjoy. She’d become a trauma surgeon because she did well with the unknown, liked the rush of adrenaline that each new day in the ER brought with it.
She would never fully be able to give that up, for more reasons than one. Sure, she loved the thrill, but she was also the best in her field, and she owed it to her patients to use the skills she’d been given for the betterment of her community.
For once in a long, long while, Tabitha felt a wash of peace that only came from being exactly sure of her choices and the current path she was on. She knew feelings like this were fleeting, so she savored them for all they were worth.
In fact, she was still settling into that sweet serenity when she fit her key into her beach house door and turned the lock over. Honestly, nothing could change her mood right now. For reasons unbeknownst to even her, she was riding a high of elation that she wasn’t about to come down from.
This confidence—boldness, whatever it was—led her straight into Ben’s arms when he stood from the couch to greet her after abandoning the book he’d been reading.
His mouth immediately met hers, his surprise only lasting a brief moment before surrendering to Tabitha’s uncharacteristic display of affection.
“Well, hello to you, too.” He nipped at her bottom lip before pulling back to search out her eyes. “Everything okay?”
She didn’t like that—that her affection was so out of the ordinary that he had to clarify its purpose. But she couldn’t blame him for it. This was out of character, and she knew it.
“Everything is great. I just missed you.” She took a chance with that last sentence but tried not to think it through too hard.
“I missed you, too.” Ben’s mouth pressed onto hers again, his stubble scratching her chin in a way that made something low in her belly dip. “You must have had a really great day at work.”
“Actually, it was long and tiresome.”
“So, you’re really just that happy to see me?”
“I am, Ben. I know this wasn’t really how I greeted you when I came home from work back when we were married, but I’m trying to change that. Trying to let you know that I appreciate you.”
His fingers passed through her hair, tucking a few strands behind her ear as though needing to get a better look at her. “I like this, Tabs. Keep it up.”
She pulled back to start toward the kitchen, startled when Ben hooked a finger into her beltloop and tugged her right back into his arms for a kiss that made her feel even more drunk than she would be if she had consumed the entire bottle of wine waiting for them in the fridge.
She wanted to lead him upstairs where they could really unwind, but he suddenly uttered, “The kids are coming over.”
Whatever mounting passion she’d felt snapped like an overstretched rubber band.
She wasn’t sure Casey would ever be completely comfortable with this new scenario: his once-estranged parents falling back in love. Sure, he’d given them their blessing time and time again, but Tabitha was sensitive to her son’s feelings, something she wasn’t great at when he was younger.
She turned out of Ben’s arms to make her way to the fridge. “Did they say when?” A knock on the door answered her first question, but not the second one that followed. “Or why?”
“Why don’t you pour four glasses of wine for us while I get that.” Ben was already making strides out of the kitchen towardthe front of the beach house. “We can spend some time on the back deck while the weather is still good. Forecasters are continuing to predict that storm of the century. We might be shuttered for quite some time.”
Tabitha shrugged. It must be a slow news cycle, because all the town could talk about was the storm rolling in off the coast, anticipated to make landfall by late tomorrow evening.
As she split the bottle evenly between four glasses, Tabitha tuned her ear to the sweet murmur of voices down the hall. The laughter and greetings brought warmth to her chest. She’d known Hannah since she was a little girl, and in Tabitha’s heart, she had always hoped things would work out with her son. But Casey’s accident had changed the course of his life, and his timeline for healing required a patience Tabitha wasn’t sure the young college woman would have.
Tabitha hadn’t given Hannah enough credit. Not only did she stick by Casey’s side, but she was also his biggest encourager throughout all of his physical therapies. If anything, his near-death accident only deepened her commitment to him and their relationship.
Life was short and nothing was guaranteed.
Tabitha had that mantra drilled into her day after day in the hospital. But Hannah learned it quickly too, and her love for Casey only seemed to flourish under that truth.
“Hey, kiddos,” Tabitha greeted the moment the trio finally found their way into the kitchen. “I’m glad you could come by.” She passed off the glasses, trying her best to summon a cheery smile despite the exhaustion that inevitably followed a long shift at the hospital.
“Yeah?” Casey’s brow pinched. “You’re not too tired for company?”
“I’m never too tired for you.”
Casey gave his mother a grin that she felt as firmly as any hug. “I know you had a full day, so we don’t plan to keep you too long—”
