Page 163 of Light My Fire

“Yes. Well, no,” I say, thinking about Brooke. “I’m not single now. Because of her. But I was up till very recently. And I realized that I’ve been holding on to a lot of resentment and fear about relationships.”

I can see in Marci‘s eyes that she feels bad about this revelation. “And you’re here to ask me what happened with us?” she asks.

“I was,” I admit. “But I realize now that I’m here that it doesn’t matter. We’re different. She and I are not you and I. And I realize that what happened between us was a choice you made. Not me.”

Rather than getting angry or defensive, Marci nods. “Exactly. It was me. And in all relationships, there are two sides, of course, and I could say that you worked long hours and were gone a lot or something like that. But in our case, it was that I was immature and didn’t fully appreciate you and committed to you before I was really ready.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” I tell her. I feel a huge weight lift off of my shoulders. And my chest. I can take a deep breath and it feels like it’s beenyearssince I could really do that.

“How about your new girl?” she asks. “Does she know what she wants?”

I smile thinking about Brooke. Our angel definitely knows herself. “She does,” I say. “Probably better than I do.”

“And will she be honest with you about what she wants and needs?” Marci asks.

My smile grows. Yeah, I don’t have to worry about that. “She definitely will.”

I know Brooke is feeling overwhelmed with everything, but she’s been honest about what she’s wanted from the very first day we met her. She wanted us to leave her alone and she told us that clearly. When we are all together, she’s very good about telling us how she’s feeling and what she’s thinking.

We just have to be sure to prove to her that we’re listening. She doesn’t have to feel overwhelmed with us. She just has to tell us what she wants and needs from us. We’ll deliver every time.

“Then you definitely need to stop being afraid,” Marci says. “I’m sure she’s not selfish like I was.”

Selfish is the last word I would ever use to describe Brooke Wilder. I shake my head. “No, she’s not.”

“And she won’t take you for granted?”

In fact, I’ve always felt completely appreciated and cared for with Brooke.

I swallow hard. “No.”

Marci gives me a smile. “Don’t let some dumb girl from your past affect your future happiness.”

I study her. She looks a little like the woman I married, but there is a calm and a confidence there that I don’t remember. I’m glad she found that, even if she needed someone else to help her discover it.

“You’re right. Thanks again for meeting me.”

She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “It’s the least I could do. I really do wish you the very best.”

I actually am able to squeeze her hand back and say, with honesty, “I’m glad you’re happy, Marci.”

“I’m glad you’re going to be happy, Luke.”

I take a deep breath and stand. I am really glad I’m going to be happy too.

Now I just need to go find my best friends and figure out what we’re going to do to convince our girl thatweare what is going to makeherhappy.

CHAPTER 41

Jackson

“I absolutely love it, sweetie,”my mother says as we step back into the house after the tour of the new area we’ve just finished for the dogs behind the house.

My parents are seeing the house for the first time, but they have previously met my dogs, including the puppy that my mother has been carrying around since she arrived, dropped down onto the floor cross-legged with the puppies, and Tank crawled into her lap.

It’s very possible that Angel will be living with Luke and Tank will be living with my parents rather than turning into search and rescue dogs.

We settle into seats in the living room and my mom asks, “Do you have a plan for this huge house?”

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