Page 18 of Weston

Suddenly, the air between them grew strained and she began to chew on her lower lip. Dammit, he knew he was saying too much, but it was all true.

“I don’t mean to overwhelm you, Ellie. I’m sorry if I’m telling you things you aren’t ready to hear, but I will always tell you the truth.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you.”

They each reached for the same slice of pizza and bumped hands.

“Sorry,” she apologized, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Take it. I know you like the pieces with the bubbles in the crust.”

“This is all so strange,” she murmured. “You know so much about me and, as little as I know about myself, I know even less about you.”

Her face screwed up in a frown as the reality of her words hit them both. But he was okay with giving her time. And as much information about him as she wanted.

“Ask me anything. I’m an open book with you. Always have been. We made a promise a long time ago to never keep secrets from each other.”

“That’s a nice promise.”

“I think so.”

“So…are you a Wesley or a Weston?” she asked, propping her elbows on the table and studying him closely. Her chin rested in her palms and she tilted her head slightly in that perfectly Ellie way of hers.

Christ, she was beautiful. Once again, by some strange twist of fate, his beloved wife was sitting with him and he felt likethe luckiest man in the world. “Weston James,” he answered, absently twisting the gold band on his finger.

“I like that.” Her attention moved to the plain band and he stopped turning it. “You still wear your ring.”

“I couldn’t take it off,” he said.

“I don’t know what happened to mine. I guess the pirates took it or I lost it when I fell overboard. I-I don’t really remember much about what happened that day.” A darkness settled over her pretty features and Wes immediately changed the subject, not wanting her to be distraught.

“Don’t think about that now. What else do you want to know?”

“How long have we been married?”

“It was twenty-seven years on August 15.” The best years of his life.

“Wow, that’s a long time. But I guess we are getting up there.” She sent him an adorably crooked smile.

“Yeah, the aches and pains remind me every day. We’re both forty-six. Your birthday is in October and mine is in December.”

“I’m older than you,” she remarked.

“You always played that card when you wanted something, saying you were older which made you wiser.”

She chuckled and then they both said, “You should listen to your elders,” at exactly the same time.

Hope zinged through Wes. It might take some time, but he believed Ellie would remember her past again. She had to.

Ellie finished her crust then asked the question he’d been waiting for. The one he wasn’t exactly looking forward to answering. “So, ah, no kids? Or pets?”

“No. We tried, but the doctor told us getting pregnant would be difficult. Turned out he was right. We almost got a dog, but…I don’t know. It just never happened.”

“Were we upset about that? Not having children, I mean?”

“I thought you would be, but you said…” His voice trailed off, unsure if she was ready to hear about all this. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her. Plus, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to relive it himself.

“What?” she prodded.

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