Page 59 of Both Sides Now

Not that I didn’t adore Charlie’s kisses but there’s a fire with Keegan. It’s unquenchable and threatening to flare out of control every time we touch.

Tears cloud my vision at this realization, but I blink them away. The last thing Keegan’s family needs is me wailing about my topsy turvy love life.

Ha, wouldn’t that require a love life?

Although, if Keegan’s cousin hadn’t knocked on our hotel room door when he did, I would have spicy stories aplenty to tell tomorrow morning.

All involving one gorgeously delicious doctor.

A doctor I’ve hired to impregnate me. With my late husband’s baby.

Who needs a soap opera when you have my life?

I bury my face in the massage table, a low groan escaping my throat.

“Did that hurt?” Renaldo asks.

More than you can imagine.

I lift my head and shoot my masseuse a smile. “I’m fine. You’re wonderful. You have no idea how desperately I needed this pampering.”

I’m not kidding. Grief swallows you whole, and the idea of primping for the sake of beauty or sanity flies out the window. You merely exist, and on most days, even that termfeels like a stretch. The knots and kinks build up in your body and soul, and it isn’t until you start to release them, bit by bit, that you realize how much baggage you’ve been lugging around.

I’ll have to thank Keegan later for this escape, and I havemanyways to show that man my gratitude.

“I’m thrilled you’re here, Calli,” Keegan’s mother, Louise, states from the massage table to my right. “He’s never brought anyone home before. I was losing hope my son might ever find the right woman.”

Her words give me pause. “You weren’t a fan of his former girlfriends?”

“What girlfriends? I never met any of them.”

Say what?

I lift my head from its cozy cocoon, but Renaldo eases it back to the table. Relax, buddy. I have information to collect. “You never met Megan?”

Louise sighs and I know it’s not from the kinks in her neck. “Who? I’ve never even heard that name. Do you know her, Jane?”

“I met her once,” Jane replies with a derisive laugh. “I showed up on Keegan’s doorstep one weekend for an impromptu visit. Megan was there and insisted on spending the entire two days by my side. She meant well, I’m sure, but she was shallow. Vapid. Awful.”

“Tremendous tits, though.” My sarcastic retort earns a snort from both women. “Sorry. Me and my cheeky humor.”

“Never apologize for being interesting.” Jane shoots me a sly grin as she slides off the massage table and walks to a nearby spa chair.

Renaldo signals for me to follow suit and I slide into a chair between Jane and Louise.

Thank god these women appreciate my dry wit. Charlie’s family was always horrified by my off-the-cuff quips. To befair, I never felt myself around them. They’re good, salt of the earth people, but they’re serious and staid.

I was not their ideal for a daughter-in-law, although by the end, the adoration flowed from both sides of the table.

Louise leans over, giving my arm an affectionate squeeze. “You are just what my son needs.”

“Not so sure about that.”

“You’re intelligent and outspoken. You’ll keep him on his toes. He needs that. He needs love, even though he’s sworn off the concept.” Louise shifts her attention to the far wall, the sadness etching her face. “I blame myself.”

“How so?”

Yes, I know the story, but only from Keegan’s side. A side that is filled with anger over his abandonment.

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