Page 48 of The Next Of Us
I plied my sweet wife with wine, watching as she visually unwound.The smile never left my face as I watched her talk about Carlos and his antics, her face and hands growing ever more animated with each glass.Fair face flushed, pretty mouth laughing, she looked like the girl I first fell in love with.
I paid the bill and shook my head.How did I get so lucky?
Standing, I held her coat open and slipped it over her shoulders before winding her scarf around her neck.
Caressing her cheek with the soft fabric, I asked, “I did good with this one?”
Her eyes softened as she gazed up at me.“I love it.I love everything you give me.”
With my hand at the small of her back, I led her outside.The downtown was mostly empty though the weather was comparatively mild.Sage Ridge rolled up the sidewalks early, especially in the winter.The only people out were those in search of food, or those returning home from a late night at work.
“You want to walk some of this off?”
She mock gasped.“Are you saying I need to walk it off?”
I shook my head and discretely grabbed a handful of her ass.“Never.This is a prime cut.”
“Oh my gosh, Aaron,” she snorted, her face open, eyes lit with humor.The past year had been rough, no doubt, but we were finally coming out the other side.
I was coming out the other side.
Dipping my knees, I pressed my forehead to her temple and spelled out all I had in store for her when we got home.
She blushed, cast her eyes down and away from me like she had when we were young.
I grinned down at her and pulled her close, laughing out loud, overflowing with joy in her.In us.In everything we had built, everything we had still to do and plan and be.
I felt her before I saw her, a cold chill zipping through my veins.
Rhonda Deevers.Ryan’s mother.
Slowly, I swiveled my neck and met her furious gaze.
“You disgust me,” she hissed.
Her angry words lodged in my chest like arrows laced with shame.
“Mrs.Deevers,” I replied with a polite nod, my cheeks burning.
I moved Nadine to my back and began to pass Ryan’s mother, keeping my body between them.
“So nice for you that you get to carry on with your life, leaving me to clean up your mess!”
I took another step, Nadine’s gasp of shock sending the arrows deeper.
As we passed her, she leaned forward and hissed, “Ask me.Ask me how Ryan is.”
Her demand cut through me like a knife, finding the fault line between before and after, the failure that threatened to split me in two.
I could smell the alcohol on her breath.Sagging with sudden fatigue, I breathed out slowly and met her furious gaze.“I’m sorry I couldn’t help him.”
I moved Nadine in front of me, my hand at her back.We made it two steps away from her.Two steps closer to home, and the closed blinds, and Nadine’s sweet scent wrapped up in our sheets.
She laughed harshly.“Help him?No.You made him worse!”
Her accusation froze my blood in my veins even as my face heated to a near combustible level.Turning around slowly, the world lagging behind, I faced the owner of that voice, Nadine’s startled exclamation ringing in my ears.
Schooling my features as best I could, I faced her.“I’m sorry he’s still struggling.Were you able to get him in to see any of the other therapists I recommended?”
