Rushed: Hushed Part 26

"I think it's time for a gla.s.s of wine."

"You're crazy." He sat up and grabbed his jeans.

We pulled on our clothes and raced downstairs. I found two juice gla.s.ses in the kitchen cupboard.

He scrounged through my kitchen drawers and found my cheap corkscrew. "Is this all you have?" He held it up.

I shrugged.

"Remind me to get you a new one. I'll steal one from Dad. He has plenty from the winery to spare." He sighed and opened the bottle expertly. He poured two gla.s.ses and handed me one.

I held mine up for a toast. "To three months together!"

He clinked his gla.s.s with mine. "And a lifetime to follow."

I looked at him, startled and deeply touched.

"I mean it." His voice broke. "No one and no circ.u.mstance are going to tear us apart. We'll figure this out."

The door to the apartment opened. Olivia walked in, accompanied by a gust of cool air. She jumped, startled, when she saw us. Her face clouded with confusion.

She pointed between the two of us. "Are you two...?"

"We are!" I grabbed another gla.s.s from the cupboard. "We were just celebrating." I poured her some wine and hugged her as I handed it to her.

"This is a pleasant surprise." She sounded cautious as she raised her gla.s.s to us.

"Isn't it?" I couldn't stop smiling.

"So. Everything's okay?" She looked uncertain, as if she still might be misreading things.

I nodded. "Seth's staying over tonight."

She made a silent oh, and nodded. "Well, good then."

"Don't worry. I'll put the lid down." He laughed. "I make a mean breakfast. I'll cook for you both in the morning."

"Promises, promises. If I fall into the toilet in the middle of the night, I will have to throttle you. You've been warned." Olivia raised her gla.s.s to us. "To happy reunions."

"And many more," I said, totally getting she meant so much more. So many more crucial, scary reunions, like Mom and Rick's.

Seth and I slept wrapped in each other's arms. I felt secure and peaceful. I may even have sighed happily in my sleep. The next morning, Seth made good and made breakfast.

"We have to tell both of our parents," I said over cheese omelets and toast.

He swore he could have made a fancier creation, but I didn't have many ingredients for him to work with.

He slid my hand-me-down skillet into the sink of soapy water and talked to me through the pa.s.s-through from our micro-size kitchen to the main living/dining room. "I agree completely."

"And involve Ian." I slathered jam on my toast as I sat at our tiny dining table, one foot hooked beneath me on my chair.

"Yeah." Seth carried a plate in from the kitchen and took a seat opposite me. "You're right. Any ideas how?"

"I have a plan," I said. "I'll call him and arrange for us to get together. I'll give you the details when we're all together."

After breakfast I called my brother, told him Seth and I were back together, and arranged for the three of us to meet for coffee and make battle plans.

Seth and I arrived first at The College Grind, and saved seats. When Ian arrived, I jumped up and threw myself in his arms. I'd never loved my big brother more.

"Thank you," I whispered in his ear. I knew he'd helped do this, done his part to convince Seth to come back to me.

"It was nothing." He hugged me tightly. "I simply encouraged him to do what he wanted to do all along."

Seth gave us a second, then stood and extended his hand to Ian to shake. "Big brother."

Ian grabbed Seth and hugged him, slapping him on the back. "Little brother. Treat my sister well or I'll have your head."

"Yeah, I get that. You've warned me before."

We all laughed. The situation was so ludicrous, really. And must have sounded either absurd or incestuous to those around us. We got a few funny looks.

"I got you a coffee," I said to Ian as I grabbed it and handed it to him.

We took our places around the table to strategize.

"Anyone have any ideas how we go about this?" Ian looked at me.

I grinned.

He explained to Seth, "She's the planner in the family."

I nodded. "True." I picked up my coffee. "We're going to have to tell Rick first," I said. "He comes in on Thursday."

I paused, looking between the two most important guys in my life, loving them both and being so perfectly happy in the moment.

"I was thinking it would be natural for Seth to tell his dad he'd like to introduce him to my brother," I said. "And invite him to Ian's for dessert on Thursday night."

I turned to Seth. "Does he know you and I..." I hesitated on the words "broke up."

Seth caught my meaning. "No. I haven't talked to him since before last Monday."

We all knew the significance of last Monday.

"Okay, then perfectly natural," I said. "Ian's house is private. I think that's key. We need to be able to talk, cry, scream." I glanced at my older brother. "Break furniture."

"Good thing I don't have much." Ian winked.

"Just to clarify-you're offering your house?" I said.

He nodded. "You bet. It's a rental. The worst that could happen is I'll lose my deposit." He laughed.

"Good!" I tried to sound more optimistic than I felt.

"So we're ambus.h.i.+ng him?" Ian eyed me over his cup as he took a sip of coffee.

"We're letting him draw his own conclusions once he sees you. I mean, once he sees what an awesome son he has, how could he not love you? It's simple advertising." I clutched my cup. "Do you have a better plan?"

"Knowing Dad, I agree. The element of surprise gives us the upper hand. We'll tell him together." Seth looked to Ian for confirmation.

"All right, agreed." Ian looked at me again. "What about Mom?"

"We tell her separately from Rick. I think at dinner on Friday. I'll tell her I've been dating someone and would like her to meet him. That's natural, too. She'll be excited."

"So, another sneak attack," Ian said drily. "At my house?"

I nodded. "Private is better."

"We'll help you cook," Seth said.

"You haven't tasted his cooking. He's good," I said to Ian. "Like the star student in the cla.s.s."

"We're good together." Seth reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "And we have to make a two-course meal for friends or family for cla.s.s, anyway." He shook my hand playfully.

"Win-win," Ian said. "Until Mom throws the china."

I laughed, feeling better now that both guys were on my side. "You don't have any china."

Ian took a sip of coffee. "I have Chinet."

I rolled my eyes.

"I got an eye roll! Excellent." Ian laughed. He was always teasing. "Send me the menu and grocery list. I'll do the shopping."

The three of us stared at each other like three conspirators who were planning to rob a bank or something. Like we were planning something really shady and sinister.

"This is going to work!" I put a huge dose of fake optimistic suns.h.i.+ne in my voice.

"It's going to do something." Ian stared at me. "What, exactly, are we going to tell Mom?"

"The truth, of course. We'll play it by ear." I glanced at Seth. "I hope we don't have to tell her anything. One look at Seth and she'll get that picture. Hearing his name will seal the deal. We'll go from there."

Ian frowned as he looked at me. "And Mom"-his gaze bounced to Seth-"and Dad? c.r.a.p that sounds crazy. Do we introduce them again?"

We all laughed nervously.

"We leave that up to them. If they want to reconnect, that's their thing." I sounded way more confident than I felt. I set my coffee down.

Ian scooted his chair closer to me and took my free hand. "And when Mom screams and yells that you can't be with that Butler boy?"

"We hold our ground." I bit my lip. "Together. If Mom loved Rick like I think she did, she'll understand how I feel about Seth and why I won't break up with him."

"That's my sis," Ian said, and sighed dramatically. "I hope my neighbors are ready for fireworks."

Chapter 21.

Laura I decided to leave a day early and surprise the kids. I didn't have any meetings on Thursday afternoon, so what the heck, right? I left work a little after one, stopped by home and threw my already packed bags in the car, and headed for the university. If I made good time, I would be there by eight. Still in early twilight. I was eager to see Ian's new house.

Over the years, I'd avoided the university for good reason. When Bruce was alive, I'd had an irrational fear of bringing up old ghosts. Going to campus and running into Rick. Was that possible? Sure. But the probability of it happening was so slim as to be impossible. But that's the thing about unreasonable fears. They don't make sense.

I had a real fear, too, of bringing that old longing for Rick back to the surface. Life was so much easier to live without it. You would think that after all these years, it would die. That I would have found a way to murder it in its sleep. But the craziest things brought it back unbidden-an old song, like "Dream Police," on the radio. The smell of cheap beer on a hot day. A swirl of dust in spring. The university was too full of triggers. So I avoided it.

I owed Bruce everything for coming to my rescue. All he'd asked in return was for Ian to be his son and no one to know the difference. I'd kept my end of the bargain. Once Bruce was gone, I thought the fears and the longing would recede. But they didn't.

Now, though, I was happy again. Or at least secure. Ken was a good man, a friend. Like Bruce had been. He'd encouraged me to go to Mom's Weekend now that both kids were there. And I was out of excuses. That I could share, anyway. So why not?

This would be fun. I could hardly wait to see the looks on the kids' faces when I showed up. I would go to Ian's first. And then the two of us would go surprise Maddie. I felt like a kid again!

As a mom, this was the perfect opportunity to see how they really lived. I had a momentary flicker of worry. What if I caught them at something I would rather not know about?

I brushed the fear off. Worrier, worrier! I laughed at myself and turned up the music.

Seth Dad, Maddie, and I pulled up in front of Ian's house just past seven.

"Maddie, it's nice of your brother to invite us over," Rick said. "You didn't say much about him when you visited us."

"Didn't I?" Maddie sounded nervous.

I guessed Dad would chalk that up to nerves over introducing us to her family. He had no idea she was introducing him to his.

I put the car in park and reached for the door handle. My heart pounded out of control. I didn't feel like talking. I was too d.a.m.n nervous and scared over the myriad ways this could blow up in our faces.

I got out of the car. Maddie slipped out of her side and took a deep breath. I came around and took her hand.

The shadows were long. The lighting over the wheat fields surrounding Ian's house spectacular. Rolling fields of light and shadow.

Dad got out and paused to look at the view. "Nice place. Great view. When you said your brother had a house, I expected the usual dump on the hill up to campus. Five guys in some beat-up five-bedroom place from the forties. Not this."

Maddie bit her lip. "He's a little older than I am."

I glanced at her. Her face was pale. She was trying hard not to give too much away.