Forevermore (22 page)

She turned in her chair to face me, eyes wide with wonder. This was one of the many things I loved about her. She really liked to learn. It was difficult for her, but she loved learning something new. If I told her everything she’d learn from reading that book, she’d retain it all. She was one of the best auditory learners I’d seen.

“When was it?” she asked.

“Their new year started in March not January.” I reached out and pulled her ponytail free of the hoody she was wearing. “How many sides does an octagon have?”

Her eyes darted up before she responded, “Eight.”

“That’s right. So which month should October be?”

Her eyes flashed when she realized the answer. “Eighth.”

“Very good. Now for the bonus round, which month do you think is named after Julius Caesar?”

She thought for a while before the answer came to her. “July!”

“You’re so smart.” I slipped that in during every homework session to reinforce what I knew to be true about her intelligence. She could doubt it from time to time, but my goal was to make her believe it always. “And just so you know, August is for Augustus Caesar. You’ll probably read about him next.”

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“Nerds know stuff.”

She giggled and my heart warmed at the sound. She was more talkative and open and laughed a lot now. It was as if the second she knew she was here to stay, she felt safe to be herself. And I loved this secure, sweet girl.

“You’re not a nerd, Mom.”

I still drew in a breath every time she called me Mom. Briony had held a family meeting when we passed the home study and knew we’d be getting the best recommendation from the case worker. She expressed our hope that Olivia would start calling us Mom or whatever she felt comfortable with. It took a week before Olivia let it slip the first time. After that, when she was sure she’d be ours, Briony and I were Mom. Both of us, which I liked, even when we both responded if she called to us.

“Nothing wrong with being a nerd, sweetie. Both your moms are nerds, and we’re going to do everything we can to turn you into one.”

“Good luck with that.” Caleb joined us at the open door. “We’re too cool for that. You and Mom can be in your own nerd cult. Don’t try to recruit us.”

Caleb was developing his mom’s sense of humor. He could make me laugh almost as much as his mom could. “Dinner’s soon, kids.”

“Does Mom need help?” Olivia asked because that was exactly like her.

“We’ll handle it. Get your homework done so we can have a final showdown of badminton after dinner. The net comes down tonight before it’s too cold to spend any time outside anymore.”

They both yelped with excitement as I made my way downstairs. Briony was humming in the kitchen, the best sign that she was happy.

“Hi, hon,” she greeted. “Did you get the papers graded?”

“All but one.”

She turned and gave me a sly smile. “And you’re not itching to get that done? Not feeling an unnatural pull back to the office to get that one little ol’ paper done. An obsessive need to finish it?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her tease. She’d been working on my tendencies, which she called compulsions, to finish things before moving on to something else. After the honeymoon wore off, these compulsions of mine started to get under her skin. I worked on them so I could now walk away without finishing a task if something else needed tending. Dinner prep and stolen moments with Briony were worth abandoning whatever I was doing. But sometimes I liked driving her a little batty. It made up for the things she did that made me want to grind my teeth.

“What can I help with?”

“Pork chops are almost done. The stuffed zucchini should be pulled out of the oven. I’ll have the kids put together the salad when they get down here.”

“Tasty.”

She smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss. “Yes, you are.”

My stomach tingled at the look in her eyes. I slid my hands up her arms and pulled her closer. She dropped the spatula she was holding and wrapped her arms around my neck. In the next second my mouth was sliding against hers. Pliant, soft, tantalizing lips teased me before her tongue plucked at my lower lip twice and pushed inside to stroke mine. Kissing had become one of my favorite activities. Something I’d never done for thirty-six years dominated my to-do list every day now. I was lucky to find a partner that felt the same.

“Damn, woman, you’re winding me up at the exact wrong time.”

“Oh?” I teased, pushing her against the counter and lifting her legs.

She yelped in surprise and placed her hands on the counter to help me lift her into a seated position. “You are so bad.”

“We have some time.”

“We have no time, and you know it.”

“I know, but I like winding you up. You’ll be on fire by the time the kids hit the sack tonight.”

She leaned down to kiss me again. Her fingers stroked down my chest, brushing over one breast before gliding back up. “We’ll starve if we don’t stop right now.”

“I’m good with starving.” My hands slid up her thighs and gripped her hips, pulling them against my stomach.

“Mom!” Caleb yelled as he thundered down the stairs.

I pulled back, both regret and promise in my eyes as I moved from between her legs. She slid off the counter with the same expression but started chuckling just as quickly. Life with kids meant constant interruptions.

“What’s for dinner?” Caleb asked as he came in the kitchen. He eyed us with suspicion for a second. I resisted checking to see if my hair was mussed.

“You’ll find out when you sit at the table. Get a salad started and call your sister to set the table.”

“Livy!” he bellowed from the middle of the kitchen.

Briony shook her head and sighed. “I meant, go get her, don’t yell from down here.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, racing out of the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs to yell again.

Briony turned to me. “I am speaking English, right?”

I laughed at her constant battle to get Caleb to follow instructions when he had a very stubborn mind of his own. I turned to pull the zucchini pan out of the oven when her hand stopped me. The look in her eyes added ten degrees to the room.

“Tonight, we’re finishing what you tried to start here, sexy,” she vowed and planted another kiss on me as the kids joined us. “Done with homework?”

“Done,” they both said.

“How do your ears feel, sweetie?” Briony asked Olivia, her fingers going to trace the shell of Olivia’s ear and touching the peridot stone that glittered there.

“These are so much better than those piercing studs, Mom,” Olivia reported, her fingers flicking the other stone. “I love them.”

“They’re perfect for you, kiddo,” I said, happy that she’d been able to get her ears pierced on the schedule her mom had planned for her. Briony had pulled off the perfect birthday celebration for Olivia, giving her the day she wanted with her friends and getting her ears pierced as promised. That almost as much as telling her we wanted to adopt her gave Olivia all the security she seemed to need. Even when her aunt came to visit a few weeks ago, Olivia didn’t show any of the shyness or hesitation she’d shown when we’d seen them together the last time. She was thriving in our home and her aunt seemed both relieved and thrilled for her niece.

“Eden’s trying to get permission to pierce hers now instead of next year like her dad promised,” Olivia told us.

“Maybe I should get a piercing,” Caleb said as he brought the salad bowl to the table.

“One from your top lip to your bottom lip with a nice big fastener?” Briony teased.

“Oh, funny. Mom’s a comedian.” He elbowed Olivia, happy to have a coconspirator in all things anti-parental now. “We’ll go broke if she goes out on tour.”

“Clever,” Briony told him, handing him the pork serving dish and Olivia the zucchini. She turned back to me and slipped her arms around my waist, bringing her mouth to mine.

“Again with the kissing,” Caleb declared in an exaggerated sigh. He rolled his eyes at Olivia this time, but she wasn’t nearly as bothered as he was by our PDAs.

“How would you like it if I mocked you when you start kissing your girlfriends?” his mom taunted.

“M’s not your girlfriend, Mom. You’re married. You should be over the kissing by now.”

We laughed. My hand went to Briony’s back, rubbing a familiar pattern. She turned a breathtaking smile my way before telling him, “It doesn’t work that way, bud. Get used to it.”

He shook his head like he’d never understand his mom. I turned back to Briony and sighed happily. I could definitely get used to evenings just like this one for many years to come.

If you enjoyed
Forevermore
, don’t miss the book that introduced M and Briony,
Blessed Twice,
along with the others in Lynn Galli’s Virginia Clan series,
Wasted Heart, Imagining Reality,
and
Finally.
Preview each on the following pages.

Blessed Twice

There were about a million other things I could be doing right now. Playing tennis, reading a mystery, calling my son at summer camp, working out, rollerblading, base jumping, banging my head against a low hanging beam, and all would be more pleasant than my sixth first date. Cripes, my friend Caroline knew a lot of women. A lot of women who were so wrong for me.

This one’s name was Polly, and she worked as a court clerk. After her third cup of coffee—I’d learned never to commit to anything that would last several courses—I could sum up Polly’s personality with one word: drama. Or, issues. Or, get me the hell out of here, please!

“And then I was, like, ‘what do you think you’re doing with my stuff, bitch?’ I mean, like, can you believe she was walking out on me and expected to take the one and only gift she, like, bought me in the entire two months we’d been together? I was, like, ‘you didn’t even pay me rent for two months, you’re not taking my Maroon 5 with you.’” Her pretty green eyes stared expectantly at me, asking me to agree.

Still stuck on some of the other intimate details she’d shared prior to talking about a massive blowout over a piece of plastic that costs twelve dollars, I merely nodded then shook my head. I didn’t know if she expected me to say, “Yes, I completely agree, even though you’re a loon,” or, “No, that’s just awful, especially since there’s no way you could ever replace such a priceless item. Unless, of course, you walked into any music store, or better yet, downloaded the songs so no one can walk out of your life with her love and your CDs.”

“You’re so easy to talk to,” she jabbered on after I’d apparently given the appropriate response. “I can’t believe Caroline never introduced us before. I’m having so much fun.” Yeah, because drinking coffee is a riot a minute. “So, like, what’s your story?”

Well, I’ve never used the word “like” as a verbal pause, I’ve never moved in with someone after one night together, and I’ve never considered a CD worth the effort of an argument. Oh, and I now deem dating a soul draining experience.

“Briony?”

I looked up and felt my stomach plunge as swiftly as if I’d been pushed out of an airplane. M was standing by my table, iced coffee in hand on her way out. She was in casual clothes, showing a hint of midriff, envious calves, and just the barest promise of cleavage. “Hey there, M.” I hoped she caught the relief in my tone. Wow, she looked good. No makeup today and her hair was a little more chaotically styled but wickedly attractive. Beyond, actually, more like hot. Yes, hot suited her just fine. Why wasn’t I on a date with her? Oh, crap, Polly. “This is Polly. Polly, my friend and colleague, M.”

Polly must have picked up on my blatant interest in M, because the next thing I knew, she was telling her, “We’d invite you to join us, but we’re on a date.”

I didn’t know who cringed more, me at the idea that this could really be counted as a date or M at the rude dismissal. My eyes snapped up to hers in apology. Before I realized what I was doing, I made the ASL sign for “help.” It was one of a few words I’d learned for when my son spent time with his hearing impaired best friend. This was the first time I’d ever used it, and I never imagined I’d be using it for evil instead of good.

“Pardon the intrusion, but I thought we said two o’clock?” M asked me with the perfect amount of urgency and innocence. “I grabbed a table up front and left all the lecture notes and business plans there. It’s a few hours of work, and I’ve got plans tonight, but if you need a little more time, I understand.”

“Is it two o’clock already?” I brought my wrist up to check the time on my watch. “Gosh, I’m sorry, Polly. I didn’t mention this work thing because I never thought we’d still be here. You just made the time fly by.” Two hours that I’ll never, ever get back.

She beamed at my compliment but disappointment showed through. “Caroline said you were a workaholic, but we can work on that.” She reached for a hug, which I made lightning quick, and finally, the sixth date on my path through hell was over. Polly banged through the coffeehouse doors with all the drama she’d expressed during her diatribe.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“Think nothing of it.” M said it like she believed it when I was considering erecting a life-sized shrine and lighting a candle every night. Her eyes darted to the door as her customary introversion returned. “Nice running into you, Briony. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

“Tell me about those plans you mentioned,” I blurted before she could disappear.

“I lied,” she admitted with a shy smile. “I figured if I didn’t give a limited window of time, she might think she could get us to postpone our work meeting.”

Strangely, I felt more relief hearing this than getting out of my date with Polly. “So you’ve got nothing going?” She shook her head. I smiled and stepped toward her. “You do now.”

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Saturday than with this beautiful, enticing woman. Not really a date, but far better than anything my friends could set up for me.

Wasted Heart

“Somebody’s having a good day,” a now familiar voice pronounced from the doorway.