“When I saw you in the park, I said I didn’t know you, but that was a lie. I know you. I know that you’re funny and smart and that you’re freezing when it’s seventy degrees outside. I know that you crave cheesecake but settle for cake-scented lotion instead. I know you have a problem with people telling you what to do. And I know that you want everyone to think you’re a hard-ass, but that you take in a bucktoothed cat and give her a home. Everything I know about you makes me want to know more.”
Her chest got that familiar ache, and she looked down at her feet, not trusting the emotion expanding in her chest.
“Since I moved back to Truly,” he said, “I’ve felt as if I were standing in one place, unable to move. But I wasn’t standing still. I was waiting. I think I was waiting for you.”
The backs of her eyes stung and she bit her bottom lip.
“When I’m with you, I feel a kind of calm I’ve never felt in my life. I’m tangled up in you and you’re tangled up in me and it feels right. Like it was meant to be. I love you, Maddie, and I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to say it to you again.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “I’ve missed you.”
He laughed, and his dimples finally dented his cheeks. “You haven’t missed me any more than I’ve missed you. I’ve been one miserable shithead.” He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground. “I’ve never believed that death happens for a reason,” he said as he looked up into her face. “But if our lives had been different, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you.” Slowly she slid down his body until her pelvis fit his. He was ready for love, and his hands slipped beneath her shirt and caressed her bare back.
He lowered his head and kissed her. His mouth was warm and wet and so welcome. Later she would take his hand and take him to her room. For now, she just wanted to feel his kiss again, and it was like walking into the sun after a long cold winter. An
He pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers. “Ever since that first night you came into Mort’s, my eyes have been on you,” he said. “You were the only thing I could see, even when I tried like hell to look someplace else.”
“Hmm. Look or touch? I saw you talking to Tanya in the park.”
“Just look. I don’t want anyone else.”
She put her arms around his back and locked her hands together. “What about Meg?”
He raised his head. “What about my sister?”
“What are you going to tell her? She hates me.”
“Actually, she’s been too busy with my friend Steve to think much about you.” He thought a moment, then said, “I don’t think she really hates you. She blames your mother for everything that happened, but she doesn’t know you.”
Maddie laughed. “Getting to know me isn’t a guarantee that she’ll like me.”
He shrugged. “I think she’ll get over it, because ultimately she does want me to be happy. She wants me to marry someone I love. To have a wife and a family. I never thought I wanted kids, but after I’ve seen the way you’ve raised your cat…” He paused to look over at Snowball, who was mesmerized by goldfish. “You’re a natural.” He looked back at her and smiled. “Let me know if any or all parts of that plan appeal to you. If not, we’ll make adjustments.”
“This sounds a lot like a white wedding, picket fence, baby maker plan.”
He chuckled. “Who would have thought?”
Certainly not her. She’d never thought she’d be some man’s wife or that she’d be thinking about having a family. Of course, she never thought she’d fall in love or be a cat owner either. Her life had drastically changed since she’d moved to Truly. She’d changed.
She took Mick’s hand and led him from the room. Maybe he was right. Maybe their lives had always been entwined and they were meant to be together. If that was the case, she’d happily spend the rest of her life tangled up in Mick Hennessy.
