Rekindle

by Morgan, Nicole

And wait.

  Then I wait some more.

  “Umm, M, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the reaction I was looking for when I decided to do this.”

  Meems and Pops are both staring at her as well. We’re all waiting for some type of reaction—any type of reaction—but we’re greeted with silence.

  “Rhett! I do not believe this!”

  I close my eyes and wait for her to start yelling.

  “You…you couldn’t have…you wouldn’t have. Would you?” She looks at me with questioning eyes.

  “Yes, I did. I’m sorry. I just figured since you needed one—”

  I’m cut off midsentence, because before I can blink, she’s in my arms and kissing me wildly.

  “Oh my God, Rhett. Thank you so much. I love it, I love it, I love it,” she screams.

  I wrap my arms around her and welcome her warmth.

  “You’re welcome, beautiful, but I was half expecting you to bite my head off for buying it. Your reaction wasn’t exactly easy to read.”

  “It’s just, I never expected you to have me a new car sitting outside. I was speechless—and Meems and Pops were in on this secret? When did that happen?”

  “The day after we got here. Rhett was adamant about getting you a car and wanted our help to surprise you, baby girl,” Pops says, walking over to her.

  “Well I love it, but seriously, I need to pay you back. This car is so beautiful and new and shiny. You have to let me at least make payments, because it must have cost a mint.”

  “You may as well stop right there. Your mom and I tried to pay half and he wasn’t having any part of it. He said that you’re his girl and he wants to take care of you in every way. You got yourself a good one. The boy loves you and that’s enough for us. We think you should keep this one around,” Pops says, winking at her.

  “Yeah, Pops, I think I’ll keep him around.” She looks over at me and smiles brightly, and nothing else matters in that moment.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Emma Grace

  Life has a funny way of working itself out. It’s been almost four weeks since my ‘incident’ with Rhett. At least that’s what I’m calling it. The Incident. Makes it all seem a little less dramatic—less intense.

  It’s taken time for me to come to terms with all the fears I let out that day. Some of those fears I didn’t even realize were there, simmering below the surface until the words came flying out of my mouth. It is not something I ever care to repeat, but something that I know I need to deal with. Fear is a fickle beast. It feasts on insecurities that you don’t even know you have. It feeds on them day in and day out until they begin to overshadow the hope that you’ve allowed yourself to build. And then the fear pounces, destroying everything and leaving a mess in its wake. So I can’t give fear the power. If I choose to recognize it, accept it, and learn from it, fear can’t win. That’s what I’m doing…or trying to do, at least.

  Rhett has been by my side the whole time, even though he watches me like I’m a piece of fractured glass. I understand it, and I can’t blame him. He’s been my rock. My constant. And he will never know how much that truly means to me. Our relationship has fallen back into its easy pattern of just being with each other, but there is something more there now. Something that I would never be able to find with anyone else. He’s seen me at my lowest points—all of them—throughout my life, and he loves me still. Not in spite of my weaknesses, but because I’m strong enough to overcome them. At least that’s what he keeps telling me.

  My phone rings as I’m pulling into the parking lot of our condo. Speaking of the devil.

  “McCoy,” I greet him with a smile on my face.

  “Hey, M.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Just wanted to talk to you before the craziness took over. The guys will be here soon for poker, and I go into work tomorrow afternoon, so I won’t see you until tomorrow night. How did everything go today?”

  “Everything went great. The Friday before Christmas break is usually pretty easy, although I watched Leonardo DiCaprio butcher Shakespeare about six times today, so I’m a little on edge.” I hear his deep chuckle and it soothes me.

  “Juliet is the sun! And something else is the west!” he sings dramatically over the phone.

  “Don’t. Even. How can you not know that line!”

  “I have a dick, M. I am, therefore, hereunto and forevermore, allowed to not know Shakespeare.”

  I’m laughing full out now, and I hear him laugh as well. “Therefore, hereunto, forevermore? Do you even know what any of those words mean?”

  “Meh, they sounded all Shakespearean. I figured I would roll with it.”

  “Bravo, good sir. And thanks for the laugh.”

  “Anytime, baby. So, what are you and the girls up to tonight?”

  “Not really sure. Probably just movies and wine. Lots of wine.”

  “Wine is good. Wine is better when I’m there to reap its benefits.”

  “This is true. Maybe I’ll just have to call.”

  “Promises, promises. Y’all have fun and I’ll talk to you tomorrow—or tonight, if you’re feelin’ frisky.”

  “Don’t tempt me, McCoy.”

  “I wouldn’t dare. Forever, beautiful.”

  “And ever, babe.” I sigh the words into the phone before hanging up and getting ready for my girls’ night.

  “What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read...if they can't even fit inside the building? I don't want to hear your excuses! The building has to be at least...three times bigger than this!” Cam does her best Zoolander imitation. We all roll on the floor in a fit of laughter.

  We just finished watching the movie, and now we can’t stop quoting it. It happens every time.

  “ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPUCCINOS!” Shayna shouts.

  “St—stop. I c-can’t b-b-breathe!” I stammer, clutching my stomach.

  “More wine!” Cam announces, heading for the kitchen.

  “Yes, please!” I concur, catching my breath.

  Cam stumbles back into the living room with a new bottle of wine, a bag of chips, chocolate chip cookies, Kit Kat minis, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and 3 spoons. I guess it’s snack time. Now that I think about it, I am kind of hungry.

  “Hand over the Kit Kats and nobody gets hurt,” I say with a mock glare in her direction.

  “Calm your tits, woman. Wine first, chocolate later.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Let’s dish boys,” Cam says with a note of authority as she divvies up the food, laying the ice cream between us all.

  “Yes, let’s. You start. What is up with you and Luke?” I question.

  “Nada. The man is an enigma. He refuses to sleep with me. Period. It’s the most frustrating thing in the entire world. Who knows, maybe he just doesn’t find me attractive?” she answers, deflating with every word.

  “Bullshit! You’re a total sexpot!” I yell.

  “Here! Here!” Shayna agrees.

  “Whatever.” She dismisses me with a wave of her hand. “If he doesn’t want me, I’m not going to lose my mind over it.”

  “Gah, I wish I could be you,” Shayna admits.

  “Do huh?” Cam questions stupidly.

  “I just can’t get over this whole Micah thing. I’ve wanted him for so long, and no matter what I do, he just doesn’t notice me. I try and try. No matter what drastic measures I go to, he just doesn’t pay attention. I don’t know what else to do. I just know that we belong together, and the sooner he sees it, the better it will be. I just need something to make him take notice. To see that he just can’t live without me,” Shayna spouts off. Her eyes are glazed over and she’s not with us—at least mentally. She’s off somewhere else. Cam and I share a look, both sobering up a little bit with the revelation.

  “Maybe you just need to find someone else,” Cam says tentatively.

  “No. It’s Micah. It’s always been Micah. He’ll know. Soon enough, he’ll
know. And we’ll be together and it will be perfect. It will all be worth it. Everything will be worth it.”

  “Shayna, babe,” I say, trying to get her to focus by touching her knee.

  She shakes her head and her eyes blink back into focus. “Sorry. Ignore me.” She waves her hand in front of her face like she’s chasing off bad thoughts.

  I give her a small smile and toss her a spoon. Definitely time for some ice cream.

  “So, are things still peachy keen with you and Rhett?” she questions.

  Cam gives me a knowing smile and rolls her eyes. She knows the answer to this.

  “If the noises from her bedroom are anything to go by, they’re fabulous.”

  “Oh, shut up!” I laugh, pushing her shoulder.

  “Hey, at least one of us is getting some.” She smiles back at me.

  We all laugh and dive into the ice cream. I try to get back to my nice, relaxed, buzzed state from earlier, but I can’t quite shake the nagging feeling in my gut and I’m not sure why. Something is just bothering me. I push all of the negative thoughts from my mind and focus on the fact that I can call my man in a few hours for some frisky phone time.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Rhett

  I smile as I hear my phone ringing, not because it’s ringing, but because it’s M’s signature ringtone so I know just who is calling. She’s been drinking with the girls, so I know this is gonna be fun.

  “Hey, beautiful girl.”

  “Rhett, I just want you to know, you are the love of my life,” she slurs into the phone, making it hard to suppress my laughter.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re finally admitting it.”

  “I’ve known forever, Rhett. You’ve always been my everything. I need to remember to never take you for granted. Please don’t ever let me take you for granted. So many women will never experience what we have, and it makes me so sad.”

  I’m kind of thrown by her words. This is really deep conversation for a drunk woman after a fun night with friends.

  “You won’t take me for granted, M, just like I won’t take you for granted. Ever. Are you okay, baby? Why are you freaking out?”

  “It’s just a conversation that we had with Shayna. She’s so dead set on Micah being the love of her life. He will never love her like she wants him to, and she just will not accept that. I’m just sad for her, because if she never accepts the fact that he will always be just a friend, then she will never find her true happiness. She will miss Mr. Right because she’s obsessed with the illusion that Mr. Wrong will one day love her. Does that make sense?”

  “Yeah, it makes perfect sense. I guess I’ll talk with Micah tomorrow and tell him that he just needs to tell her that there’s nothing there and that there never will be.”

  “Just tell him to be gentle with her. I’m not sure how strong she is.”

  “Always. Micah seems like an asshole, and he kind of is, but he’d never hurt her on purpose. She just needs to know where he stands.”

  “McCoy,” she whispers into the phone.

  “Yeah, baby.”

  “You’re such a great man. If you were here, I would probably kiss you.”

  “If I were there, M, we would be doing a lot more than kissing.”

  “Mmm, so what would you do if you were here?”

  And just like that, my sad M was long gone and my sweet, frisky girl was back.

  “Micah, I’ve got an errand to run, would ya mind coming with me? I could use your opinion.”

  “Sure, man, just let me grab my shit. What do you need my opinion on, anyway? Are you planning on gettin’ papers on Emma?” Micah asks, grabbing his ‘shit,’ as he calls it.

  “Well. Umm.”

  “Holy fucknuts! Dude, I was just joking. Are you really about to pop the question?”

  “I’m just going to pick out a ring. I’m not sure when I’m going to ask her. I do know that it’s not gonna be right now. I’ll know when the time is right, and when that time comes, I’ll already be prepared. Does that make sense?”

  Shrugging his shoulders, he hops in my truck. “I guess, but it’s your loss. You may as well put your balls in a lock box and give Emma the key. She will have you hook, line, and sinker. No escaping once you say ‘I do.’ I’ll never be in your shoes. I’m happy as hell for you because Emma is a great woman and you deserve it, but the married life isn’t for everyone.”

  “Speaking of settling down, you need to have a conversation with Shayna. I mean a real conversation too. You subtly telling her that you don’t think it’s wise that y’all date is not working. Emma called last night and was all upset because of something Shayna said to her and Cam. It wasn’t anything bad, but M says she’s pretty fucking adamant that you’re the one and all. It actually kind of pissed me off. If she wants to have tainted daydreams about her future with you, then she needs to not make others feel sorry for her in the process. I don’t get women at all, but she is M’s friend and I said I would talk to you. I’m not even really sure what else to tell you to do aside from fleeing the state and changing your name, though.”

  “What the fuck, Rhett? I just don’t understand,” he says, rubbing his neck. “Most people say that I’m a womanizer, and I fucking get that—I own that shit. The one woman I try to be nice to and not fuck and dump is the one woman who won’t take no for an answer. I don’t have any fucking idea how to handle her, if I’m being honest. I don’t want to hurt her, but I guess I’m just gonna have to be as blunt as I can and just deal with the water works. I’ve never been in this kind of situation before. Shit, I’ll have her meet me somewhere and I’ll talk to her. Fucking women are gonna be the death of me.”

  After searching for rings for what has felt like forever, I’ve come to two conclusions. One, picking out rings is not as easy as one would think, and two, never bring Micah with you. He is currently spitting shredded paper from a straw and failing miserably to make it in the trash can, which is getting us some pretty ugly looks. The sales lady refuses to listen to me. I tell her that Emma is a simple girl, and she has no problem telling me that I’m wrong.

  “Every woman wants the fairy tale and the huge ring to go with it, Mr.McCoy. If she says anything different, then she’s just being nice and saying what she thinks you want to hear.”

  “Can you please pull your head outta your ass and just let the man choose the ring that he wants to get his woman? I mean, he knows her and you don’t, so just stop telling him what she wants. Okay? The quicker he gets a ring, the quicker you can get me out of your store,” Micah yells from the back of the store with a huge grin on his face.

  I hide my smile and look down at the glass case, and that’s when I see it. The sales woman tells me it’s a platinum, solitaire, round-cut diamond with what looks to be a halo of tiny diamonds surrounding it. It’s perfect for her. Simple and subtle, but also beautiful and elegant, just like M.

  “I’ll take this one.” Looking over at Micah, I see him smiling at me. He just nods his head and goes back to spitting paper. My best friend is proud of me, even if he can’t say it, and honestly, I’m kind of proud of me too. It’s time to take Micah home and go make love to my woman.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Emma Grace

  Oh god.

  My head.

  My eyes.

  My mouth.

  My head.

  I feel like death warmed over. And my legs feel like lead. I try to move them, but they are seriously dead weight. My mucked-up mind recognizes that is not good, so I use all of the strength I have to sit up on my elbows.

  I find Cam half naked and draped over my legs, mouth wide open and a shoe in her hand. What happened last night?

  I try to pull my legs out from under her when she groans and rolls over, opening her eyes.

  “I’m never drinking again. Mark my words,” she whispers. Neither of us is capable of dealing with any sound louder than a whisper.

  “I need water. And ibuprofen. Stat,” I whisper back, not eve
n attempting to argue with her, because at this point, I don’t think I’ll ever drink again either.

  We make our way out of my bed, and I have just enough energy to get a huge glass of water and some medicine before I collapse back on the couch.

  “Thank God we didn’t have plans today. I can’t see getting off this couch in the foreseeable future.” I lean my head on Cam’s shoulder, hoping she agrees with me so I don’t have to lie here in misery alone. Misery loves company and all that.

  “Right. I am not leaving this house. Period. End of story. There are plenty of places that deliver if we need food.”

  “Don’t even mention food.” I mock gag, knowing that the smell of actual food would turn my stomach.

  “What the heck was in that wine Shayna brought? That stuff packed a mean punch.”

  “I don’t think it was necessarily what was in the wine as much as how much we drank. I see five bottles of wine on the counter.”

  “That could be it,” she concedes, laying her head on the back of the sofa.

  We spend the morning recovering from our bender, snacking randomly on saltine crackers and sipping on bottles of water. We leave the TV on mute and chat in whispers until late afternoon.

  Eventually, Cam finally decides she feels good enough to go down to her shop and finish up a few odds and ends for a project she has coming due.

  “You want to head out with me? I’m not leaving for about an hour or so,” she mumbles around her toothbrush, standing in the doorway of my room.

  “Yeah, that sounds good, I guess,” I say, flopping back on my bed. No sooner are the words out of my mouth than my cell starts ringing. I look down to see Shayna calling and snatch it up.

  “Hey, lady. What’s up?”

  “Umm, hey. It’s Shayna.”

  “Yeah, babe. Got that when your name came up on my phone.” I laugh, thinking she sounds like she tied on a pretty good one last night too. “What’s shakin’, bacon?”

  “Are you and Cam leaving the house today?”