“So what’s your verdict of the finished product?” Kate asked as she gently set the book down on the coffee table in front of them and wriggled around so that she was curled up in his lap.
“I think I like it,” Michael admitted, “but I’ll feel better after you’ve read it.”
“I’ll start it tonight,” she promised. “Can’t have you suffering any longer.”
“I’m relieved and terrified all at once,” Michael admitted, and then gave a short bark of laughter. “And all these years I thought hearing back from Alistair was the hardest part.”
“I’ll be gentle,” Kate assured him.
“You always are.” He smiled back and ran his hands up her neck and into her hair. “Hey, wife.”
“Hey, husband.” Kate smiled before dipping in for a kiss.
True to her word, Kate read late into the night.
~~~
Michael rolled over onto his side and buried his head in the pillow, blinking against the light that was flooding into the bedroom. He lifted his head and peered over Kate’s shoulder toward the bedside clock, blinking until the displayed time could register.
“Baby.” He gave Kate’s shoulder a gentle shake. “Kate,” he said a little louder this time. “You’re going to be late.”
“Not gonna,” Kate mumbled as she rolled over and buried her head against his chest, frowning as she tried not to wake up.
“Yeah, you will.” Michael swallowed a laugh as Kate shook her head again and curled herself tightly around him.
“Day off,” Kate mumbled. She was waking up now, and rubbed her cheek against his bare chest as she began to rub her instep up and down his calf.
“Really?” Michael glanced at the clock and then down at his wife. Well, that just changed everything. “What for?”
“Emily told me that I had some reading to do, but I can think of a few things we could do first,” Kate replied as she began to dust kisses across Michael’s chest, swirling her tongue on his skin and nipping in a way that made him give an involuntary squirm. She offered him an impish smile as she began to wriggle around in the bed, working her way downward with her hands and lips and smiling at Michael as his face lit up with a delighted smile of understanding.
“If that’s the way you feel,” Michael murmured, his words ending in a soft gasp as Kate’s hands and tongue swirled lower still.
“Oh, I’m feeling quite a few things,” Kate said with a muffled laugh as her head disappeared beneath the sheets. Soon she was quite incapable of speech, but then again so was Michael, so it all worked out rather well.
An hour later, Kate was freshly showered and dressed. She walked out into the living room in time to see Michael padding toward her with a cup in his hand.
“What’s this?” she asked as Michael handed her the cup and gave her a kiss.
“The start of breakfast,” Michael said as he turned to go back to the kitchen. “Where do you want it?”
“Uh, I’ll have it in the kitchen.” Kate blinked at his departing back, and then sipped at the coffee. She followed him slowly and arrived to see him scooping the last pancake onto the short stack he’d made before spooning mixed berries and powdered sugar over the lot.
“Wow.” Kate was impressed. “What brought this on?”
Michael looked up with a slight smile. “Can’t a guy make breakfast for his wife?”
“Every morning as far as I’m concerned,” Kate agreed and then waved a hand at the small feast he had created. “But this looks pretty special.”
“I figured you need your strength for all the reading you’ve got ahead of you today.” Michael rounded the island and guided Kate to her seat. Kate sank into the chair and picked up the small jug of maple syrup Michael had set beside the plate. A moment later, she looked up at Michael with round eyes as she chewed, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
“Good?” Michael smiled and leaned down. It was meant to be a short kiss, but the sweetness of her answering smile and the maple syrup on her lips rapidly turned it into something more. “Whoa,” he replied and stepped back licking his lips.
“Oh, I don’t know about that, c’mere.” Kate reached toward him with a gleam, but Michael stepped back, neatly evading her grab at his shirt.
“Breakfast, then reading,” he admonished.
“Spoilsport,” Kate grumbled, but she was smiling again as she returned her attention to her pancakes. She looked up in surprise minutes later when Michael reappeared wearing his running gear. “You’re going out?”
“I need to run off some steam,” he explained. He had been full of nervous energy ever since the book had arrived. The manuscript had been a ghost in their lives throughout their relationship. Now that it was published, its potential impact on their lives had become all the more real. He couldn’t wait for Kate to read it, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be there when she did.
“Okay.” Kate sipped her coffee and nodded. “You go have fun; I’ll see you when you get back.”
“See you soon.” Michael walked up behind her to kiss her neck before snatching up his keys and walking toward the door.
Kate watched him go with resigned amusement and then returned her attention to breakfast.
~~~
Michael paused in the foyer downstairs to do some quick stretches, and then broke into a light jog as soon as he hit the pavement. He started by counting his steps, the number of pedestrians he had to jog around as he steadily increased his pace, and then settled for counting his breaths. By the time he got to Washington Square Park and saw David pacing in a slow circle, he was warmed up and ready to go.
“Hey,” Michael greeted him as he caught up and they set off.
“Dude.” David nodded. “So she has a copy?”
“Yup, got it yesterday.” Michael nodded.
They jogged on in a companionable silence for a while.
“You okay?” David ventured.
Michael shot him a sidelong look. “Fine. She was just about to start reading again when I left.”
“Ah.” David gave a sage nod. “So that’s why you wanted to get out this morning.”
“I figured it’d be better for her if I wasn’t pacing the apartment all day, watching her turn the pages.”
“Good call.” David nodded. He studied Michael as they jogged, noting with amusement that he hadn’t seen Michael this nervous since his and Kate’s wedding day. The day had been kept as low-key as humanly possible, and still, Michael had been a roiling mass of nerves until he had seen Kate enter the room laughing with Susan. Over the past six months, David had watched his friend reach a level of peace and contentment in his life that he had never known before. David hoped it would be the same for him, which was something he looked forward to discovering in the very near future.
“What time do you have to get to work?” Michael grunted as they rounded another curve of the trail.
“Late,” David replied. “Juggled my schedule with one of the faculty so I could keep you company for a while.”
“Yeah?” Michael looked surprised.
“Yeah, and get over it, Forrester.” David jogged closer so that he could nudge Michael hard enough to send him staggering off the path. “We all know what you’re like at times like this. I’m just doing my bit for misery control.”
They jogged on in silence while Michael processed David’s words.
“Thanks, man,” he said at last.
“No charge,” David replied with a placid smile.
~~~
“… and there’s your change.” Kristyn smiled at her customer as she handed over some coins and a takeout coffee cup before turning to Emily. “Do you think Kate will come in today?”
“Doubt it,” Wren commented on her way past. “Michael’s books are huge, so if she can read his latest in a day, I’ll be surprised.”
Emily had called an emergency summit meeting of the troops when she had discovered the publication date of Michael’s book. She, Wren, and Kristyn had ban
ded together to tell Kate her services would not be required on the coming Wednesday—a decision Kate received with mild shock.
“But what about the store?”
“Hello?” Wren chimed in. “Have we burned it down on any other day that you haven’t been here?”
“Well, no, but things are so busy lately,” Kate began, stopping when Emily waved her down. The store had been reviewed again, this time by the New York Times, and trade continued to increase as a result.
“Enough,” Emily said. “The three of us will be fine, and I have a cunning plan.”
“How cunning?” Kate regarded her with a slight smile, touched at the girls’ concern for her.
“So cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel,” Emily deadpanned before continuing. “The lovely Kristyn here has a barista friend who can come help out at short notice.” She indicated Kristyn, who bobbed a quick curtsey. Kristyn and Wren had the same slight build and, it seemed, the same hummingbird energy level. “We’ll be fine, which is why you need to stay at home and read.”
Emily leaned against the workbench and surveyed the store. Business was going well, and she was delighted to see that her cupcakes for the day had been well received by the customers.
“Hey, Kristyn,” Emily said, “how about you call your friend and ask if she can work here for a few days. I think Kate’s going to be busy for longer than she thinks.”
“Will do.” Kristyn nodded and went into the kitchen to get her cell phone out of her bag.
~~~
Michael fished his cell phone out of his pocket and checked the screen again. No calls. He sighed and put it away as he kept walking aimlessly. It was now Friday afternoon, and Kate had nearly finished the book. By unspoken agreement there had been no discussion about what Kate had read so far; they both wanted to wait until she had completed it so that they could discuss the story in full, but the nervous anticipation was killing him. Hours later, he was reaching a breaking point, walking out of yet another store after realizing he was doing little but staring sightlessly at the merchandise. He snatched at his pocket as he felt his phone begin to vibrate.
All done. Come home xK
Michael put the phone away, and then looked at the traffic around him. There were no cabs in sight, and so he broke into a run. Arriving home, Michael fumbled with the keys, cursing under his breath when he dropped them in his haste. As soon as he was inside, he was looking for Kate.
“I’m in here,” he heard her call, and he headed for the bedroom, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw her.
Kate was curled up against the pillows, a pile of crumpled tissues beside the now completed book.
“Hey.” She gave him a tremulous smile.
“Kate …” Michael paused and swallowed hard as he walked toward her and stopped at the foot of the bed.
“You’re too far away.” Kate held up her arms. “I need you here.”
Michael shrugged off his jacket and kicked off his shoes before crawling across the bed to take her in his arms. Kate turned into his embrace with a sigh, and he only realized she was crying when he felt the damp warmth on his chest.
“Hey.” He kissed the top of her head. “Hey, now.” He reached down and gently tipped her face up so that he could look at her. Her eyes were pink and puffy from crying, and her bottom lip trembled as she looked at him. “Is it really that bad?”
“Michael.” Kate reached for him, and he was surprised at the intensity of her kiss.
“I guess you liked it.” He offered her a lopsided smile as she hiccuped.
“I love it.” Kate nodded. “Really, Michael. I love it.”
“Then I’m glad,” he answered as he pushed her hair off her face with gentle fingers. He felt his whole body relax as Kate smiled and settled herself against him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“He lived,” Kate said after a moment of peaceful quiet. Michael’s hand stilled on her hair, and she propped her chin on Michael’s chest to look up at him. “Jack lived, in your book.”
Michael resumed stroking her hair. “Is that okay?”
“Better than,” she confirmed, and then snuggled into his chest again. “It was perfect.” She thought back over the story and gave a sad smile. Michael had been truthful; there was enough characterizations and anecdotes in the book for Kate to recognize herself, but done in such a way that her privacy remained intact. Jack was in there too, alive and well on the printed page along with Paul and Gwen. There were even shadows of Emily, Wren, and David that she had smiled over. They weren’t lifelike portraits, but after knowing the real thing, she had recognized each of them when they had ghosted across the pages. Michael pulled Kate closer and kissed her again, feeling more relief than he had imagined possible.
“I sent Paul a copy,” Kate offered after a contemplative silence had descended over the room again.
“You did? I thought you’d been here all day,” Michael said, surprised.
“I called Alistair and got him to send Bear a copy. He’s reading it now,” Kate explained. She patted his chest with a reassuring hand. “He’ll love it too.”
“You called Alistair?” Michael’s surprise was growing. “I’m surprised he agreed to do that.”
“Well, it came at a cost,” Kate admitted.
“Ah.” Michael nodded. “Which was …” He raised an eyebrow and smiled as Kate’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.
“Oreo cupcakes,” she replied. “He wants some this week.”
“He’s a pushy bastard.” Michael sighed.
“Yeah, he told me that too.” Kate pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked at Michael after knuckling her tired eyes. “I figured I’d make some over the weekend, and we can take them into his office on Monday.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Michael nodded. “It’s probably about time you two met each other.”
“That’s what I thought.” Kate looked at him for a moment, and then shifted herself so that she was straddling Michael, rocking herself gently against him. Michael reached up and grabbed her hips out of sheer reflex.
“Anything else you’re thinking?” he asked as Kate settled herself comfortably against his core, and then reached up to pull off her shirt in one fluid gesture.
“One or two ideas come to mind,” she offered with a smile. “Shall I tell you about them?”
“Words can be overrated.” Michael gave an elaborately casual shrug. “How about you show me instead.”
“If you insist,” Kate murmured, and then bent her head to kiss him.
~~~
“Morning, boss,” Emily greeted her as Kate breezed into the store the next morning.
“Emily, don’t call me boss.”
“Sorry, boss.” Emily gave a delighted laugh. “I can’t tell you how weird it is to be a part of that routine.”
“What routine’s that?” Kate asked as she rounded the counter to go and collect her apron from the kitchen.
“The Wren routine you guys always had going,” Emily explained. “First the cupcakes and quotes, and now the morning greeting. It felt strange at first, but on the days Wren isn’t here, it still feels like she is, you know?”
“I do.” Kate stopped and gave a fond smile.
Wren was following her dream, and the promise her talent had always foreshadowed at the store was at last coming to fruition. She had worked with Christine on getting a stand at the market, and within weeks had established herself. Christine had reported back to Kate that Wren’s fashions were generating a lot of buzz, and she was acquiring herself a small-but-devoted following. She was still working at the store and thoroughly enjoying herself, but everyone involved knew that it was only a matter of time before Wren’s fashions would be able to keep her financially self-sufficient.
Yielding to the inevitable, Wren had moved in with David before Easter, and although the stress of sharing her life with someone on such a permanent basis had created some memorable fireworks, Kate had never seen her
happier. Michael and Paul had helped with the move, and Michael had watched as David had lugged boxes upstairs with the tired but happy smile of a man who held a winning ticket.
Emily and Brad’s relationship remained as steady as ever, and it had been bolstered further after Brad had at last met Michael at the Christmas party. Brad had been quick to secure Michael’s presence for a special literary event at the bookstore, which had been well publicized in the weeks leading up to the book’s release. In literary circles, the opportunity to meet the somewhat reclusive Michael Forrester had made it one of the hottest tickets in town. Kate had avoided the event, as she hadn’t wanted it to spoil any surprises before she read the book for herself, but Emily had made sure she was there at Brad’s side. Listening to Michael’s voice as he read an excerpt from the book, Emily had reached out to find Brad’s hand already seeking out her own. They had stood there hand in hand, spellbound at the words Michael wove around them.
“Kate,” Emily had told her the next day, “when that book comes out, you are going to drop everything. You are going to do nothing until you have read it. Have I made myself clear?”
“Crystal.” Kate had nodded and then after a pause. “So, it’s good?”
“I’m not saying another word about it.” Emily had pointed an admonishing finger at Kate. “Now you make the coffee, and I’ll get the chalk.”
“So …” Emily began as she got down some cups and slid them over to Kate, “now that you’ve had a chance to read it, what did you think?”
“Oh.” Kate blinked at the coffee machine in front of her, and then gathered herself to start making coffee. “Well, it was … unexpected.”
“Unexpected how?”
Kate moved as if to speak and settled for frothing the milk instead. When the coffees were made, the conversation resumed.
“Unexpected in a sad and beautiful way,” Kate said after a long pause. “It made me laugh, cry.” She paused and sipped at her coffee again. “It made me think.” Another pause as she gave the book some more thought and then offered a short laugh. “I don’t know that I’ll ever look at fluorescent lighting in the same way again.”
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