Until There Was Us

by Samantha Chase

  She nodded again. “And I figured I’d ask Summer to help out too. Maybe we could make a day of it on Saturday or something.”

  Gracefully, Gabriella turned and put her coffee mug down before looking at Megan again. “I think that is the perfect plan. We’ll talk to Summer about it over lunch, and since it’s for you, Zach can’t possibly have a problem with it.”

  “He’s been a bit of a—”

  “Nervous Nelly?” Gabriella said with a grin. “Yes. If it wasn’t so incredibly sweet, it would be annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I love the attention, and I love how concerned he is, but there are times when I need to go off by myself and shop or get a pedicure, and he’s always right there with me.”

  Megan laughed so hard she almost choked on her muffin. “Please tell me he just sits with you when you get a pedicure!”

  Gabriella smiled as she shook her head. “In the beginning, I think he figured he’d sit and watch. Then he tried it. Now he comes with me because he enjoys it!” She laughed. “Please don’t tell him I said that! He’d die of embarrassment!”

  With a zipping motion across her lips, Megan winked. “Well, whenever you need to escape without him, feel free to use me as an excuse. I have no problem covering for you.”

  “You have no idea how much I appreciate that or how much I am going to take you up on your offer.”

  They laughed as Megan finished her muffin and refreshed her coffee. With another word of thanks, she waved and made her way to her office, and before she knew it, she was up to her eyebrows in emails and phone messages from employees who were having issues with some of the new programs they were installing.

  “If only they realized this is just the beginning,” she murmured as she went to work. No one liked change, and learning a new operating system was even more of a challenge than some people could handle. Megan thrived on learning new things; she had worked with Zach remotely over the past month to get him ready for the transition, and she knew she’d have to work equally as hard to put the employees’ minds at ease as she would to get the new system in place.

  That was why she’d ended up working so many hours over the past few days.

  “Hey! You ready for lunch?”

  Megan turned to see Summer standing in the doorway. For a minute, she was confused. Ready for lunch? Glancing at the clock, she saw it was almost one.

  She stood and stretched and then laughed when Summer hugged her. “Have I mentioned how happy I am that you’re here?”

  Megan hugged her back. “About a hundred times, but I love hearing it.”

  “I have to admit, there was a very real possibility of me not being here, but I’m glad Ethan and I compromised.”

  Looking at her curiously, Megan asked, “You mean the whole moving to North Carolina thing?”

  Summer nodded. “Originally, we were moving there full time. But after we got married and talked about it, it was obvious how much he loved it here—not just Portland but working with Zach. So the house in North Carolina is our vacation home now. Plus, I found I kind of like being with this branch of the family for a while.”

  “It’s really just Zach—”

  With a smile, Summer grabbed Megan into another hug. “And now you.”

  That’s probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, Megan thought.

  “Come on—Gabs is waiting, and she’s cranky.”

  “Uh-oh,” Megan said as she grabbed her purse. “How come?”

  “She’s hungry and we’re keeping her waiting,” Summer said with a grin.

  Together they walked to meet up with Gabriella, and as they rode down in the elevator, they talked about lunch options and eventually agreed on a small café around the corner from the office. Megan waited until they were seated and looking at menus to ask Summer about going shopping.

  “Oh my God, yes!” Summer said with a huge smile. “I need a good shopping day!”

  “Oh no,” Gabriella murmured.

  “What? What did I say?” Summer asked.

  Putting her menu down, Gabriella looked at her patiently. “You are probably the last person who needs a shopping day. The last time you went to the mall, what happened?”

  Summer played with her silverware and adjusted the napkin on her lap. “I…shopped.”

  “Really?”

  Rather than respond to Gabriella, Summer looked at Megan. “I bought some dresses for Amber.”

  Megan was confused. “And that’s wrong? Why?”

  “She’s barely three months old, and she doesn’t need fourteen dresses,” Gabriella said with exasperation. “Summer, your daughter is beautiful. Stunning. She looks completely adorable in everything you dress her in.”

  “But?” Summer prompted.

  “But whenever you get within ten feet of a baby department, you tend to go a little crazy.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Megan said, trying to defuse the situation. “I promise we’ll pick places that don’t even have a baby department. If anything, I’m the baby,” she added quickly. “If you need to dress someone up, dress me! Seriously, I’m desperate. I normally wear yoga pants to work. It’s been two years since I bought a new bra. I’ve never once been to a Victoria’s Secret, and I wear old T-shirts to bed.”

  As she let out a sigh of relief at her fashion confession, she missed the nervous glances exchanged between Gabriella and Summer.

  “Two years?” Summer asked. “Really? How is that possible?”

  Megan shrugged. “I don’t know…the one I have fits fine. I didn’t need another.”

  “Everyone needs new lingerie,” Summer countered. “We’re girls. It’s what we do.”

  “No one was seeing it except me, so…”

  “Oh,” Summer said, and then it hit her. “Ooohhh…”

  What was the point in denying the truth? “Yup. So now you know why I need help.”

  “We’re here for you,” Gabriella said, reaching across the table and patting Megan’s hand.

  “This is going to be an all-day event,” Summer said. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to stay away from home for that long—Amber will need to be nursed—”

  “You can pump beforehand and bring the pump with you, right?” Gabriella asked. “Ethan won’t have any problem feeding her while you’re gone.”

  “She’s fussy about taking the bottle,” Summer explained.

  “It’s all right,” Gabriella said. “If we schedule and plan it right, we’ll stop for lunch, and you can run home while Megan and I eat, and then we’ll meet up again when you’re done.”

  “That will work. And I’ll let Ethan know where we are, and if he needs to, he can bring Amber to me while we’re shopping.”

  “Wait,” Megan said as unease crept its way up her spine. “How long do you think this is going to take? I figured we’d hit Macy’s or something and get everything there. We can be done by lunch.”

  Gabriella and Summer looked at each other and started laughing.

  Megan wasn’t sure whether she should be offended.

  “Megs,” Summer began, “trust me. There is no such thing as getting everything in one place. If you’re going to do this, you’re going to want to do it right.”

  “I don’t need that big of a wardrobe. I do have some outfits I can still use.”

  The look both of them gave her said otherwise.

  “Don’t worry,” Summer said soothingly. “We won’t go too crazy, but we will need to cover the basics—a couple pairs of nice pants, some skirts, maybe some dresses, shoes, underwear, and then a couple of casual outfits and sleepwear.”

  “I don’t mind the T-shirts,” Megan grumbled.

  “And you’re going to want some fun outfits for when you start dating,” Gabriella said with a smile.

  “Um…that won’t be necessary right away. I mean, I w
ork a lot of hours and—”

  “Maybe your last job was like that, but I can tell you right now Zach won’t allow you to live at the office,” Gabriella said.

  “Neither will Ethan. They don’t believe in working their employees like that. And trust me—don’t argue with them about it. You won’t win,” Summer said.

  So far, none of this was going like she’d planned—first the topic of shopping and now her work schedule. Megan picked up her menu and forced a smile. “Okay! What are we ordering?”

  * * *

  “I think you seriously need to just give up. You’ve gotten soft. Maybe think about taking up something like…badminton. Or knitting.”

  Zach growled as he paced away and then back again, and all Alex could do was grin.

  “It’s okay. It happens to everyone. You know…you’re old and out of shape. Maybe we should think about going for a stroll in the park where you won’t exert yourself so much.”

  The words his friend was muttering were quite colorful as they bounced off the racquetball court walls. Even though Zach had done better, Alex was still kicking ass, and as much as he was enjoying it, he could tell Zach no longer was.

  “Fine. No strolling in the park. How about you pick the next challenge?” he suggested.

  That perked Zach up. “And you can’t complain?”

  Alex laughed. There wasn’t an activity the two of them had ever done together that he hadn’t enjoyed. “Bring it.”

  “Painting.”

  “Not a…wait. What?”

  Zach grinned. “We’re painting the nursery this weekend,” he explained. “And the guest room, bathroom, and hallway.”

  “Isn’t it a little soon to be painting the nursery?”

  “We’re going with a neutral color since Gabriella and I decided that we want to be surprised by the sex of the baby,” Zach explained. “Once we decided on that, we realized we were going to be seeing an influx of guests once the baby came, so we thought we’d spruce up the entire guest side of the house. I already recruited Ethan to come help me while Gabriella and Summer go shopping with Megan and…”

  Everything in Alex stilled. “Um…Megan?”

  “Oh, right. I didn’t tell you about that,” he said with a small laugh. “My cousin Megan just moved here from Albany. She’s staying with Summer and Ethan and is working for me now because we’re changing computer systems and she’s kind of an IT genius. We’re only a week in and…”

  Zach’s words faded away as Alex tried to come to grips with the fact that Megan Montgomery was here in Portland. Minutes away. It had to be a sign, right? It had to be the reason why she was suddenly on his mind. The thought of seeing her, talking to her…touching her again, it had Alex’s blood pumping in a way that racquetball hadn’t.

  “I’ll do it!” he suddenly blurted out, and Zach looked at him like he was crazy. Which he was. After all, Zach had been talking about computer systems, and here he was shouting out about painting. And there was no guarantee he would see her. Yet. But there was at least a chance.

  “Um…okay. Great. Do you want to come over tomorrow morning?”

  No. Tomorrow was too long. Hell, Alex wasn’t even sure how he was going to get through today!

  “You know, it would save a lot of time and make the weekend more efficient if we prepped tonight. That is, if you’re ready. Maybe call Ethan and we can get a jump start on it.”

  Not questioning Alex’s sudden enthusiasm, Zach agreed. “I had planned on doing some of that tonight—taking off switch-plate covers, taping the trim, that sort of thing.”

  “How about I bring over a couple of pizzas and help?” Alex quickly suggested.

  This time Zach laughed. “Dude, you’re awfully excited about this. Is painting a secret passion of yours?”

  No. But your cousin is…

  He laughed nervously. “No…no, it’s not that. I’ve been bored lately, and I had nothing planned for the weekend, and really, I am happy to lend a hand.”

  Zach didn’t look like he believed him, but he didn’t push him about it. “Great. Well…um…actually, Ethan, Summer, and Megan were already going to come over tonight, but the more the merrier, right? I was planning on burgers. Why don’t you bring the beer. And maybe ice cream for the girls. Gabriella’s been craving all things chocolate.”

  “I don’t think that’s a pregnancy craving. That’s an all-day, everyday female thing.”

  “Either way, grab the most chocolaty ice cream you can find—and maybe some butter pecan for the guys—and the beer, and I’ll grill. Deal?”

  Alex shook Zach’s hand and did everything in his power to hide the goofy grin he felt tugging at his lips. “Deal.”

  They left the court and went to the locker room to shower and change before they went their separate ways—Zach to work, Alex to his morning client. He was going to have all day to think—obsess, really—about what he was going to do and say later on when he and Megan were face-to-face.

  He’d have to play it cool and then…wait. What if she didn’t remember him? What if—like he’d been fearing—their weekend together had meant more to him than it had to her?

  “Don’t go there,” he murmured and then cursed. He was mildly disgusted with himself.

  Why? Why after two years was he still thinking about this? About her? It was a weekend! Granted, it was a damn spectacular weekend, but still. He was a grown man who’d had more than his share of…well…great weekends. He’d been in relationships, and he’d been in love. Although right now he couldn’t conjure up the face of even one other woman.

  Only Megan’s.

  Knowing he had to get back on track, he walked in through the front doors and waved to Cindy at the reception desk. Then he made his way to the PT room to set up. His client today—Nathan Adams—was suffering from degenerative disc disease. He and Alex had been working together for months out of Nathan’s home. Three weeks ago, Nathan had been in a car accident and was now dealing with not only his preexisting issues but also the injury from the accident. Alex had scheduled them for a two-hour session rather than their usual one hour because he knew they were going to need to take things slowly. This was their first session since the accident, so Alex wanted to have time to talk with Nathan about how he was feeling before they got started with movement and exercises.

  As he set up his station, Alex chatted with other therapists and found that being around like-minded people was enough to get him focused on the job rather than his personal life. He loved what he did—loved helping people—and the dream was to someday have a facility or practice of his own. While he was building his client list, it wasn’t enough to support him yet. After all, the goal was to get the patients well enough that they didn’t need him anymore. Working for others wasn’t an issue—not really. But there were times when Alex wished he could be his own boss, buy his own equipment, and try some new therapies the more traditional facilities tended to shy away from.

  Someday, he thought.

  The house he’d bought had a space over the detached garage that was currently set up as an apartment, but he’d considered transforming it into therapy space. It was basically a large studio apartment with a small kitchen area, but it had a massive full bathroom with a spa tub and separate shower. Alex knew with a few modifications he could turn it into the perfect space for clients. The only drawback? It was on the second floor. There was no way most patients would be able to get up there.

  In the past several months, he’d tried to come up with ways to make it work—adding an elevator seemed the most logical option—but the cost to do so was a little more than he wanted to invest, and the change would mean losing space in both the garage and the apartment. And right now the garage was fully utilized for his second car and storage. The space had been a perk when he purchased the house, but now it sat vacant. Eventually he’d figure out what he wanted to do w
ith it.

  “Depressing thoughts for another time,” he murmured and decided to get his head focused on what he was here for. Therapy.

  Placing a stack of towels on the table beside him, Alex looked up as Nathan was wheeled into the therapy room by one of the nurses. Damn. He looked rough. There was still a lot of bruising on the man’s face, and as he got closer, Alex could see him grimacing in pain. Today’s session, unfortunately, wasn’t going to ease anything.

  There was going to be cursing and crying and probably a whole lot of begging for them to stop. Alex was sympathetic to it, he was, but he knew if they could get over these first few sessions, they’d start to see results, and the healing would begin.

  He smiled broadly as he walked over and held out his hand.

  “Nathan! It’s good to see you, buddy!” he said. “Are you ready to get started?”

  * * *

  “So then I was thinking how I could get from the pool to the house without anyone seeing me,” Summer was saying while laughing. “And Megan grabbed two cushions from the patio set, and we ran into the house!”

  Megan wiped away tears as she laughed at the memory. “It was the last time either of us dared one another to go skinny-dipping!”

  Zach was standing in the kitchen putting the meat on a platter while Gabriella stood beside him slicing tomatoes, and they were laughing too. “I’m glad I didn’t witness that,” he said. “Although I’m sure Ryder wishes he didn’t remember it!”

  “No one was supposed to be up,” Summer argued lightly. “We thought we were so smart going out to the pool when everyone was asleep. We had no idea Ryder had snuck out and was trying to sneak back in!”

  Beside her, Ethan leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and then bent to kiss baby Amber on the head. “Tell all these stories now while our daughter is too young to understand them. I don’t want you giving her any ideas.”

  “Oh, stop,” Summer said, playfully swatting him away.

  “Although,” Megan said with a grin, “Amber is going to have a new cousin soon. There’s no telling what kind of mayhem they’ll get into together. Especially if this new cousin is a girl.”