Love, Always and Forever

by Alexis Morgan

  And if that was okay to do, why did she feel so guilty? Her family had spent years worrying about her. This move to another city had been hard on them all, even though she still believed it was the best thing for all concerned. A little time and distance would go a long way toward convincing them that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself these days. Of course, none of them would buy into that idea if they found out she was doing construction work.

  Please, God, don’t let any of my family get the crazy idea to drop in on me unexpectedly. That could prove disastrous.

  Hoping she sounded more calm than she felt, she asked, “So when will you have time to work on the fence again?”

  “I plan to work on it part of tomorrow, but I have to get some other stuff done before I go back to work on Monday. I also work another twenty-four-hour shift starting Wednesday, so it will depend on how busy we are at the firehouse that night. If all is quiet, and I get to sleep, I can start back on the fence late Thursday morning or early in the afternoon. If it’s another rough one like the night before you and I met, it could mean I’ll come home and crash for the entire day. In that case, it will be Friday.”

  He paused to take a long drink of water. “Does that work for you?”

  “That’s fine. Just give me a call when you’re ready to start.”

  The entire crew was about finished eating. Someone had trained them well, because as soon as the guys were done, they started stacking the dishes. Ricky and Mikhail helped carry everything inside the house. It was all she could do to shoo them back outside to let her clean up the kitchen by herself. Considering they were all working for the cost of sliced ham and fruit salad, she wasn’t about to let them do dishes, too.

  Luckily for her, the window over the sink faced the backyard, offering her an unobstructed view of four men in the prime of life sweating in the sunshine. It was tempting to snap some pictures to post online, but she couldn’t risk it. Even if she limited access to a couple of her closest girlfriends, there was always a chance they would tell someone in her family about it.

  No need to go there. None at all.

  Still, it was tempting to snap at least one of Mikhail for the scrapbook she was putting together to document this major move in her life. He happened to glance at the window right then. Oops, caught staring again. What could she do but wave with a sudsy hand and then get right back to work scrubbing dishes? She felt his answering grin right down to her toes.

  If it was this hard to pretend he was just another one of the guys today with his brothers and nephew underfoot to serve as a buffer between them, what would it be like tomorrow when it was just the two of them? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

  Chapter 3

  Mikhail pulled into his driveway with his bones aching and his eyelids scraping across his irises like 50-grit sandpaper. The last time he’d felt this bad he’d been on a forced march in full gear across some of the worst territory Afghanistan could offer. For a second, he was surprised to find himself dressed in jeans and a faded Seahawks T-shirt instead of a uniform. Damn, he hated when he got caught between reality and his past. Most of the time he managed to shove the worst of the memories to the back of his mind, but they had a tendency to come creeping out whenever he got this tired.

  His mood improved as soon as he spotted a batch of cinnamon rolls sitting on his porch. He dropped his duffel and picked up the plate. Hot damn, they were still warm. After peeling off the plastic, he studied the possibilities. He bypassed both the smallest and the largest, instead zeroing in on the one with the most icing. After last night, he needed a sugar rush just to make it through his front door.

  He practically inhaled the roll, savoring the yeasty goodness and the perfect balance between sugar, cinnamon, and maybe just a hint of cloves. So delicious. Kudos to Amy. There weren’t many people who could give his mother a run for her money when it came to baking, but evidently Amy was one of them.

  Holding the plate in a death grip, he unlocked the door and kicked his duffel into the dim interior of his entryway. He followed it inside and slammed the door shut. Breathing came more easily once he had the solid thickness of the heavy oak between him and the rest of the world. He had one thing left to do before he jumped into the shower and crawled into bed.

  After punching in Amy’s number on his cellphone, he waited impatiently for her to pick up. She finally answered on the fifth ring. “Hi, Mikhail. I’m driving, so I shouldn’t stay on the phone long.”

  He could barely hear her over the road noise in the background. Most likely she was speaking into one of those speakers mounted on the dash. “I won’t keep you. I just wanted to thank you for the cinnamon rolls.”

  Then it occurred to him that maybe he had jumped the gun. If Amy was away from home, then maybe she hadn’t been the one who’d left the rolls on his doorstep. To his relief, she immediately said, “I tried a new recipe, so let me know what you think. They’re my way of apologizing for ducking out on our work party this morning. My mom had to come to Seattle for an appointment and asked me to meet her for lunch. I should be home around two, so I can help after that.”

  He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes as they talked. Something about that slight huskiness in her voice soothed away the last bit of his tension. “Perfect. I need to grab some sleep before I should be allowed around any power tools anyway.”

  “Great. Give me a call when you’re ready. See you later.”

  “Will do.”

  They’d said everything that needed to be said, but he found himself reluctant to hang up. “Where are you going to have lunch?”

  “A place I’ve never been. Mom said they serve breakfast all day and are famous for their scrambles.”

  “You’ll have to let me know how it goes. I’m always looking for new places to try.”

  “I will.”

  Before he could think of anything else to say, she said, “Look, I hate to hang up on you, but I’m pulling into the restaurant, and I see my mom. I’ll talk to you when I get home, okay?”

  It would have to be. “Sure thing. And if you want to spend the day with your mom, don’t rush back. I can handle the work on the fence by myself.”

  Not that he wanted to. He got a kick out of watching Amy swinging that hammer she was so proud of.

  “She has to get back home in time to cook dinner. Heaven forbid my brothers or father actually fend for themselves.”

  He laughed. “My mom prefers to do the cooking, too. She says it’s because of the way we destroy the kitchen whenever we take over.”

  Amy’s laughter rang out crisp and clear. “There is that.”

  The sound helped soothe a few of his rough edges. “In our defense, she made sure we all knew how to cook well enough to keep from starving to death or having to live on fast food. I make a mean goulash. Maybe I’ll make it for you sometime.”

  “I’d like that. Oops, Mom is headed this way, so I’d better go. See you later, Mikhail.”

  Yeah, she would. Before then, he really needed to grab some sleep. He ate one more of the cinnamon rolls on the way to the kitchen and another on his way back down the hall to the bathroom to take that much needed shower.

  As he stripped off, he caught sight of his image in the mirror over the sink and realized he was smiling. Funny how that seemed to happen every time he came in contact with Amy. He didn’t know quite what to make of it, but he was too tired to worry about it. Instead, he stepped into the stinging spray counting down the seconds until he could get horizontal.

  —

  Up until this point, their outing had been pleasant as her mother caught Amy up on everything that had happened since they’d last spoken. But now, she silently watched as her mother worked herself up to say something that she knew wouldn’t make Amy happy. Well, she wasn’t going to make it easy for her. Instead, she quietly sipped her tea and waited. When her mother drew a deep breath and let it out slowly through her mouth, Amy braced herself.

&n
bsp; “So you’re being careful not to overdo, aren’t you?” The question was accompanied by an apologetic smile. “I don’t mean to upset you, honey, really. It’s just that your dad and your brothers worry.”

  Mom might not mean to upset her, but she went right ahead and did it anyway. It was one more reminder that Amy had done the right thing by putting some distance between her and her overprotective family. Rather than answer the question, she hit the ball back over the net squarely into her mother’s court.

  “So how is Dad’s diet going? I assume he’s cut back on red meat and carbs like the doctor told him to do five years ago and every year since. I was thinking about buying him some of those cute little running shorts since I know he’s exercising regularly, too.”

  Her mother’s mouth hardened into a straight line. “That was unkind, Amy. You know your father has been doing much better with all of that and has even lost a little weight. Now, I’ve answered your question. Answer mine.”

  “I’ve been taking my time unpacking everything.” She forced a smile. “Want to see the pictures of the stack of boxes still sitting in the middle of my living room floor?”

  She got out her phone and scrolled to the album she’d created from pictures she’d taken of the house. “There’s the pile of stuff I haven’t put away yet. Here’s my office, which is pretty much set up now.”

  After giving her mother a quick peek at those two photos, Amy brought up the next one. “Here’s my bedroom.”

  Her mom gave the picture a cursory glance. “Your father said you were having a fence built. How is that going?”

  Amy shrugged. “I have pictures of that, too. The fence posts are in and a few of the rails. The contractor hopes to finish it by the end of next week.”

  Her mother frowned. “Why is it taking so long? When our neighbor had his fence done, it only took the contractor a couple of days. Maybe your father should have a talk with the man.”

  That was the last thing Amy wanted to happen and not just because she and Mikhail were doing the rest of the work. If she gave an inch this time, the next time her parents thought they should step in, there would be no holding them back. “No, Mom, I don’t need Dad’s help dealing with this. I checked the man’s credentials and all the review sites to make sure he was reputable.”

  That was a wee bit of a lie. She did check the reviews for Joe’s Construction, which was the name of Jack’s company. However, he wasn’t the one doing the rest of the work. “I knew going in that the contractor was going to schedule working on my fence around another job he’s doing. He discounted the price because of that. It’s on track to be finished before I get my puppy from the breeder, so I’m okay with how it’s moving along. He’s also doing my neighbor’s fence at the same time.”

  What put that look on her mom’s face this time? Oh, right, the puppy.

  “Didn’t I tell you that I’m getting a bulldog puppy? That’s why I’m having the yard fenced in the first place.”

  By this point, her mother sat slumped back in her chair, her expression sad rather than angry. “You have no intention of ever moving back home.”

  It wasn’t a question, but it deserved an answer. “I made that clear from the beginning, Mom. If the move was only temporary, I would have rented a house instead of buying one.”

  “We miss you and you know we worry.”

  Amy hated the sparkle of tears in her mother’s eyes, but she wasn’t going to back down. Not after she’d come so far. It was so much easier to simply breathe without her parents or one of her brothers hovering over her shoulder all the time. Even though her health had improved so much, they hardly let her go for a walk without one of them tagging along. Then there was the time when she’d run into an old friend while walking the trail at a local park and stopped to have a cup of coffee with her. Of course, it would be the one time she’d left her phone in the car.

  She could still feel the burn of embarrassment when the police were waiting by her car when she came back. Once she assured them that she was fine, they’d asked her to call home. The next day, she’d called a real estate agent, and the rest was history.

  “Mom, I miss you, too, but I’m happy in my new home, and my Web design business is doing better than ever. I’m excited about getting a pet. These are the kinds of things that parents are supposed to want for their children. Most people would be thrilled to know they had successfully launched an adult into the world.”

  She signaled the waiter to get the check. When he set the folder with the bill in it on the table, Amy snatched it up before her mother could. “My treat, but now I need to be going. I have work to do.”

  On the fence, but she wasn’t about to share that little bit of information. The thought of hanging out with Mikhail all afternoon brightened her mood considerably.

  Her mother caught her hand in her own. “Please, Amy, let’s not part angry. We are proud of what you’ve accomplished. It’s just hard to have you so far away.”

  After putting enough cash in the folder to cover the bill, Amy managed a small smile, hoping it looked happier than it felt. “It’s not as if I moved across the country.”

  Although she’d actually considered it for all of ten minutes. “It’s less than a hundred miles from door-to-door, Mom. Once I finish settling in, I’ll come down for Sunday dinner.”

  They both stood up and headed toward the exit. “We’ll look forward to that. Email your father some of those pictures. I know he’d love to see them.”

  “I will.”

  When they reached their cars, she hugged her mom. “Tell Dad I love him and that I’m doing fine. Great, even.”

  “I will, honey, and let him know if you do run into problems with that fence guy. He’d be glad to talk to him for you.”

  Yeah, like that was going to happen. The longer she could keep her parents from meeting her sexy neighbor, the better for everyone involved.

  Back on the road, she cranked up her favorite radio station and sang along at the top of her lungs. It was just one more thing she got to do now that her brothers weren’t around to complain about the quality of her singing or her taste in music. Like they had any room to talk, the big jerks.

  She missed them like crazy sometimes, not that she’d ever admit it. The four of them were like stair steps in both size and age. Will was the oldest at thirty-five. The twins, Mark and Brett, were thirty-three, followed by Chad at thirty. Every one of the bunch was at least two inches over six feet tall and handsome to boot, although none of them had let that go to their heads. Not much, anyway. Will was the only one who was married. None of the others had shown any signs of settling down as yet, another source of constant disappointment to their parents.

  Her phone rang, ending her self-serenade. She turned the radio down and punched the button to answer.

  “Hello.”

  Her brother Chad’s voice filled the car. “So, little sister, did you survive the inquisition?”

  Leave it to him to make her laugh. He was the one person in the family who had supported her decision to strike out on her own. Well, sort of, anyway.

  “Barely.”

  “Let me see if I can guess the main talking points. First, you live too far away. Second, you live too far away. Third, you live too far away.”

  “Wow, that’s uncanny! Were you listening in somehow? Was the maple syrup pitcher bugged?”

  “I’ll never reveal my sources, although the subject of the intended conversation may have come up at dinner last night.”

  “You should have seen the look on Mom’s face when I let it slip that I was getting a bulldog puppy. It was like she’d somehow convinced herself that none of this was real until that moment.”

  “Poor kid, don’t you go feeling guilty. Even if I miss seeing you and hate that you’re so far away, I do understand what drove you to put some distance between you and the folks.”

  If so, he was the only one in the family who did. “Why can you still live within half a mile of their house and
not feel smothered?”

  There was a brief silence before he finally answered. “It’s different for me.”

  “How so?”

  “You know why, Sis.”

  As much as she hated to admit it, she did. It had nothing to do with gender or age, but instead with the health issues that had plagued her life almost from birth. “Yeah, I know. This is the only way I’ll ever get them to see me as capable of taking care of myself. I just hate that it hurts them so much.”

  Chad’s sympathy came through loud and clear. “They’ll come around sooner or later, and I’m rooting hard for you. God knows you got a double dose of bullheaded stubbornness, so I know you’re up to the task.”

  “I learned it from you.”

  He laughed. “As the youngest two, we had to learn to stand up for ourselves or get crushed by the twins and big brother.”

  “True enough.”

  “I’ll let you go. I just wanted to make sure that the lunch date didn’t turn ugly. Do you want me to drop in at the folks’ house for dinner tonight to hear Mom’s take on things?”

  That would be a bit underhanded, but she wasn’t going to stop him. “Only if you really want to. Having said that, thanks for taking one for the team.”

  “Anytime. Besides, it’s meatloaf night. I plan to make off with the leftovers to live on for a couple of days.”

  “One of these days you really need to learn to cook or marry someone who already knows how.”

  She could almost see him shudder. “Yeah, right, so not happening. Besides, I do all right with speed dial and carryout menus.”

  “Well, I’m almost home, so I’d better hang up. Once I get my guest room furnished, I’ll have you over a visit. Maybe make a weekend of it and take in a ballgame.”

  “It’s a date, and I’ll email you if Mom says anything interesting.”

  “Thanks.”

  Turning into the driveway, she saw Mikhail was already hard at work, his blond hair gleaming in the sun. She waved as she pulled into the garage. A quick change of clothes, and she’d be right out there with him sporting her fancy pink tool belt and ready to put her hammer to good use.