After the Climb (River Rain 0.50)

“Gen—”

“I’m not done,” I clipped.

Duncan closed his mouth.

“And I’m not going to stand here and listen to you try to explain why you didn’t believe me.”

“It was Corey.”

I touched my hand to my chest. “And I was me.”

That again shut his mouth.

“We can’t go back, and not only because I don’t wish to go back, because we can’t. I have a life, a career, and three children—”

“All grown and no man.”

“After what you put me through, and what Tom put me through, do you think I want a man?”

There was a subtle but distinct rumble to his, “What’d that guy put you through?”

And again, there was my Bowie.

Protective, almost to a fault.

I shouldn’t have brought Tom into it.

I shook my head. “It’s none of your business.”

“Genny, for Christ’s sake—”

“It really turns on a dime like that for you?” I demanded.

“It never turned the other way,” he shot back.

Oh my God.

I felt those words through every cell in my body.

And so, I had to do it. I had to pull her up.

Bonnie.

Sweet and kind and funny.

But more importantly, strong and smart and able.

“Well, I’m very sorry, Duncan,” I said quietly. “Truly, I am. But it did for me. And there’s no turning back.”

We stood there, staring at each other.

And it was with no small measure of pain that I took him in, knowing the last time I saw him in person he was twenty-six and glorious.

And now he was fifty-four and no less glorious. Silver in his hair. Also his beard. Lines on his forehead, around his eyes. And maybe part of that heft he had was some weight in his middle, because Duncan was always active, but he loved his food.

And oh, how much I would have treasured being beside him along the way to see him become the man who stood before me.

But that was gone.

Corey took it away.

And Duncan let him.

Yes, most importantly, Duncan had let him.

And that was the Duncan I had now.

Because he was going to do it again.

He stepped out of my way.

But this time, he allowed me to walk out of his life.

And that was what I did.

Chapter 2

The Operation

Chloe

* * *

Sitting in her car, she watched her mom walk into the hotel.

And her mom could fool a lot of people.

But she couldn’t fool Chloe.

Therefore, once Mom disappeared inside with Rodney, Chloe put the bright red Evoque in drive and slid out of the parking spot.

Driving while hitting the buttons on the dash, she called Mary.

“Oh God, I knew it,” was Mary’s greeting.

“Instigating Operation Happiness,” Chloe replied.

“Your mother is going to fire me.”

“She is not.”

“If I interfered in your love life, would you continue to be my friend?”

“If you reunited me with a serious hot guy who stood for everything I stand for who I’d pined after for years, yes.”

Mary didn’t have an answer to that.

“There’s no time to waste,” Chloe told her. “And anyway, you’re hardly on the front lines with all of this.”

“You’re always so dramatic.”

“Someone in this family has to be.”

“You compensating for your parents’ absolute dedication to being down to earth always gets me into trouble.”

“Now who’s being dramatic?”

“I have things to do.”

“Yes, you do. Byeeeeeee,” Chloe signed off.

After she’d disconnected, she made her second call.

“Oh shit,” her baby sister Sasha answered.

“It didn’t go well.”

“Poor Mom,” Sasha whispered. Then, “Is Mary on it?”

“Totes.”

“Mom’s gonna be pissed.”

“Yep. Then eventually, she’ll be happy.”

“You know…”

Sasha trailed off and didn’t start up again.

“I don’t know unless you tell me,” Chloe prompted.

Sasha sounded like she was sharing a guilty secret when she said, “Uncle Corey, he always gave me a bit of the heebie-jeebies.”

Sasha was not alone in that estimation.

“He was into her,” Chloe stated.

“So into her.”

The sisters were silent.

Sasha broke it.

“Okay, take good care of her, okay?”

“You know I will,” Chloe assured.

“Should I fly home this weekend?”

“No. I got this.”

“Are you going to tell Matt?”

“Absolutely not.”

Their brother, annoyingly upright, responsible and protective, would ruin everything.

“Right,” Sasha muttered.

“It’s going to be okay, la petite amie.”

“Yeah,” Sasha said.

“Stay cool.”

“Stay smart.”

“Au revoir.”

“You’re such a goof. Ciao, sis.”

Chloe disconnected that call, and then hit more buttons.

“Did you talk with her?” her dad asked in greeting.

Not exactly, she did not answer.

“Well…”

That was all she was going to give him.

For now.

“Tell me. How’d it go, kiddo?” he pressed, knowing mother and daughters had always been close, but once she and Sasha grew up, Mom shifted, and Mom-Mom became Mom-Friend.

Chloe could not say they told each other everything.

But they shared.

A lot.

And Mom had shared this, maybe because she was hurting and fragile after Uncle Corey died.

But mostly because they were tight, and honesty had always been encouraged in their family.

In fact, as far as she knew, it was only Chloe who played fast and loose with that last, occasionally roping her sister in on the act (though never her brother—solid, dependable, do-the-right-thing Matt was apparently working toward sainthood, and it was vastly irritating).