While he worked to form his own business and negotiate with the hospital, he also took weekly trips to Reno where he saw a therapist. He dealt with past guilts and built an arsenal of skills to cope with stress in the future. I was so proud of him for facing his fears and perceived failures head on.
Today, I was rushing home from work because I hadn’t seen Nick for three days. He’d taken my dad down to San Diego to see the bongos and visit his family. He’d invited me and Eli to go with him, but both Eli and I declined, feeling like this was their thing. I was so proud of Eli in recognizing that Nick was important to both me and Dad. He and Nick were still a ways from being as close as they’d once been, but they had gone fishing on the lake a few times in the last few weeks. It was a start.
As I pulled into the driveway, nerves fluttered in my belly. I was excited and nervous to see Nick.
I was barely in the door, when his arms were around me. “I’ve been waiting like a love sick boy for you to get home,” he said just before his lips were on mine. “Did you miss me?”
“Were you gone?” I ached I missed him so much.
He growled. “Be nice.”
“Okay.” I started to undo his shirt.
“Not yet, baby. I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh?”
He took my hand and led me out the back door. On the deck, the table was set for dinner, champagne chilled in a bucket, and little white lights twinkled as they hung in the trees.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“Did you miss me?” I asked, looping my arms around him.
“Terribly.”
“I know that’s not true. I know you had fun with Dad and the bongos.”
“I did enjoy my time with him. We talked about a lot of things.”
That intrigued me. “Like about what?”
“I’ll tell you later.” He poured the champagne. “I want to make a toast to us.”
“I’ll drink to that.” I clicked my drink, but instead of taking a sip, I kissed him.
“You just want to get into my pants.” He grinned.
“What if I do?” I pressed my body against his groin, noting that he was hard.
“Don’t distract me, woman. I’ve got a plan.”
I laughed. “I don’t want to disrupt the plan.”
He took my hand and led me closer to the lake’s edge where a single lounge chair sat.
“It doesn’t look like you were expecting me,” I said.
“We’re going to share.” He sat and pulled me to sit between his legs. He wrapped his arms around my waist and set his chin on my shoulder. “Look out there.”
I looked over the lake. The sun was setting, casting lovely shades of orange over the water.”
“I can’t remember the last time I watched a sunset on the lake,” I said, settling in against him.
“Your dad and I took a trip to the coast while we were down south and watched the sunset. He has wonderful stories about him and your mom watching sunsets.”
I sighed at the bitter sweetness of that. “He does.”