Home Again

He couldn’t help feeling a little wistful. “Yeah, it was,” he said with a sigh.

“It can be again, you know. Some cardiologists recommend waiting six weeks to resume sexual relations, but I’m a little more lenient. Whenever you’re up to it…” She realized the double entendre of her words, and a pretty pink blush crept up her throat. “I mean, whenever you feel good enough, sex is okay.”

He gave her a direct look, then blasted her with his best bad-boy smile. “Is that a proposition?”

He thought he saw her shiver slightly. “I believe I’ll let your new cardiologist have this discussion with you.” She got to her feet. “Now I’ve got to run.”

He reached for her hand and held it. “Don’t go.”

She stared down at him, long and hard, then quietly said, “Don’t treat me like that, Angel. I’m not some Hollywood starlet who’d kill to spend a night in your bed.”

He understood that he’d hurt her. “I’m sorry. Old life. Old lines.” He shrugged but didn’t let go of her hand. “You’ll have to be patient with me. Changing overnight is a little tough.”

Slowly she drew her hand back and sat down.

He waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t he knew it was up to him. “I … I’ve been thinking about Franco a lot,” he said, stumbling over the words like a fool.

She squeezed her eyes shut, and he could tell that she was battling for control.

“Is that his sweater?” Angel asked quietly.

She immediately touched her sleeve, her fingers stroking the worn wool. Wordlessly she nodded.

“When …” His voice fell to a raw whisper. “When does the healing start, when do we start feeling better?”

She swallowed thickly and looked up at him. “I don’t know if there is healing. There’s just… going on.”

He looked at her, realizing in that instant how much he cared about her, how much he wanted her to care about him. “I guess that’s what life is. Going on.”

She gave him a soft smile that for a second transformed her face. “I guess.”

He’d given her that smile—with nothing more than a few honest words and a glimpse of his own heart. The realization swept through him, made him grin like an idiot. “This new heart of mine … it came from someone good.”

She drew in a sharp breath. “Yes,” she answered.

And for the first time, he felt like a new man.

* * *

Madelaine knew when the phone rang that it was something bad. Her stomach knotted up. Carefully she set down the novel she was reading and went into the kitchen, picking up the phone. When she heard Vicki Owen’s voice slide through the lines, she closed her eyes and sighed tiredly. “Hello, Vicki.”

“I’m sorry to bother you at home, Madelaine, but I wanted to let you know that Lina wasn’t in school today.”

Madelaine’s gaze cut to her daughter’s closed bedroom door. “I dropped her off at seven o’clock. She waved and went inside the building.” She sighed, too tired suddenly to deal with this anymore. “I guess I should have walked her into the classroom.”

“I saw you pick her up at three o’clock—that’s why I called. I’m afraid she’s headed toward real trouble if someone doesn’t find a way to reach her.”

Madelaine almost denied it instinctively, but instead she dragged the phone into the living room and sat down on the overstuffed sofa. Since Francis’s death, she didn’t feel like herself anymore. She spent every moment realizing how fragile life was, how uncertain, and she didn’t have the strength anymore to pretend she was perfect. She felt as if she were treading water in the deep end of the pool.

“I’m… confused, Vicki,” she confided, and the moment the words left her mouth, she felt as if a weight had f

allen from her shoulders. “Francis was more than a friend, he was part of the family. Whenever I try to talk about him, we both end up crying and neither one of us feels better. I know she’s reaching out, but I don’t have anything inside to give her, and even if I try, she won’t wait long enough for me to stumble through the words.”

“I know how you’re feeling. My brother and his wife died last year, and I’ve been raising my nephew. For weeks afterward, we circled each other like wary lions. It’s an impossible time.”

“So what do I do?”

“Just keep trying, keep reaching out. And watch her for signs of real trouble. I’ll try introducing her to my nephew, but it won’t be easy.” She laughed. “Your daughter’s going to think he’s a total nerd.”