Somewhere in the arena, Red Card Riot launches into their first song. But I don’t react. Because I don’t care if we miss this entire concert again. All I care about is making my beloved Reed understand that I love him unconditionally. For real. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
I put my palms on his cheeks. “I’m not trying to force you to talk about this stuff with me. I just want you to know I love you. The real you. And, also, that I admire and respect you for overcoming so much to become the glorious man you are.”
Reed looks flabbergasted. “How the hell do you know all this?”
I tell him about the legal malpractice lawsuit—which, to my surprise, he knows nothing about. He asks me some questions about it, which I answer. He asks me how long I’ve known about his mother being in a facility, and I tell him I’ve known since almost day one, thanks to a conversation with Amalia, during which I coaxed her into revealing certain things without her realizing I didn’t already know them. “But I didn’t read the malpractice lawsuit until a few days ago,” I say. “That’s where I got a far more thorough understanding of your childhood and everything your poor mother’s been through.”
Red Card Riot begins playing their debut hit, “Shaynee,” in a distant part of the arena. My favorite RCR song. But, again, we don’t react.
“I’d like to read those documents from the legal malpractice case,” Reed says.
“Of course. You were so young during the divorce. I think reading them now will help you understand your mother, so much better. The deck has always been stacked against her, one way or another. I feel so bad for her.” Reed looks like he’s fighting his emotions, so I take his hand and bring his knuckles to my lips. “I think not talking about, or thinking about, things that are painful for you, has been your coping mechanism for a long time. I can relate. But, speaking for myself, I don’t want to do that anymore. Not with you. I want to tell you everything. I want to show you every part of me. And I’d love for you to do the same with me. Reed, when we say, ‘I love you’ to each other, I want us to know the word ‘you’ means ‘all of you.’ Not only the good parts we show everyone else.”
Reed’s Adam’s apple bobs.
I feel overwhelmed with love for him. “Do we have a deal? No more secrets?”
Reed opens his mouth like he’s going to say yes. But then he closes it and scowls. “No more secrets at all... about anything?”
I can’t help chuckling at his facial expression. It’s as if I’ve asked him to bring me a slice of the moon to put onto a cracker. “Correct. Zero secrets. No gray area.”
Reed looks dubious. “I don’t know, baby. Don’t you think that’s unrealistic? A guy’s got to have some secrets. At least, small ones.”
“Why? If they’re little ones, all the more reason not to have them. Let’s be open books.”
Reed scrubs his face and exhales.
“What is it?” I say. “Spit it out, already.”
He sinks into the couch in surrender. “Your necklace.”
“Those aren’t real rubies?”
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t insult me. Of course, they’re real. It’s just that...” He exhales. “The necklace is worth quite a bit more than I told you. I wanted to pay off your father’s mortgage, and I figured if the price tag for the necklace happened to be the same amount as what he owed, you’d think it was fate and let me ‘return it,’ so you could use the proceeds to pay off the loan.”
I’m slack-jawed. “Our entire conversation about the necklace was—”
“A set-up. Yes. I knew what you’d say and do, so I arranged a situation that would lead to you saying and doing all of it, so you’d let me pay off the loan, without you being stubborn and contrary.”
“And you think I’m the Bobby Fischer in this relationship?”
“Takes one to know one, baby. Don’t bother asking me the actual value of the necklace. I think the monetary value of gifts should be exempt from our new ‘open book’ policy, don’t you? But if we’re truly going to tell each other the truth about ‘everything,’ other than the value of gifts, then I guess I should come clean about the necklace being part of my clever strategy to save your dad’s condo from foreclosure.”
I kiss him enthusiastically. “Thank you. You’re the sweetest, most generous, most adorable man in the world.”
“Only for you. Honestly, I was initially planning to buy something worth exactly eighty grand, so I could return it, and use the proceeds, just like I said. But then, I saw the ruby necklace on display on the other side of the store, and, the minute I saw it, I knew it had to be yours, no matter the price.”