Falling in Love (Rockford Falls 5)

“It’s great pie,” I agreed. I looked at the clock over the counter and checked my phone. There were no new messages waiting for me. I had expected Michelle to be early, but she wasn’t there yet.

“How’s it going with ‘trying’?” I asked.

“Not so good. Negative again this month. I figured it would take some time, but Katie took it hard. She was sad all that day, and then on Sunday, when I thought she was on the phone with her mom, I walked into the bedroom and she was just crying. She was sitting on the bed, with her hands on her knees and crying. It surprised me. She’s always been so tough and knows what she wants. But when I tried to tell her we’ll try again next month, she just shook her head and said she didn’t know.”

“That sounds pretty rough. How did you make her feel better?”

“I took her to hear some band in Millennium Park that I’d never heard of and then we got sushi.”

“That’s devotion. Sushi? It’s bait, man,” I laughed.

“Well, if your wife was crying because she couldn’t get pregnant, you’d eat a whole damn shark to make her smile, trust me. I think part of why she likes sushi is the face I make when the wasabi burns my mouth.”

“There is nothing about raw fish burning my mouth that makes me want to try it. I don’t care whose wife was upset.”

“Oh really? Like you’re telling me when Michelle’s upset you wouldn’t do anything possible to make her feel better?”

“I’d try to help. But eat raw fish? I don’t know.”

“You’re awful cocky for a guy who would’ve sold a kidney just to get back with her a few months ago.”

“I would not sell a kidney.”

“If I had told you all I needed to get her to take you back was your spare kidney, you would’ve been googling how to cut it out yourself,” he laughed.

“I wasn’t that desperate.”

“You so were. And it’s all good. I’m glad you’re with her. I can’t remember the last time you were this happy. I knew a month ago when I talked to you on the phone. You sounded like you had all this energy and it was all her.”

“She’s a terrific girl, Greg,” I said, stealing a bite of his pie with my fork. “That is excellent pie.”

“There she is now,” he said, getting to his feet. “Michelle, it’s been a long time. You look great.”

“So do you, Greg,” she said with a smile. I was on my feet, giving her a quick hug before she could even sit down.

“I hear Rach has a liquor license now,” Greg said, “can I get you a beer?”

“I just want water, thanks,” she said, taking a chair between my brother and me.

“How was work?” I asked.

It had been a couple of days since we’d really talked, and I had missed her. I wanted to know what was going on. But I couldn’t make it too obvious to my brother, who loved to give me hell, that we hadn’t even been in the same room for three days. He’d tease me about the relationship being on the rocks and I’d get mad. No sense in that kind of drama. So I just asked her how work was and scooted my chair closer to hers, my arm on the back of her chair possessively.

When her water came she took a sip.

“Hard day?” I asked when she still hadn’t answered me.

“Oh, no. It was fine,” she said absently. “Tell me all about Chicago. Show me a picture of your wife. Drew said she’s in real estate.”

“Yeah, she’s fantastic at it. She got an award from some big realtor’s association last fall, a nationwide group. Katie’s right there.”

“But she’s so pretty. How’d you get her?” she teased.

“Alcohol, obviously,” he deadpanned and then laughed.

She and Greg had always gotten along and joked around. They’d been around each other a lot in the years we were together as teenagers. I wasn’t surprised that their silly rapport was much the same.

“Do you want to get some onion rings? I know you love them here,” I offered. I knew I was trying too hard. I just wanted her to look at me, to joke with me. It was fun having her here, at least in theory. But I had asked her a question and she zoned out and ignored me, like she forgot I was even here. It felt humiliating.

“Now, your brother here has been my knight in shining armor,” she said, her smile looking brittle, “when a storm trashed the library, Drew swooped in with big fans to dry the carpet and then he helped me go through stacks of damaged books sorting out the ones we could save and the ones we needed to replace.”

“He must like you a lot then. Drew never was much for sitting still and looking at books.”