“Yeah, I am.”
Brian left the room briefly. He returned moments later with Dr. Grant and Dr. Ellis in tow. He stood aside as they went to the machines, giving her once last look of encouragement.
“Can… Can I sit on the bed with her? Would that be okay?” Gen asked.
“Of course,” Dr. Ellis replied.
Slowly, she crept onto the narrow bed and lay next to her. She took her limp hand and brought it to her cheek as she watched the doctor switch off the machine, silencing the ventilator.
Closing her eyes, she blocked everything out and began to sing
Edelweiss
. Her voice cracked as she stumbled through the song. But she didn’t care. She allowed the lullaby to carry her away. She remembered how her mom would lean over and brush the tips of her fingers over her cheek as she sang her to sleep. Desperately clinging to that memory, she ended the song with nothing more than a whisper.
The heart monitor gave a single, long beep.
Gen kissed her mom’s hand, inhaling her scent for the last time. “Goodbye, Mom. I’ll miss you.”
Another day, another shitty board meeting.
Brian signed off on another liquor acquisition and began packing up several of the new promotional materials he hadn’t even bothered to look at.
“What’s going on with you?” his father asked. “You’re not your usually sunny self.”
Sarcasm. Did everything have to remind him of her? “Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind.”
Taking the seat across from him, his father looked at him as if he were actually concerned. “I know I haven’t been the best father, but you can still talk to me.”
Where had that come from? “I’m fine, Dad.”
“Okay, so you don’t want to talk about it. I get it. How’s the new restaurant coming along?”
Now the little chat made sense. He was not in the mood for this. “I know you don’t approve. You don’t have to drive that point home any more than you already have.”
His father gave a heavy sigh. “I may have been a little hasty in my judgment of your career choices. You have to understand, I’d always thought you’d end up working for Gulf Coast. It was what I wanted. I never considered that you would have dreams of your own. It shouldn’t have surprised me though. You always did have to carve your own path, even when you were a boy.”
Had he heard him right? Was the old man actually admitting he was wrong? “I’m not following.”
His father frowned. “You’re going to make this difficult for me, aren’t you?”
Brian wasn’t going to dignify that with an answer.
“I’ve never told you this, but I’m proud of the man you’ve become. I know I’ve been hard on you. I’ve tried to force you into a mold you were never going to fit in. I was wrong. I’m not getting any younger here and I’d hate for us to continue the way we have. I barely know who you are anymore. I have no idea what goes on in your life and you’re my son.”
Swallowing past the lump that had formed in his throat, Brian forced himself to look at his father. The blue eyes staring back at him were pale with age and full of regret.
Well, I’ll be damned. He’s serious.
“There’s this woman,” Brian began, not quite believing he was about to have this conversation with his father of all people. “She’s different from the other women I’ve been with.”
“Thank god for that.”
He ignored that because it was certainly true. “We were together for several months, but I fucked it up and she left…”
“Do you love her?”
“Yes,” he answered simply.
“Then don’t make the same mistake I did with your mother. When she left, I didn’t do anything to stop her. I just let her go.” Sorrow clouded his eyes.
He had never seen his father show this much emotion, but it wasn’t enough. He needed an explanation. “Why didn’t you go after her? Didn’t you love her?”
“Of course I did. I still do. I should have gone after her. I didn’t because I was angry. She wasn’t happy being a housewife. She had a degree she felt was going to waste. We argued about it for months. When I finally came around to seeing things her way, it was too late. She’d accepted a job in Europe behind my back. I was so upset that she would even consider moving overseas that I couldn’t see straight. We were no longer on speaking terms by the time she left me.”
“She left
us
, Dad. You weren’t the only one affected.”
“I know. I know and you have no idea how sorry I am for the way I handled things. I didn’t go after her. I should have. My pride wouldn’t let me. I thought she’d come back. I really did. When she didn’t even call, I cut her completely out of my life and in doing that, in a way, I cut you out too. You just reminded me so much of her…”
He had no idea how to respond to that. It was almost too much to take in.
“But,” his father continued with a sigh, “the issues with your mother aside, some things are worth fighting for. If you love this girl, don’t let her get away. Fight for her. Don’t live with regret like I do.”
Maybe the old man was right. Talk about a strange day.
* * * * *
Michael Myers’ creepy white face flashed across the screen. Gen watched with vague interest. It had been almost a month since her mother’s death and she was still stuck in comfort mode, holed up in her apartment alone, marathoning through horror movies. As bizarre as that sounded, it was how she coped.
She was having a hard time accepting the fact that her mother was gone. She’d arranged the funeral, sold the condo and donated most of her things. Even after all that, she’d still reach for the phone, wanting to check on her, only to remember she was no longer there. It left her feeling hollow. Escaping into scare-fests enabled her to forget about it for a time.
As Annie was about to come to her untimely onscreen demise, a knock at the door had Gen nearly jumping out of her skin. Glancing at the clock, she frowned. Ivy was still at work. Who in the world would be coming to see her at this time of night?
She wanted to ignore whoever it was, but chances were they knew she was home. The screams coming from the television weren’t exactly quiet. She paused the movie, tossed the remote on the couch and went to the door to check the peephole.
Fuck.
Brian was here.
She hadn’t seen him since the funeral. He’d called a lot since then, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer when she saw his name pop up on her screen. It’s not that she wasn’t thankful for everything he’d done for her. She was. But the moment they’d shared at the hospital got lost somewhere between the funeral and packing up her mother’s things and all her grief. There was no room for the complications that came with this man.
She should have talked to him, but talking to him meant stress and emotions she didn’t want to face. And now he was knocking on her door. Damn it.
Deep breath.
Heart in her throat, she opened the door. He stood there for a second, taking her in. She glanced down at her Invader Zim pajamas and grimaced. She should have gotten dressed. Or at least put on a bra. Oh well.
Relief washed over his features only to be replaced by anger. He was mad at her? Damn if he didn’t look good, anger and all. He needed a haircut. The light-brown strands had started to curl around his ears. He also hadn’t shaved in days. Hell, he was a sight for sore eyes.
She wanted to throw her arms around him, but reminded herself she didn’t have that right anymore. She no longer belonged to him. And as much as she wanted him, she was afraid. She couldn’t suffer any more heartache. She’d had her fill.
Clearing her throat, she waited for him to say something.
He licked his lips. “Would it kill you to pick up the phone?”
His stern tone sent a shiver through her. Damn him for still affecting her this way.
Gritting her teeth, she glared at him, waiting.
Letting out a breath, he speared a hand through his hair. She knew that gesture so well. He only did that when he was uneasy. Why was he so nervous? Better question. Why was he here at all?
“I’ve been worried. You don’t answer your phone. You haven’t called to resume your shifts. I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
If he came over to lecture her he had another think coming. “What do you want?”
“I needed to see you,” he answered softly.
“Here I am. You’ve seen me. You can go now.” That sounded so bitchy, but at this point she didn’t care. She was tired and refused to cater to him simply because he’d barged into her life again.
He frowned. “We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to say.”
“You’re wrong. There is so much I want to say.”
She ignored the way her heart fluttered at his words. “Why?”
“Can I come in? Please?”
Against her better judgment she held open the door and waved him in. She caught his scent as he brushed by her. She closed her eyes against the memories it stirred. God she missed the way he smelled. This was not going to end well. Pushing the door shut, she leaned against it and blew out a breath.
He stood there for a moment, just looking at her. Then his hands were suddenly in her hair and his mouth was on hers as he crashed into her. Shocked, she froze. Doubt raced through her, but before it could take hold, Brian slipped his tongue past her lips and it was as if the past few months had never happened. He pressed his body against hers and she pressed back, fisting his t-shirt in her hands. When he withdrew, she protested with a whimper. Resting his forehead on hers, he stroked his thumb along her jaw.
“I thought you wanted to talk,” she said, breathless.
“I do. I just had to kiss you…touch you. It’s been hell without you.”
“Why? I thought I was nothing more than a girl you fuck—”
He kissed her again, stealing her words. “Christ, Gen, if I could take that back, I would. You’re more than that. You always have been.”
She wanted to believe him. There was a part of her that wanted to say
fuck it
. She’d take him any way she could get him, but she couldn’t risk his rejection again. She’d barely survived the first time. As much as it killed her, she needed him to understand. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, fighting his embrace. “I can’t do this. I won’t go back to the way things were.”
He held her tight and put a finger to her lips. “Shut up for a minute. I’m trying to tell you that I love you.”
Her heart jumped, lodging in her throat. Had he really just said that? “Say it again.”
A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I love you.”
“One more time.”
“I love you, beautiful girl.”
Tears pooled in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. She’d waited so long to hear those words. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him and never wanted to let him go.
“I never meant to hurt you and I want you to know, I didn’t mean a word of what I said the night you left.” He pulled away, placed his hands on her cheeks and gazed into her eyes. “Don’t ever leave me again. I can’t breathe without you.”
A small sound escaped her as a tear slipped free, spilling down her cheek. He brushed it away with a tip of his finger and leaned in to claim her with a kiss. It was tender at first, but as their hunger rushed to the surface, their lips became more urgent. His mouth and tongue were hard and demanding. She returned his kiss, matching his intensity, and gripped the hem of his shirt. Breathless, they parted just long enough for her to yank it over his head and toss it to the ground. They crashed into one another again, kissing, touching and tearing clothes off as he walked her toward the bedroom.
He bumped into the couch with a loud groan. She laughed as he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. He tossed her onto the bed and stared down at her, his hooded eyes full of heat.
“You’re so fucking beautiful. Don’t think we’re done talking because we’re not. I just can’t stand it anymore. I need to be inside you.”
She was more than okay with that.
“Lie back, put your hands above your head and leave them there,” he ordered.
Eagerly she obeyed. He could make her do anything when he used that voice. God, she’d missed it.
He stalked up her body, starting with her calves, licking and nipping at her skin. His breath was hot and his teeth were firm. He bit down just hard enough for her to feel an edge of pain. She trembled beneath him, anticipation flooding her with arousal. When he reached her pussy, his head dipped down and he sank his tongue between her folds. She cried out, spreading her legs wide.