“Jesus,” I murmur in awe. “That’s really good. Where do you come up with this shit? You should write a self-help book or something.”
Willow snorts, pulling her hand away from me. “Most of that’s just common sense, although that wonderful versus nothing special analogy is from Steel Magnolias.”
“Steel Magnolias?” I ask, moving from clarity to confusion quickly.
My sister rolls her eyes, as if she can’t believe I don’t know what it is. “It’s a movie. Like the best movie ever.”
“Who’s in it?”
“Sally Fields, Julia Roberts, and Shirley MacClaine,” she says, as if this will make me decide I have to drop everything in my life to watch it right now.
“Are there aliens in it?” I ask.
“No.”
“Big battle scenes?”
“No.”
“Sports?”
“No.”
“Then why the fuck would I know what it is?” I growl.
“Because it’s so iconic. I mean… everyone knows that movie.”
“I doubt everyone. Bet none of my teammates know what it is.”
“Bet the married ones do,” she counters. “Or the ones with serious girlfriends. In fact, I bet Erik, Bishop, and Legend do.”
“No way.”
“Twenty dollars per guy,” Willow says with a flash of challenge in her eyes. “Text them right now and simply ask if they know what Steel Magnolias is.”
“You’re on,” I reply as I whip my phone out. I shoot a group text off to the fellas. Within moments, my phone is dinging with their responses.
Looking at my screen in disbelief, I lean on one hip to pull my wallet out of my back pocket. I pull out three twenty-dollar bills, then push them across the table to my sister. I also make a mental note to see if Regan wants to watch the movie with me sometime.
“Thank you,” Willow chirps as she waves the money at me.
Sighing, I push up from the chair, taking my empty coffee cup to the sink. I place it in there on top of Regan’s dirty dishes, thinking I should clean the kitchen, but Regan always insists on doing it as her part in contributing to the household. She said she’s feeling fine, so I need to let her do things to make her feel accomplished.
I need to let Regan be strong. To do that, I have to be strong with her. I have to help her believe she can beat this disease.
My eyes go to Willow, and I decide to release something out into the universe I’ve been holding in close. “Even though this shit with Regan is hard and scary, it’s still the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Willow blinks at me in surprise. She can hear my tone and the reverence within it for my wife. I lay it all out to her. “Better than hockey, Will. Despite everything with Regan’s illness and the worry that comes with it, she’s still the surest thing in my life. Nothing has ever felt better or more right to me.”
“Wow,” Willow murmurs, my admission hitting her hard.
“So yeah… I’ll get my head out of my ass because when it boils right down to it, my life has turned out more amazing than I ever thought it would be once Regan stepped back into it.”
“Holy shit,” my sister drawls in amazement. “You love her.”
“Fuck yes, I do.” I think it became very real when I got the call from Willow that Regan was on the way to the hospital and I realized my entire happiness was wrapped up in one woman.
“Have you told her?” she asks.
“No,” I reply with a healthy dose of shame about that oversight. “I’ve been a little wrapped up in my head, trying to come to terms with everything, that I think that got lost.”
“If you love her, she’s the most important thing to you. It’s only natural your worry is going to sort of take over things. But if you want some advice, you should tell her sooner rather than later.”
“I will. Before I leave tomorrow, she won’t have a doubt as to how I feel. If I’m lucky, I’ll hear it back from her.”
Willow’s smile is secretive but knowing. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll hear exactly what you want.”
Yeah… she knows something, but what I cannot say. I should press her for the details but really, I’d rather wait to hear it directly from Regan’s lips.
Still, I can’t help but ask, “You really think so?”
“I do,” she replies simply with no elaboration, and I’m okay with that.
But she does spur an idea.
A really great fucking idea as a matter of fact.
“I need to run an errand, and I need you to go with me,” I say. “Do you mind?”
She gives me an exuberant smile. “As long as I make my flight, I’m good.”CHAPTER 31ReganI drive without thought through the neighborhood I live in with Dax. It’s all upscale townhomes with a communal pool and gym, and it’s gated for security. It’s amazing how quickly I have come to think of this as home. I left my new job—which I can tell I will adore—and stopped by the drugstore for a bottle of pain reliever for Dax. But despite having to keep present and alert while I filled out forms and shadowed another nurse this morning, my mind was actually racing with a million different things.