I found myself grateful for a lot lately—grateful that my relationship with Rafe was stronger than it had been in the past, grateful that Shannon still stuck around and put up with my ass, grateful for a relationship with a great woman who had a good head on her shoulders. My life was going well.
“Want to call Rafe down for dinner?” Morgan said.
“Sure.”
I placed the last napkin on the table and headed to his room. Per usual, Rafe was listening to something, probably blowing his eardrums out.
“Rafe…” I signaled for him to remove the earbuds. “Dinner…”
“Yeah. Coming,” he mumbled.
Morgan had set the sweet potatoes and lamb chops on the kitchen table when I returned. She’d also made a side of asparagus. Even though I had a formal dining room, most nights we ate in the kitchen. She’d poured two glasses of red and had a water set on the table next to Rafe’s plate.
“How was school today, Rafe?” she asked.
“Fine,” he muttered.
“School’s always fine,” I said. “He never has much to say about it.”
“What do you want me to say?” he snapped.
“Anything more than fine?”
“I did crappy on my calculus test. How about that?”
“Shit. The one you needed at least a B on to get a C in the class?”
“Yep.” He stuffed his mouth with potatoes.
“When will you find out the grade?”
“Should be posted tomorrow,” he said, shoveling more potato into his mouth.
“Maybe you need to cut back a bit on the running practice.”
“Nope.” He spoke with his mouth full. “Not gonna happen. Sorry.”
Running was Rafe’s life. It was the only sport he’d ever showed interest in. I worried he’d been pushing himself so hard that it took away from academics. Being the top runner in the school, he was on target for a scholarship if he could keep his grades up a bit. He’d chosen to take honors classes because that looked better on paper, but I feared some of them were too advanced for him.
After cleaning his plate in less than ten minutes, as per usual, Rafe had no interest in sticking around. He took his dirty dish to the sink and rinsed it before putting it in the dishwasher.
“Thanks for dinner, Morgan. It was really good.”
“Of course, honey.”
“Thanks for the compelling dinner conversation as always,” I chided.
Rafe walked backwards out of the kitchen. “I have homework. You wanna do it for me? Then I could stick around and talk.”
“Okay. Get outta here.” I yelled after him. “And make sure you put your dirty clothes in the wash tonight, please. Don’t throw them around the room so Shannon has to go on a scavenger hunt to find them.”
He disappeared down the hall.
I shook my head and chuckled. “Thanks for dinner,” I said, turning back to Morgan. “It was delicious.”
“You’re welcome.” She reached across the table for my hand. “If you weren’t so stressed, I’d let you pay me back tonight.”
I suppose I could’ve contested that and suggested she sleep over. But I was damn tired and wanted to hit the sack. There would be plenty of time to make it up to her this weekend.
Just as I’d gotten up to help Morgan clear the table, the doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Maybe Shannon had forgotten her purse? That had happened once or twice over the years. Winston barked and scurried after me to the door. Without checking the peephole, I opened it.
In that moment, as the frigid late-January air blew into the house, it felt like someone had knocked the freaking wind out of me.
I stared at her in shock, without saying anything, for I don’t know how long. Enough seconds that she had to be the first to speak as Winston barked and circled around her.
“Are you gonna say anything, Moody, or are you just going to stand there like you saw a ghost?”
Wren stood before me, looking…different. God, why does she look so different? Not in a bad way, but in a way that made me realize how much damn time had passed since I’d laid eyes on her. Her copper hair was longer than I’d ever seen it, past her shoulders. I never knew how silky and wavy it was because she’d always worn it short. She looked amazing.
“Wren…” I blinked as if to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. “What are you doing here?”
“Good to see you, too.”
She finally bent and gave Winston the attention he’d been begging for. Wren wrapped her arms around him and smelled his fur. Winston seemed to love every minute of their embrace as he panted and wagged his tail.
Yeah, Fluffernutter. I can imagine.
“You remembered me!” she cooed. “Thank you, buddy. I missed you, too.” She finally stood up and faced me again.
I shook my head. “Sorry, I should’ve said it was good to see you before asking what you were doing here. That was asinine of me. I’m just…a little shocked.” I leaned in to hug her and felt her stiffen. My body, on the other hand, seemed to come alive in a way that it hadn’t since the last time she was in my arms. Her familiar, flowery scent was intoxicating as ever. I hoped she couldn’t feel how fast my heart was beating.