Anna picked up a small frame. “Well, for example, my Lee tries to keep his emotions in check. But in this photo with him leaning against the chain-link fence as he watched Cole play football, you can see his feelings plain on his face. Pride in his child, love too, nervousness that he would get hurt.” She brushed her fingers over the face of her husband. “It’s all there if you look close enough.”
I nodded, seeing what she meant, but still not sure what the point was.
“Or this one.” She pulled another frame down from the shelf. I glanced at it, seeing Sully standing next to me as we played a game of cornhole. Looking at my hair, it was during my last year of college. If I wasn’t mistaken, Max and Emma were just out of the frame. It had been a cookout, one of the times Max had come back to visit after moving up north. Emma had been drooling over him, thinking she had no chance.
“What about that one?” I asked.
Anna smiled, touching Sully’s face. “This is when I knew my son was gone for you.”
I looked at her quickly. “What?”
“Oh yes,” Anna said. “I remember Lou and I standing together at that cookout, watching the way he watched you. I knew it had changed, and I wondered when he would figure it out, when you would. When I printed out the pictures of that day, I saw it clear as a bell. He loved you.” She held up a hand as I tried to interrupt her. “I know he loved you before, but this day”—she tapped the photo—“it changed.”
Looking over the shelves, she gestured to several photos. “You can see it if you look at the pictures of you all before, then all the photos from then on. In the earlier ones, he clearly is looking at you like a friend, a little sister. But after?” She pointed out several framed shots, including one from this past spring. “He wants more, and the pictures don’t hide those feelings. Nor”—she glanced slyly at me—“do they hide yours.”
My heart was beating out like a steady drum. My eyes jumped from photo to photo, moving from ones from years ago to now. It couldn’t be true, could it? I examined the photos, I looked at Sully’s expression. It grew soft. Later photos showed his hand always on my arm, my back, my waist. My own body language was different too. I leaned into him. Even in a few when we were in the background, our gazes found each other.
I stepped back, taking a deep breath.Holy shit. Cole Sullivan loved me, I loved him, and he’d felt that for some time now, just like I had. He really wasn’t just saying he wanted to be together because of the baby. I looked at Anna, my eyes swimming with tears. “Thanks for showing these to me.” Taking a breath, I got out, “I have to talk to Sully.”
Anna beamed at me. “Are you finally ready to move forward?”
Sliding my arms around her waist, I breathed in the smell of my childhood, of safety. Nodding against her shoulder, I whispered, “I’ve been an idiot.”
Anna smoothed my hair back, her hands rubbing my back. “Maggie May, you are no idiot. You were protecting your heart.” She gave me a small smile. “Your baby too.” She pulled back. Her stare felt like it looked right to my core. “You’re a mama now, and that’s your job. But, my baby girl, my son is not one whom you need to protect yourself from. He will gladly take up that job for you. Or, more importantly to women like us, he’ll fight right beside you while he hands you a sword.”
I wiped away a stray tear or two. “Thank you, Anna,” I whispered.
Letting go, Anna stood back. “He was heading outside with Ranger when I left the kitchen.” She leaned forward, kissing my cheek. “Now, go.”
* * *
Sully
Ranger and I left the kitchen and made our way across the yard to a cooler. Leaning down, I grabbed a beer out and grinned. It was one of our first batches of cans. Jake had dropped a bunch off here for our family cookout before heading back to the brewery. He and I had played a game of cornhole while Maggie had taken a quick nap on the couch. Standing in the backyard of my parents’ house, sharing one of our beers in our first batch for distribution, it had felt pretty damn good. Jake had called up Drew through a video call so we could toast our partnership before Jake had to head.
Cracking open the beer, I heard someone behind me and saw my dad making his way over.
“Is that one of yours?” he asked.
I nodded. “Black Hole Sun IPA.”
“Got one for your old man?”
I passed him the one I opened and pulled another out of the cooler. It was ice cold, which was perfect on a hot August day like today. It was so muggy that my T-shirt was already clinging to me. I hoped the heat wouldn’t be too much for Maggie. Maybe we should eat inside?
Ranger dropped a tennis ball at my dad’s feet. He reached down and threw it, almost reaching the field of soybeans on the south side of their house. Ranger took off at a sprint. Dad nodded back at some lawn chairs. “Want to sit for a few?”
I moved back and lowered in the chair, stretching my legs out. This week had been nonstop since the call about Maggie’s dad Tuesday, which was only four days ago. I hoped I could convince her to relax the rest of the weekend. With school starting back up soon, she needed to take any moments to relax that she could.
Tipping my head back, I looked at the sky. The sun hadn’t set yet. At this point of the year we still had almost an hour until that happened. However, I knew my dad would fire up the grill soon. Everyone knew Maggie would be hungry in the next half an hour, and my parents were thrilled to make sure she was fed as soon as she wanted to be.
“Where’s your sister and Max?” he asked.
I looked over to the back of the yard. Gesturing with my beer, I pointed to the path that took you down to the creek on the back of their property. “Headed down to the creek,” I said. The creek was Emma’s favorite spot. When she was stressed, she went there to think. All other times, she went there just to be near water.
Dad nodded. “No surprise there.” He took a swig of the beer, then looked at me with a grin. “Just as good as in the brewery, son.”
I smiled. “That’s the idea,” I said, holding out my can to cheers with him. He tapped my can with his own.
