“Are you okay?” he asks, rushing toward me. “Here, give me your hands.”
I do as he says, and he holds on tight, pulling me until I’m right side up again.
“What are you doing out here?” he asks as I wipe dried-up leaves and seedlings from my backside. “You’ll catch a cold.”
“Well, you see, it’s a funny story,” I begin before remembering there’s actually not one funny thing about it. “Okay, so it’s not really ha-ha funny so much as it’s?—”
“Spit it out, why don’t you?” he asks with a chuckle.
“I was on the way home after Christmas with the kids and Noah and Emily, but the day didn’t feel complete without seeing you, and now, here I am.” I sigh. “Ron, I like you. You’ve made me consider the possibility of a future I thought I lost when Henry died. I’m still trying to figure out what that even means and what it looks like. All I know is that I want to find out. I can’t promise anything, but I think we have something here, and I want to see it through.”
“What about tonight? Right now?” he asks. “Can you promise me that?”
I nod, the corners of my mouth tugging into a grin. “That I can do.”
“Good,” he says, reaching for my hand. “That’s all I need.”
“Thank you,” I say, swallowing hard.
He slides his arm around my waist. “For what?”
“For being understanding. For being willing to meet me where I am.”
He smiles and brushes my cheek with his thumb. “I’d meet you anywhere, Myra Jean. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“I’m starting to.”
I hold his gaze, my lips being drawn closer and closer to his.
“Dad?” A deep voice startles us apart. “Is everything okay?”
I look up to see a young man I recognize from the photographs on Ron’s wall. He’s holding a wriggling June Bug in the crook of his arm.
“Hudson, I have someone I’d like you to meet,” Ron says, beaming up at his son. “This is Myra Jean.”
A smile stretches across Hudson’s face as he descends the stairs to shake my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he says, shifting June Bug to his other arm. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Likewise,” I say as June Bug practically leaps into my arms, covering my face in wet kisses. “And it’s good to see you again, sweet girl.”
Hudson nods toward the house. “You want to come in? My wife was just making some hot cocoa. We’re about to watchIt’s a Wonderful Lifebefore we head back to the hotel.Can you believe Liz still hasn’t seen it?”
My breath catches in my throat. I haven’t seen that movie in years. Not since…
A pretty redhead appears in the doorway.
“Ihaveseen it,” she insists, with a sniffle. “Well, most of it. Listen, it’s a long movie.”
Hudson’s lips quirk as he bounds up the steps and curls his arm around her. “Myra Jean, this is my wife Liz, and she has a condition where she passes out ten minutes into any movie we watch.”
June Bug yawns and settles into my arms. “Looks like this little stinker is getting a head start on movie naptime.”
“Well, what do you say?” Ron asks, his wiry brows raised. “You want to come in and watch the movie with us? Or fall asleep to it, as the case may be.”
“I’m not sure that one’s going to let you leave,” Hudson says, pointing at the sleepy pup I’m holding. “She looks pretty cozy.”
“Yeah, she does,” Ron agrees.
