Chapter Twenty
Gianna held her breath as Gunnar walked inside and closed the door. “How’d it go with Nick?”
He looked around before glancing up the stairs. “You talked to her?”
“Yeah, but I’ll tell you about that later.” She reached for her glass of white wine before handing him the beer she’d opened for him. “First, tell me how things went with Nick. I didn’t hear any shouting, so I’m guessing that’s a good sign?”
“I wanted to hate him,” Gunnar admitted, settling in beside her with a heavy sigh. “But he didn’t make it easy. In fact, he made it damn near impossible.”
He tipped his head back and she turned to face him, running her fingertips through his hair when he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “He reminds me a lot of myself at that age. He’s been through some stuff. Made him grow up too soon.”
“Yeah?” She could listen to him talk all night, about anything and everything. After so many years of living with him in silence, just the sound of his voice was a treat.
“He seems to think he knows his own mind and what he wants.” He kicked his shoes off and propped his feet up on the ottoman. “I don’t know.” He sighed. “Maybe he does. Who the hell am I to say, right?”
“So, what did you tell him about Keegan?”
“He cares about her. That much is obvious.” He turned to face her, opening his eyes. “Maybe this relationship could work to our advantage if we monitor it closely.”
“What does that mean?” He looked so tired, like he’d been through so much. Too much. She just wanted to hold him in her arms let him sleep for a week.
“If Keegan feels about him the way he feels about her, she’s not going to want to go anywhere. Home for her will be wherever Nick is. At least for a while. The relationship will run its course eventually, I’m sure.”
Keegan had told her how much she cared about Nick when they talked, that she’d never felt that way about another boy, so Gianna suspected there was no fear his feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated. “And if it doesn’t?” Gianna asked, playing devil’s advocate.
Gunnar chuckled, closing his eyes again. “Baby, she’s going to have dozens of boyfriends. How many people actually stay with their first love?”
She rested her hand on his shoulder. “I did.”
He smiled, opening one eye to look at her while he kissed her hand. “And I’m glad you did. You know how lucky I feel, knowing I’m the only man you’ve ever loved?”
“The only man I’ll ever love,” she whispered, bending over to kiss him.
“Damn, girl. Do I like the sound of that.”
They kissed until Gianna was barely resisting the urge to straddle him and have her wicked way with him. But there would be time for that… later. Right now, they needed to talk.
“I know you’re not thrilled about what we walked in on, hon. Neither am I. But they’re not doing anything we weren’t at their age. It’s normal.” Her first kiss was at fifteen, but fortunately she’d been smart enough to recognize she was too young and immature to take it any further. She hoped her daughters were too.
“I guess. It’s just so damn hard to watch them grow up.” His mouth pulled into a grim line, a sure sign he was brooding. “I wish they could’ve stayed babies forever. Given me a chance to do it right.”
“Do what right?”
“Be a parent.”
She leaned back against the cushions and rested her legs on his. “You did the best you could with the knowledge you had, Gunnar. That’s all any of us can do. No one can claim to be a perfect parent.” When he didn’t respond, she said, “Speaking of imperfect parents, have you thought any more about your mother?”
“I can’t go there right now, Gi. I just can’t.”
He did look exhausted, but she knew if he shut down and refused to talk about it, he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d woken up to find him pacing the floors, claiming there was nothing wrong.
“It’s gonna be like that, is it?” She didn’t want to push him, but she didn’t want to let him shut her out anymore, either. She was so tired of that.
He seemed to think about it for a minute before looking her in the eye. “No, it’s not gonna be like that. Not anymore. Okay, so you wanna talk about it? Let’s talk.”
“How do you feel about calling her back? Have you thought any more about it?”
“No.”
