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Jesus. Where the hell was all this coming from?
“You miss the simplicity.”
“Yes, but more than that I miss…”
Someone waiting for me at night.
Someone with strong arms and a mouth worth dying for.
Someone I love arguing with. Making love with.
Someone who doesn’t kiss my ass.
Someone who challenges me.
“I miss Jack,” she whispered.
Shit. Brett was going to think she was a complete and utter loser. “I’m sorry,” Donovan said quickly, more than a little flustered. “I guess you got a whole lot more than my story.”
Brett was silent for a few seconds, and Donovan noticed his fingers trembled as he tugged on his blanket. She bent over and pulled it up over his lap.
“It’s a good story, a real story,” he said, voice a little hoarse as he settled back into his chair. “But it’s not finished.”
“No,” Donovan said. “It’s not.”
The kids came running down onto the beach, and even though they were about to eat, Harry dove into the water and after a quick glance over to their father, Morgan giggled and followed her brother in.
“Some might think mine is over.”
She glanced at Brett, her eyes bubbling when she saw the raw pain and love and sorrow on his face as he watched his children.
“It’s not.” He turned to Donovan and tried to smile, but the sadness in his eyes made it hard.
“I’m mad as hell at the way it’s been written. Mad as hell that Sabrina will have to raise our kids without me. That Harry and Morgan’s memories will be of a dad too sick to take them out onto the boat that last summer they had with him. I’m pissed that Sabrina will meet someone, and she will, she’s too damn special not to. I’m angry at all of that, but so blessed at the same time. I had these three people. I had them. They were mine, Sabrina for over ten years, and those ten years are all that matter. Those ten years are my story, and I’ll take it with me wherever I end up.”
He glanced up at the sky and smiled and for a few precious moments, Donovan felt as if she was looking into his soul.
“I’ll always have them. Whatever is still out there for me will just have to make room for what I’m bringing along for the ride. Love doesn’t die.” Brett met her gaze. “Sometimes it hides. Sometimes it changes. But real love is always there, and I believe it can even transcend death.”
He cleared his throat and sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for things to get so heavy.”
“No,” she said, leaning forward and clasping his hands between hers. “Don’t you dare apologize. I think that you just might be the smartest man I’ve ever met.”
He smiled again, and once more she caught a glimpse of the man he’d been before cancer had taken over.
“We won’t tell Jack,” he replied with a wink.
“Won’t tell Jack what?”
Startled, Donovan looked behind her. Her stomach rolled. Her insides quaked. And her heart started up like a rocket shooting into space.
Wearing nothing but those da
mn board shorts, with all that tanned skin and those bulging biceps, he looked like every woman’s dream—the oven mitts and pan only added to his sex appeal.
He hadn’t shaved—again—and those eyes of his were dark as they regarded her, a strange look in their depths.
Quickly, she swiped at the still damp tears in the corners of her eyes and attempted a smile as she ignored his question.
