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A knock at the door sounds, and I move to go answer it, but Gage stops me. He pushes my water bottle in front of me and pulls out a chair at the kitchen island bar. My eyes roll, but I laugh and reluctantly sit. I don’t need the extra attention despite my injury, but having someone dote on me so attentively anyway spreads warmth in my chest.
Gage opens the door, and on the other side are Mom and Dad, grinning from ear to ear. Their arms are full of baked goods and wrapped gifts. Gage removes his hat and reaches to take the things out of my Mom’s hands while ushering them inside.
“Wow!” Mom gasps, sniffing the air and admiring the festive decorations. “The food smells amazing and the tree?! Just lovely dear,” she pats Warren on the cheek and shuffles toward me.
“Good to see you, sweetheart.” She snuggles into me and I hug her back with a tight squeeze. The part of my body that is actually starting to hurt is my face because I haven’t stopped smiling since we got back from the hospital.
Gage, my friends old and new, and my family are all here in one place… home. Gage and I make eye contact while he moves around the kitchen. I’ve always thought the gesture to be a little cheesy, but when he winks at me, I almost fall out of my chair. It should be illegal for him to look so sexy doing that.
“Mrs. Farrow,” Gage says, “I hope you like soup. I’m no chef, but I think it turned out pretty good.” His hopeful shrug is too cute.
Water pools in my eyes as I watch my Mom hug him, taste-test the soup, and give him an approving nod. She’s been avoiding solids since her surgery, despite her recovery going extremely well so far. The fact that he thought to make soup for her makes me wonder if Warren was right about it being too hot here. Because I feel like melting on the spot.
The table is set, the boys serve up prime rib and an assortment of sides, and soft music plays from the jukebox. The lights in the room start to blur as I take in the scene of everyone eating, laughing, hugging, and sharing time with one another.
I take a sip of the champagne that Kee poured for everyone to have with dessert, and feel a strong hand glide across my back. Without turning to look behind me, I know it’s Gage. I lean back, settling into his chest, and he tips his head down to rest on my shoulder.
“I saw the letter that you left on the dresser in my room,” he says.
The smile on my face falls and is replaced with a stab of sadness. I have no intention of breaking up with Gage. Not when this beautiful thing between is just getting started. But I don’t know what the future holds for us.
The letter that I received was from the residency program that I had always hoped I would match with. They sent the letter to formally welcome me for my upcoming interview and tour.
I won’t find out where I’ll officially be going until March, but it’s not hard to discern which programs are showing the most interest in you. If I receive good feedback from them, I might even look at apartments in Tucson while I’m there to visit.
“Does it make you angry?” I ask.
“Does what make me angry?” He cocks his head and looks at me in shock.
“That I won’t be living here. That this would be,” I look down at his arm that is wrapped around my waist. “I don’t know. Long distance?”
The drink in my hand is suddenly taken from me and set down on the nearby table. Gage takes each of my elbows in his hands and turns me to face him. His eyes are fierce when I look up at him.
“I’d rather know you’re mine even from a thousand miles away, than not have you at all,” he says. “If your goal is to go and start your career there, then I’m going to annoy you with constant weekend trips and FaceTime calls. I’m going to support it, not ask you to push it all aside.”
The way I care about this man is immeasurable. In such a short time, he’s shown me more support and love than I’ve ever experienced from a man other than those in my own family. It feels strange, being so confident in something. But nothing has ever felt so right to me, trusting him with my heart. I lean my head forward to rest on his chest, and his hands move to my back, pulling me into him.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” I smile into his shirt.
I can’t lie and say that I’m not worried about trying to start a relationship with someone long distance. My gut tells me it’ll be worth it, though. We can make this work.
“Do you want your gift now or later?” I ask
His eyebrows wiggle and I laugh.
“Come on. It’s in here,” I say as I take his hand and lead him down the hallway to his room.
* * *
Gage
I close the door to my bedroom behind us. Blythe reaches up to the top shelf of the closet and pulls out the gift, handing it to me with a smirk.
The box isn’t heavy, but it’s fairly large and flat. I rip the top of it open, trying to be careful not to damage whatever is inside. My hand dips in and I latch onto a thin cardboard sleeve. As I pull it up and out of the box, a grin spreads wide across my face. I can’t help but laugh out loud and my shoulders shake with amusement.
It’s a vinyl record with ‘special edition’ written in silver lettering in the bottom right corner. On the cover is the Man in Black. He’s holding his guitar off to the side, biting his lip, leaning in toward the camera, and flipping it off. At the top left, it says ‘Johnny Cash at San Quentin’. It’s fucking perfect.
I toss the box onto my bed and walk over to where I keep the other records that I’ve collected over the years. I’m going to need to get a display shelf for this one and move all of this stuff to my house eventually. But for now, I place it right on top of the stack.
