68. Sports & Stairs
SIXTY-EIGHT
Sports & Stairs
STEVE
The rest of the holiday party continued with festive music, delicious pastries, and non-stop conversation.
Steve kept close to Tara for the most part, but he couldn’t pass up on some entertaining conversations with Kiro and Derek, who were quickly becoming his best friends. Sure, they clashed when the conversations turned to sports, and Steve had no problem speaking proudly of his favorite NHL team. “Yeah, well, my Blues beat your Jackets in St. Louis last month.” He didn’t want to talk about football though as he was still lamenting the move of his beloved St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles.
Derek nodded in agreement to Steve’s boast about his Blues. “Yeah. You did, but don’t forget we trounced you a couple weeks later, so the Blues aren’t that impressive.”
“Alright. Alright,” Steve laughed. “It was fun to see them play. I haven’t been to a game since we moved out of St. Louis.”
“How long has that been?” Kiro asked.
“Oh, wow.” Steve scrubbed his jaw with his hand. “Close to ten years now.”
The conversation continued as they delved into stats and other sports topics, such as which teams would make the NFL playoffs. If it was a sport, they discussed it. After a while, someone tapped Steve on the shoulder.
Still laughing at whatever Kiro had just said, Steve turned to find a concerned Nick. “Hey, Nicky. Everything okay?”
“Yes.” Taking a moment to glance around the room, Nick returned his attention to Steve. “Where’s Tara?
Steve quickly scanned the room but Tara was gone. “I don’t know.”
“Looking for Tara?” Celeste joined them and put her arms around Kiro’s waist. “She went back to the office. I think things got a little overwhelming.”
“Thanks.” Steve patted Nick’s shoulders. “I’ll be right back.”
“Wait. Let her know I’m….” Nick started, but cut himself off.
“I will, Nicky,” Steve assured him with a reassuring pat on his back. “I promise.”
Steve walked through the small archway leading from the party to the bookstore. “Tara,” he called out on the way back to the office.
The bookstore was dark except for the display lights in the front window and dim lights coming from the offices. After finding the office empty, he opened the door leading to the small loading area behind the retail space.
“Tara?” His heart raced as he called her name again. He looked right, left, and behind him. “TARA?”
He heard a sniff, followed by a halfhearted response. “Steve?”
He jogged over to the stairway leading to the second floor. She was sitting on a stair about halfway up. He took the steps two at a time to get to her.
She lifted her head to look up at him, revealing black mascara smudging around her weary eyes.
“Hey, Sugar.” His voice was soft as he sat down next to her.
She took one look at him before the waterworks opened up. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as soon as her head landed against his shoulder.
“I’ve got you.”
He held her while her tears fell, rubbing his hand up and down her back. It could have been two minutes or two days for all he knew. He didn’t care. He just knew she had to get it out of her system before she could talk about it to her parents or even to him. So, in the meantime, he held her in his arms, wanting nothing more than to be whatever she needed him to be.
The woman he loved needed him. That was the only thing that mattered to him right now, and he’d be damned sure she wouldn’t have to go through this alone.
“Nick was worried about you.”
That drew out a smile. “He was?” She wiped her tears.
Steve smiled and kissed her forehead. “He couldn’t find you.”
“I needed to get away.” She sniffed. “I think everything hit me all at once, you know?”
“Yeah. I know.” Steve lifted her chin and rubbed his thumb under her eyes. “You look like a raccoon.”
She breathed out a laugh, but didn’t move as he wiped the tears off her face.
“You’ve taken on a lot. Keeping your family afloat while you put your own life on hold.”
“It wasn’t that much.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m just tired.”
“You may be tired, but yes, it was that much. Tara.” Steve tilted his head to look into her eyes.
She met his gaze.
“Look. I have some experience in keeping a family going. It’s definitely that much.” He swallowed and paused a moment before speaking. “Yeah, your situation is different, but it’s no less important. Don’t downplay what you’ve been doing here.” He cupped her cheek as another tear meandered down her face. “You’ve done a great thing here, and your family knows that.”
Tara wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder.
After a while, the sound of footsteps drew near. With both arms tightly wrapped around Tara, Steve looked up and saw Tristan approaching. He pulled his head back to look at her to see her eyes were still closed.
“Hey,” his soft, gravelly voice broke the silence. “Tristan’s here.”
With a sniff, Tara looked up at Steve, who tilted his head to the bottom of the stairs where Tristan stood, resting one foot on a stair while leaning a hand against the banister for balance.
“Tara, they surprised us all, when they asked what we could do to help you take over the store,” Tristan said. He glanced up at Steve, then back toward the store. “I mean, we always knew it would happen. We just didn’t think they’d be ready to pass it down this soon.”
“Is it true what Dad said? You and Emily want to pitch in for the capital. Tiffany, too.”
Tristan laughed. “Even Theo, though he may provide more labor than money until he gets going with his Pulitzer prize-winning journalism job.
Tara laughed. “I don’t know what to say, Tris.”
“Well,” he responded. “It’s just in the planning stages. It’ll be a while before it actually happens. Dad’s editing job will be part-time while we work out the details. At least we can move forward so you can step in by this time next year.” He tilted his head to the side. “Or whenever.”
“Thanks, Tris,” Tara said while standing up. “I should probably get back in there.”
“You’re fine right here. We’ve got it. The party’s breaking up, anyway. Kiro and Celeste are leading the cleanup.” Tristan let out a humorless laugh. “I swear Kiro rivals Mom when it comes to event planning. He took over as soon as people started heading out. Mom and Dad took Emily home. We figure any business planning could wait until tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay.”
“And I think Tiff disappeared with Derek.”
Steve couldn’t help but laugh. He shook his head.
“Did they?” Tara cocked a brow. “Interesting.”
Tristan walked up the stair to give Tara a hug. “Love you, Tara.”
“Love you too, Tris.”
Steve took Tara’s hand and led her up to his apartment, where she could relax comfortably and without interruption. He had just stepped into the other room for a blanket when Nick walked through the front door.
When Tara offered Nick a smile, his lips curled up in response. Just as Steve reappeared, Nick strode over to the couch and sat beside her. Without a word, he gave her a shy smile and wrapped his arms around her. She hesitated in surprise before she returned his embrace.
He held her tight. “Tell me you’re okay, Tara.”
“I’m okay, Nick.” Her voice came out as a whisper.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
Steve couldn’t be happier to see the affection Tara and his brother had for each other. He wouldn’t be able to take it if they didn’t get along. That his brother could show affection toward anyone at all after everything he’d gone through was a testament to his resilience.