Chapter 26
It hadn’t come out exactly as Shay had planned it, and she definitely hadn’t anticipated that her declaration of love would result in Lake Michigan being the final resting place for Rosie’s mom.
But now that it was out there, Shay felt damn near invincible, like nothing in the world could hurt her, and like she wouldn’t let anything in the world hurt Rosie.
But none of that took care of the smashed urn at their feet.
Shay looked at Rosie and then nodded at the lake before she put the toe of her pump against the ceramic carnage and nudged it toward the edge of the pier.
Rosie pressed her lips together and clamped her hand over her mouth in a futile attempt to stop a giggle.
“Really?”
“We don’t have a choice,” Shay said. “Unless you have a bag hidden away in the folds of your dress?”
Rosie wrung her hands together. “I don’t.”
“And I left my purse in the car. Do you want a piece,” Shay toed a substantial chunk of it closer to the gap beneath the fencing, “as a memento?”
Rosie wrinkled her nose as if the idea was abhorrent, then she widened her eyes. “I guess it’d remind me of the first time you told me you loved me… But it could also remind me of the day I dropped my mom in a lake.”
Shay grinned. “Win-win?”
Rosie laughed then bit her bottom lip to stop.
She knelt down, tucking her dress beneath her so it didn’t drag in the remaining person-dust among the urn’s shards.
She selected a relatively small piece, popped it into her pocket and straightened.
She nodded toward the pile. “I don’t think I can do it. Will you do it for me?”
Shay caressed Rosie’s cheek. “I’ll do anything for you,” she said before making short work of kicking the evidence of their transgression into the water, leaving only a smear of gray dust in the cracks of the old wooden planks.
They moved away from the debris, further down the pier.
No more declarations needed to be made over the not-corpse of a dead woman who hadn’t deserved someone as amazing as Rosie in her life.
Shay took Rosie’s hands and pulled her close, inhaling the scent of her sweet skin.
She claimed another passionate kiss, her hunger for the taste of Rosie’s lips overriding any other thought in her head.
Rosie’s sigh and the way her body softened against Shay fueled her desire further, and she tightened her embrace, simultaneously thrilled and overwhelmed by her own near-desperation to be as close to Rosie as physically possible.
When she pulled back only a little so that their lips were still touching, the look in Rosie’s eyes seared into her memory.
Shay wanted to capture her expression, so that she could bring it to mind any time they were apart, any time she needed to feel wanted and desired.
The emotion held within Rosie’s gaze was so incredibly pure and unguarded, so limitless and singularly focused that it was like Rosie was tapping directly into Shay’s heart and asking for all of it to be mirrored and reciprocated.
“What now?”
“You’re going to have to teach me how to be a girlfriend,” Shay whispered.
Rosie slipped her hand under Shay’s locs and kissed her hard. “I think you’ve been doing a pretty good impression of that for the past couple of weeks.”
“Mm, you’ve been making me do a lot of things I’ve never done before.”
Rosie pinched Shay’s butt. “Making you?”
“Uh-huh. Making me, like you put me under a spell. I knew what I was doing, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
” Shay cupped Rosie’s cheek and drew her in for another kiss.
“I have a feeling it’s just going to keep happening.
” She kissed her again, and Rosie responded with a tender intensity, a blend of softness and force that poured gasoline on the simmering fire between them.
Shay pulled away and let out a deep sigh. People around them came into focus, as if she’d forgotten where they were. “We should probably—”
“Go back to my place and make love until we fall asleep in each other’s arms, exhausted and sated but still desperate for more?”
Shay laughed. “That sounds absolutely perfect but,” she nodded to the lake, “you’ve got a memorial wake to host.”
Rosie stepped away from Shay and looked out across the water, her expression contemplative. “Goodbye, Mom,” she said quietly and then she took Shay’s hand. “So I get to do this anytime I want now, right?”
Shay looked at their entwined hands, the contrast of their skin and the perfect way they fit together. “You tell me. You’re the teacher.”
Rosie wiggled her eyebrows. “I could totally abuse this power you’re giving me.”
Shay grasped Rosie’s hand tighter. “I’m good with that.”
They headed back down the pier, and Rosie settled into an unusual quietness.
“Are you thinking about your mom?” Shay asked when they got in the car.
Rosie nodded. “I was thinking that closure would come after I scattered her ashes, but I don’t feel any different. And I don’t think that has anything to do with not doing it in the right place or,” she gave a wry smile, “with quite the right level of care and respect.”
Shay turned in her seat to look at her. “I probably haven’t helped with that. I was so desperate to tell you that I loved you. I should’ve waited until tomorrow, but I’ve got to go back to the hospital again tonight, and I just couldn’t wait. I’m sorry.”
Rosie squeezed Shay’s thigh and shook her head.
“Don’t be. There could never have been a wrong time for you to tell me how you feel.
And today might even be the best day for it.
I’ve been in love with you since Mexico, but I’d decided not to tell you because I didn’t think you could ever feel the same. ”
“I get that,” Shay said and wrinkled her nose. “I put up a lot of walls, and I was pretty specific about my rule.”
Rosie laughed. “You really were. What changed your mind?”
“Mexico changed everything for me too. It just took me a while to accept it.” Shay started the engine and headed out of the parking lot.
“You wouldn’t believe it, but it was a couple of conversations with Aaron and my daddy that made me realize that I’d found something precious without looking for it. ”
“Ah, see? You’re already great girlfriend material shooting out lines like that.”
“Yay for me.” She pulled out into the city’s traffic. The gray cloud had cleared, and the wind seemed to have died down. That thought took Shay back to Rosie’s lack of closure on her mom. “If you don’t feel any different, how are you feeling about everything?”
“Lighter, I guess. And there’s still relief floating around too. Mostly, I’m sad that she never changed, and I’m fighting off the negative self-talk that I was never enough for her to want to be a better person or a good mom.”
“You make me want to be a better person.” Shay looked at Rosie as she stopped at a red light.
Rosie’s smile brightened. “I do?”
Shay blew out a long breath and shook her head. “Like you wouldn’t believe. I want to be everything you need.”
Rosie gently fingered one of Shay’s locs. “You already are. I don’t need you to change a thing. What we’ve been sharing, what we’ve become together is more real than any relationship I’ve ever had.”
“Do you miss her?” Shay asked.
“Not in any way to compare to how you miss your mom. And honestly, my mom was never really there to miss. I’m going to sit through the process and let it play out, but I won’t let the ghost of her control my future like she controlled my past.” Rosie caressed Shay’s cheek. “And that future is you.”
Shay pulled into the alley leading to their garage and turned to face Rosie.
“I’m getting used to the sound of that. It wasn’t so long ago that I couldn’t comprehend a future that included someone walking that path alongside me.
” And now her heart ached with the potential of everything they could share.
They got out of the car and took the short walk to Bonnie’s.
The establishment’s namesake greeted them with a big wave. “Hi, honeys. Go on upstairs. Everything’s set up for you.”
“Thanks, Bonnie,” Rosie said. “You’re a superstar.”
Lori waited for them with two glasses of wine on the mezzanine at the top of the stairs.
“Um,” Lori scanned them both as she handed them the drinks, “you seem to be missing the guest of honor.”
Rosie pulled the urn shard from her pocket and held it aloft for inspection. “I had a little accident. There was an argument between gravity and Mom’s urn. Gravity won, and Mom went for one last swim.”
Lori pressed her lips together briefly. “How did that happen?”
Rosie nodded toward Shay. “I lost my grip on reality, and the urn, when this one told me she loved me.”
Shay grinned. The more she heard that said out loud, the more it seemed to grow in her heart.
Lori arched her eyebrow. “You’re in love with my best friend?”
She’d been prepared for this. Rosie had given Gabe hell when she was quietly pining after Lori too. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
Lori’s expression grew even more incredulous. “Don’t you believe relationships are a black hole for your time and emotion, and you get enough of that with your family?”
“Lori!” Rosie put her hand over her face, making it clear Lori had probably just quoted her verbatim.
And she’d been right. But things had changed.
Shay simply smiled. “It’s okay, Rosie. Lori’s just doing her job, like you did with Gabe,” she said and winked.
“Spending a lot of time with your best friend has made me see that I was wrong. And I’d been holding onto some other emotional baggage that I’ve managed to cut loose.
Now that I’ve done that, I’m clear and free to love Rosie, and I promise I’ll do that with all of my heart and soul.
” She wrapped her arm around Rosie’s waist and stared into her eyes.
“And if you ever think I’m not doing it right, you can kick my ass. ”
“What’s that?” Gabe came up behind Lori and wrapped her arms around her. “Are you threatening to beat up my best friend, beautiful?”
Lori turned around in Gabe’s embrace and kissed her. “I’m afraid it’s more of a promise than a threat. Why? Are you thinking of standing in my way?”
Shay grinned at the size and height difference between Gabe and her firecracker girlfriend, even though Lori wore three-inch heels.
“I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about,” Gabe said. “I’ve never seen Shay like this before, and I’ve seen her—”
“You can stop there,” Shay said, fearing Gabe might put a number to the women Gabe had seen her with.
Rosie looked at Gabe. “You knew?”
“She knew before I did.” Shay hugged Rosie tight to her hip. “Apparently, twenty years of friendship means she knows me better than I know myself.”
Lori turned back around and smiled at Rosie. “Best friends are worth more than all the gold in the world.”
Shay noticed RB and Woody hovering a few feet away and beckoned them over.
“Congratulations,” Woody said. “Now that you’re off the market, me and RB won’t strike out as much.”
Shay laughed. “I don’t think the two are related, but if that’s what you want to believe, go ahead.” She looked around the room for the last member of their group. “Where’s Solo?”
“This was her first real event without Janie by her side.” RB shook her head. “She couldn’t handle it, so we put her in an Uber and sent her home before she did anything stupid.”
Shay looked at Gabe. “Do we need to do anything about this?”
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do yet,” Gabe said. “They’re still living together, and they’re getting counseling, so they’re trying to figure it out. All we can do is support her and make sure she doesn’t go off the rails.”
“Is Janie still seeing her co-worker?” Rosie asked.
Gabe shook her head. “Apparently, she was never seeing him. They had a few drinks together, but Janie swears up and down that nothing happened and there were no feelings on either side. When Janie told Solo they were talking, that’s exactly what she meant. Just talking, like friends.”
“I don’t get it,” Rosie said. “If Janie isn’t cheating on her, what’s the problem between them?”
Shay gave a humorless laugh. “That’s what Solo is trying to figure out, and it’s driving her to distraction.”
“Forget that right now,” Gabe said. “Let’s celebrate you two lovebirds.”
Lori nudged Gabe. “And pay our respects… It’s a wake, remember?”
Rosie shook her head. “I think I’ve done everything I can for my mom.”
“In that case,” Lori said, “when are we going on our first double date?”
Rosie waved the question away. “No need to rush anything.”
The group headed to the tables where the food was laid out, and Shay tugged Rosie back gently. “I’m here for it all, you know?”
Rosie frowned. “What do you mean?”
She motioned to Lori as she walked away. “The way you brushed Lori off about the double date. You sounded worried.”
Rosie smiled and shook her head. “I’m not worried. I was just thinking that since I’m supposed to be teaching you how to be my girlfriend, maybe we should slow down and take a few steps back before we talk double dates.”
Shay frowned and guided Rosie back against the wall and out of sight. “Isn’t it a bit late for that?” She pulled Rosie in closer and nibbled the skin along her neck. “I thought you were all about moving into your new future?”
Rosie moaned lightly. “I am, but a girl likes to be properly wooed, you know? If you’re going to be my actual Princess Charming, I’ll need a first date.”
Shay moved up and kissed Rosie’s jawline. “I can do that. I’d love to take you out. Would you like me to choose what we do and when we go?”
Rosie sighed deeply. “Yes. I love surprises.”
Shay had never been a big fan of them but falling in love with Rosie had been the biggest surprise of all and probably the best thing that had ever happened to her.
She’d always been a good student; she’d take on board all of Rosie’s teachings to become the very best partner Rosie deserved, and she’d deliver the most original first date of all time.