“They’re leaving. Can you get your cousin and his guys over here now?” Even though I’m alone, I whisper into the phone, begging Leigh to help me out.

“You know, for someone who doesn’t love her husband anymore, you’re going out of your way to surprise him with this.”

“Stop giving me shit and call your cousin, Leigh. Right now!”

She’s laughing when I hang up on her and rush to take my shower. I have a text from her when I get out, letting me know the landscaping crew will be in my backyard within thirty minutes to start working on a patio and fire pit. The area is relatively small, but it’ll take the crew all day to complete the work.

I just have to keep Blake and Kyle away long enough to give the workers time to finish the job. We’ve already covered the basics—I sent her cousin a picture of what I want and a picture of my current space. Leigh will oversee the rest of the details for me while I meet my guys for an early afternoon lunch and hopefully a matinee to delay our return home.

Leigh arrives as I’m rushing out the door, and I grab her in a tight embrace. “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

“I want you to be happy, Grace. Whatever that means, I support you.”

“I know you do. I just don’t know what it means myself right now. All I can do is focus on getting Kyle into the college he wants the most. If I try to deal with anything else, it just overwhelms me. One crisis at a time is all I can handle right now.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have that luxury, my friend. But I’ll do what I can and what you need to help you through it.”

I love her, but sometimes I hate it when she’s right.

On my way toward the mall, I start to call Kyle to find out where they are and ask if it’s safe for me to join them yet. Then I stop and decide to call Blake instead. I can’t use Kyle as our middleman, and a “normal” wife would call her husband anyway.

He sounds surprised when he answers, and I almost laugh out loud. “Grace? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. Leigh couldn’t join me today, so I’m heading out alone. Are you two finished conspiring?”

“We are,” he chuckles. “We’re shopping for Kyle’s girlfriend now. Why don’t you join us?”

“Sounds like fun. I should be there in about twenty minutes.”

We agree on a place to meet since the mall is packed with all the last-minute procrastinators. When I circle the parking lot, I see Blake standing on the curb. He jogs over to me, dodging frantic shoppers and little old ladies not watching where they’re going.

“I’ll park the car for you. I don’t want you walking out here alone.” He opens my door and waits for me to get out. I’ve never met this Blake before, and my heart squeezes from the gesture. The man I married was fun and witty, but we were both too young to realize what true romance was. These small acts mean so much—opening doors, parking the car, showing how he wants to take care of me. Where would we be had this been our relationship all along?

When I stand, we’re close—so close my chest brushes against his, and the friction sends electrical charges exploding throughout my body. Ignoring my feelings is becoming harder when he does thoughtful things like this. Then I remind myself “act” is the appropriate word. I’m not the one he’s in love with anymore.

The acts I take as caring are only that—acts. He’s playing a part for Kyle, to teach him how to treat a woman. Does he do all of this for her?

This isn’t even a simple problem of miscommunication. He was honest about Tammy calling him, but he didn’t tell her it was over between them. He just reiterated that his reason for being here is Kyle—reestablishing and building his relationship with his son. Doing the same for his relationship with his wife isn’t even on his radar. The sooner I burn that fact into my brain, the better off I’ll be.

When I join Kyle just inside the entrance, he puts his big arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side. In a sea of storms and out of control waves, he’s my anchor. We’ve always been close, and part of him worries about leaving me to start his own life. He’s protective of me, and I appreciate his concern, but I want him to be an independent young man who isn’t afraid to stand on his own two feet. That’s how I’ve raised him.

“Have you found your girlfriend anything yet?”

“No.” He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “You women use so much shit. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start with perfume and purses, Kyle. Perfume and purses.”

“I’m not carrying a purse through the mall.”

“It’ll be in a bag, son.”

“I don’t care. You pick it out, and you carry it. I’ll carry everything else you want to buy.”

Blake joins us after finally finding a parking spot. “Kyle, why don’t you drive my car home, and I’ll drive your mom? I had to park all the way at the end of the row, and I’m not letting her walk alone in this madhouse.”

“Sure, Dad.” Kyle casts a quick glance at me and lifts his eyebrow to confirm it’s okay.

What does he know?

“That’s fine with me. I like having a chauffeur.”

I purposely take them to every store in the mall that carries purses and perfume. When enough time has passed and I know they’re at their breaking point, I finally pick out the gifts and even throw in a matching wallet for extra girlfriend brownie points. Much to Kyle’s relief, I take them to the restaurant and sit down to have a late lunch.

“I think Dad and I are better at this shopping thing than you are. We knew exactly what we wanted and where to get it, and we wasted no time checking out. Efficient. Decisive. Smart shoppers. That’s us.”

“I’m sure you are,” I reply with a sly grin.

Kyle narrows his eyes at me for a moment before his bottom jaw drops open. “I can’t believe you. Betrayed by my own mother.”

“What are you talking about, Kyle?” Blake asks, and I giggle.

“Dad, I hate to break it to you, but Mom completely just played us. She knew all along what she was going to get, but she dragged us to every store in the mall on purpose.”

Blake slowly turns his head to look at me, and I feign an overly innocent expression. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about, Kyle. Now, after we eat, I think we should go to the four o’clock movie and treat ourselves. We’ve earned it after a hard day of shopping.”

Kyle folds his arms over his chest and arches one eyebrow. “You’re not fooling me.”

“It’s a Marvel movie.”

“We’re going,” they both reply, and I smile triumphantly.

It’ll be dark by the time we get home, making my surprise even more perfect. Cold night, warm fire, roasting marshmallows, and making s’mores over our new fire pit while the snow flurries around us.

Romantic and heartbreaking at the same time.

Blake stands in line to get our concessions while Kyle and I save our seats. With all the glances Kyle has given me, I know he can’t wait to get me alone so he can confirm his suspicions.

“What have you done?” he asks the moment we’re seated.

I pull up a picture on my phone and show him our new backyard haven. “Think your dad will like it?”

“He’ll love it, Mom. You did good. I can’t wait to see it and use it myself. Although, I’m a little peeved you waited until just before I go off to college before you had it built.”

“Yes, that was my plan all along. Wait until the very last minute so you couldn’t enjoy it at all. You caught me.”

He chuckles with me. “Maybe I’ll surprise you and come home more often than you think I will.”

“If you think that’s punishing me, then, by all means, you should come home every weekend.”

Blake climbs the stairs and takes the open seat beside me, putting me between my two guys. I hold the popcorn in my lap, and Blake wraps his arm around my shoulders. I haven’t felt the comfort of his embrace in so long, and I desperately want to snuggle into him. Just one more time.

“He’s really going to miss you, ya know?” Blake leans in close to talk to me. His lips brush against the shell of my ear. His deep voice reverberates through me, the ripples flowing like a current straight to my core.

“Huh?” I blurt out obtusely, because my brain seems to have taken a leave of absence.

“Kyle. He’ll miss you when he leaves. He’s mentioned a couple of times how he hates that his top-pick college is so far away. Don’t be surprised if he goes to a closer school instead.”

“I won’t let him do that. He knows better. I want what’s best for him and what makes him happy. He shouldn’t even consider me when he picks a college,” I whisper back. Kyle has worked too hard for his perfect GPA and the high scores on admissions tests to settle for anything less than exactly what he wants. I won’t be the cause of him giving up his dream.

“Maybe being close to home and spending time with his family is what makes him happy. Maybe that’s exactly what he wants and needs, only he didn’t realize it until now.”

The intimate timbre of his voice makes me turn and stare into his eyes until the theater lights dim to darkness. I’m not sure we’re talking about Kyle and what he wants anymore. This suddenly feels like we’ve moved on to something else entirely.

Am I ready to hear that from Blake, though?

---

Grace didn’t object to my arm being around her during the movie. She didn’t flinch or pull away. Was it just hopeful thinking on my part to believe she actually moved closer to me?

The day we spent together was the best day I’ve had in a long time. Despite the crowds of rude shoppers. Regardless of the number of stores she dragged us into. No matter how many purses we looked at—that looked exactly the same as the ones we looked at in the previous stores. The difference was Grace. She was funny and goofy and full of life.

I know she kept us out all day for a reason, though I still don’t know why. If her motive was simply to spend time with Kyle and me, I’ll take it. If she only wanted to spend time with Kyle and my presence was a by-product, I’ll take that too, because that gives me a chance to prove the ways I’m changing, the ways I’ve changed. Every chance I get, I’ll do my best to turn this nightmare we’ve been living in back into a dream.

“Thank you for getting the car. I could’ve walked with you, though.”

“Not with all these people and terrible drivers everywhere. They’d run over you to snatch that bag out of your hand.”

Her laughter fills the car, and it is music to my ears. We’re alone, and she’s laughing. I have hope for us. “You’re probably right about that. Christmas shopping gets harder every year.”

“Maybe, but just so you know, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed today.”

“Even when I made you model different color purses so I could see how they looked?” She cuts her eyes over to me, that playful gleam of hers shining brightly in them.

“Even then. The people walking by got a laugh out of it too.”

“You got a round of applause when you took your catwalk stroll. I was impressed.” She belly-laughs at the memory, then turns solemn when she continues. “I should’ve videoed that.”

The change in her tone concerns me. She went from laughing to sad in a split second. All I know is I need to turn this conversation back around to focus on the fun we had together.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone else did, then it’ll show up on Facebook or YouTube.” My deadpan tone does the trick, and her smile is back in full force.

“Wouldn’t it be great if you went viral?”

“Oh yes. That would be just perfect.”

“Blake, I enjoyed spending the day with you and Kyle, too. Nothing about this is easy, but I see the effort you’re making, and I want you to know I appreciate it. Kyle does too. I can tell. He still spends time with his friends and girlfriend—I never expected that to change—but now he wants to spend time with you too. That’s what’s important.”

“You’re right, of course. I’ve seen the change in our relationship with the time he and I have spent together. But that’s not all that’s important, Grace. I’ve realized so much in the past few weeks, I can barely believe it myself. Do you feel it too?”

I turn into our driveway and put the car into park. When I turn to Grace, tears drop from her eyes onto her cheeks. She quickly wipes them away, but more take their place. This is all my fault—the pain I’ve caused her, the damage I’ve done to our marriage, the time with her I’ve taken for granted. I desperately want to make it all up to her. If she’ll let me. If she’ll have me.

A knock on my window startles me, and I jerk my head toward the noise. Kyle stands by the car, bouncing up and down on his toes in excitement with a huge grin covering his face. When I roll down the window, Grace turns her face away to dry her eyes.

“Dad, you gotta come see what Mom has done. I knew she was up to something today.”

Grace chuckles from beside me. “You need to quit snooping, you tattletale!”

“Like I could miss it even if I tried. Come on, Dad. You’re gonna love it.”

Kyle trots off around the corner of the house toward the backyard, and I turn back to Grace. “Can we finish this conversation later? Please?”

“Yes, we can talk about it. But you have to consider my feelings on this, Blake. You’ve been seeing someone else for six months behind my back. You had plans to divorce me and be with your new soul mate. Three weeks of pretending to care about me is hardly enough to make me believe you’ve suddenly changed. We both need more time to be sure of what we want and what our next move will be.”

“Grace, I don’t need another second to know for sure what I want. I’m willing to give you the rest of my life if that’s how much time you need to decide for yourself.”

A sob breaks free, and she drops her chin to her chest.

She wants to believe me, but she’s afraid to give me a chance. But that’s okay, I have to earn her trust and love again. At least now, I don’t feel like I need to restrain my feelings. The only way to convince her is to show her—every minute of every day.

She quickly regains her composure and wipes her face again. “We’d better join Kyle before he drags us out of the car.”

I jump out and jog around the car to open her door. She looks up at me, confusion covering her beautiful face, and I smile sheepishly. “Step one of my ‘Win Grace Back’ campaign is to spoil you.”

“Stop making me cry,” she chuckles and whisks away a teardrop.

“You’ll only have happy tears from now on.” I take her hand and help her stand, then wrap my arm around her as we walk toward the back of the house.

When we turn the corner, my legs stop moving, and my mouth drops open. “Grace. Sweetheart. What did you do?”

“Merry Christmas, a few days early. I wanted to surprise you. You’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but something else always got in the way or had to be done first. I hope you still like this design.”

“It’s perfect.” My arm tightens around her, and my chest swells with gratitude when I feel her arm slide around my waist to return the embrace.

We walk closer to the new stone-paver patio, complete with bench seating around the raised fire pit in the center. A fire is already going, casting a warm glow across the snow-covered lawn. Adirondack chairs are placed around the perimeter, and small tables with hurricane lamps sit between the chairs.

Kyle is already kicked back in one of the chairs, a shit-eating grin splitting his face in two. He lifts his arm and holds up a box wrapped with shiny red foil and a huge silver bow. “This has your name on it, Dad. Maybe you should open it now.”

Grace’s lips lift as she shrugs one shoulder. “You can open it, but if Kyle sees what’s inside, you may lose it.”

“We’ll see about that.” I take the box from Kyle and sit in the chair next to him to open it. When I see the contents, I can’t help but laugh. “S’mores over a real fire tonight!”

“Yes! Give me that box,” Kyle demands.

After I hand him the box, I look at Grace and pat my leg. “Come sit with us and have dessert. Kyle, your mom gets the first one.”

Even though I put her on the spot, she takes a seat on my leg, and I pull her against my chest. She lays her head on my shoulder, and it occurs to me that I’d be happy to stay just like this—with my wife in my arms and our son by my side. Enjoying our home. Laughing with each other. Treasuring what matters.

While Kyle opens the bags to put Grace’s s’more together, I whisper my heart’s desire to her. “I know we’ll be busy with Christmas parties and dinners over the next week, but I’d really like to take you out after the holiday. What do you say, Grace? Will you go out on a date with me?”

“Yes, I will,” she replies. “But don’t expect me to go dutch or to put out on the first date.”

Her sense of humor was one of the first things I loved about her. I never realized how much I’ve missed it until just now.

“What are we doing for Christmas this year? Are Gran and Pops coming over?” Kyle asks, referring to my parents.

“Yeah, we always spend time with Jeffrey and Anna. They’re such wonderful people,” Grace says. “But we’re going to my parents’ house Christmas Eve.”

Kyle and I both freeze. I don’t think I’m even breathing.

“Why would we do that, Mom?” Kyle puts the chocolate and marshmallows down then crosses his arms over his chest. “They treat you like shit. At least, they did the last time I saw them, which was forever ago. I’m a lot bigger now. I will kick their asses if they pull that again.”

“Get in line, son. If you remember, they called the cops on me,” I add.

“We need to go and try to make amends if we can.” Grace stares off into the flames, not meeting our disbelieving stares. Then I realize she isn’t doing it on purpose—she’s lost deep in thought.

“Why do they treat us so bad?” Kyle asks.

“Because Grace was pregnant with you during her senior year of high school, and her parents didn’t approve of me. They still don’t, to this day. Your mom had to move in to my parents’ house and finish high school. Then we got married, and that really set them off. Her parents didn’t speak to her again until you were seven. That’s when we went over there and ended up in a fight with them again. That’s also the reason she’s seen them maybe a handful of times since then,” I explain.

Gretchen and Matt Baldwin are not my favorite people.

Kyle moves in front of us and kneels in front of Grace. “Mom, tell me what’s going on.”

“They’re getting older, Kyle. If we don’t have a relationship with them now, we never will.”

Kyle’s eyes narrow, and his brows draw down. With his hand covering his mouth, he draws his fingers across his cheeks and studies his mom. His brain is working overtime at this unexpected announcement. Grace reaches up and pulls his hand from his face and holds it in hers.

“You’re too young to worry yourself like this, Kyle. If they’re assholes, we’ll just leave. No reason to get all worked up. Maybe they’ve mellowed in their golden years.” She tries to soothe him, but he isn’t buying it.

“I know you as well as you know me, Mom. You don’t believe that. If they had, we would’ve heard from them before now.”

“Maybe. But doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?”

She’s got me there. I can’t argue—but I can protect her at all costs.