Beautifully Done

by Riley Mackenzie

  I raised one eyebrow in amusement. “I’d probably still be stuck in tenth grade if you were sitting next to me in class. Honest. It should be a law or something. The only thing I would’ve been deprived of was an education.” We both laughed.

  When the silence returned, she sighed. “Remember the following Friday night, back in the Hamptons? How serious Kim was—had some big announcement Chase didn’t even know about?”

  It was crazy how easily you forgot little things, the random stuff. I would’ve never thought twice about that September night, but when reminded the memories flooded back. We had just finished a doubles match on the Coltons’ tennis courts and we were soaking up the last of the rays before the sun went down.

  “You mean when Kim threatened to rat us out to Pete for the dented fender on the town car? As if he didn’t know we took turns backing in and out of the hundred yard driveway.” I shook my head. “Remember how simple things were and how fucking stupid we were not to appreciate it?”

  “Yup. Her only stipulation was that we couldn’t mention Sunday at ALL. She was tired of us ruining an entirely perfect day because of its proximity to Monday.” Her smile reached her eyes, reminiscing. “Her words, ‘there are only seven days in a week and only two belong to us, make a choice. Bitch about it being Sunday, or pretend that word never existed and make it our day.’”

  “Talia, Asher, Chase and Kimi Day.” I rolled my eyes as I mumbled it, but not because I was annoyed. “TACK day.” My own stupid grin widened. Seemed cheesy as all hell at the time, but Kimi was pretty fucking smart. Besides eventually naming our band, she was the reason my initial was inked on the foot resting on the passenger seat of my car. So actually, she was brilliant.

  “She was a smart cookie.” She read my mind.

  “So is her best friend.” I kissed her hand again. I got the message. “Hear you loud and clear. But I’m not going to lie, I just got you back and I’m already not loving this weekend situation.” I flashed my blinker and got off at Logan Airport. No traffic. We flew here. Fuck.

  I double parked at the departure gate and grabbed her small rolling suitcase from the trunk. She was already standing on the curb, shivering. I tucked her in close.

  “Do me a favor, grab a pint or two of Grasshopper, and eat a cheeseburger this week. Little body fat goes a long way with insulation. Have to break you back into North East living.” She grumbled at my asinine remark and I laughed. Truth be told, she could probably have benefitted from a pound or two, which I was smart enough not to verbalize. Three sisters, hell yeah, I knew better. Not that I gave two shits what size pants she wore, as long as they were laying next to my bed. Which they wouldn’t be for another six days. Fuck, I hated Sundays.

  The cabs started honking. I didn’t move; they could wait. Tal unwrapped herself, her caramel eyes locking mine, and said. “It’s not ideal, you’re right. But it’s what we’ve got right now, and I for one have no complaints about what we’ve got.” My gut lurched and I suddenly felt like an immature douche. She was right. “And the best part about being older, all seven days are ours.” She rose up and kissed my chin. “Did I forget to mention that starting this week, I’m extending my Tuesday evening office hours so I’m off Fridays?”

  “Yeah? And when did you make that decision, Doc?”

  “This afternoon, right after you let me sink the eight ball, and right before you bent me over the pool table.” Her eyes danced with sass.

  “You trying to kill me? You obviously don’t want to get on that plane.” Our private conversation was interrupted by the lead pipe growing between us.

  She went hysterical, erasing any residual heaviness surrounding her departure.

  “Thought you’d appreciate the longer weekends,” she said through giggles.

  “Of course, I will. To start.”

  “Good. Done.” She didn’t hesitate, using my word. “Not so bad being a dermatologist and owning your own practice, huh?” Her flirtatious tone didn’t help my situation. Another cab honked louder.

  “I hear there’s a shortage of skin specialists in the greater Boston area. Might be worth looking into, you know, from a business perspective.”

  “Thank you for your unbiased professional insight, I’ll take it under advisement.” She tiptoed and brushed her frozen nose against mine. “But let’s start with this first, ease you in. You just figured out you wouldn’t combust on a Saturday night date. Wouldn’t want to send you into shock.”

  Ouch. Guess I deserved that, but it stung like a bitch. My expression must have said it because her playful tone got more serious.

  “Hey, I meant that in a good way. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t throw caution to the wind and rush into anything. You said it yourself, we just found each other again, let’s not do anything to jeopardize it. Okay? Ffffor now, ookayy?” Her teeth were chattering.

  I stroked the length of her arms to warm her up and kissed her forehead. “You’re freezing, let’s get you inside. Long weekends sound great.” For now, it was obvious I didn’t have a say at this point. “I’ll speak to Suzie, she’ll lighten my Friday.” Or cancel it.

  “Don’t do that, it’s harder for you to adjust your schedule. Besides, the earliest I can fly out is Friday morning. I’m a big girl; I can fend for myself. When you’re done with whatever it is you do, I’ll be waiting.”

  Whatever it is you do, I chuckled. The woman stared at god knows what all day, yet looked grossed out mentioning my choice of profession. Most women swooned when they found out I owned my own law firm. Again, not most women. Not to mention I liked that she’d be waiting. It sounded perfect. She was perfect.

  “Perfect.”

  She took her suitcase handle from me and said, “Now that we’ve settled that, you’ve got five days to buy a new set of sheets, because as lovely as your guest room is, I’d like to sleep in your bed when I come back.”

  I stole my word back. “Done.” Then I kissed her like she deserved to be kissed, not like we were standing in public. “Call me when you land.” She nodded but that wasn’t good enough. My brow raised when I said, “Promise.” It wasn’t really a request.

  “Pinky swear.” She shrugged her shoulders and I swatted her corduroy-clad ass. She walked toward the revolving glass doors and waved behind her.

  Sorry, Kim, HATE Sunday.

  Halfway through Sumner Tunnel, our conversation played on repeat, and my frustration mounted by the second. I couldn’t help but obsess over it. I scraped my hand over my face and took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on the road. Radio on, radio off. Shit. Coming off possibly the best weekend of my life, I should’ve been flying high. After all she said ‘for now’ twice, alluding to a future. What the fuck, I was psychoanalyzing. Who overthought shit like this? Not guys. Wouldn’t want to send you into shock.

  Did she think I was going to change my mind or get bored and toss her aside when I had my fill? She knew me better than that. Fuck, who was I kidding? That was exactly my M.O., why wouldn’t she think that. The realization that she didn’t trust me settled as an uneasy pit deep in my stomach. And this time the unfamiliar feeling sucked, except I didn’t trust me. Selfishly I wanted her to uproot her life and roll the dice on me. Even if I stayed true to this new page, the future held no guarantees. Hurting her was not an option. The tears she shed when I told her about my battle with Hodgkin’s were already tears too many. And what if it came back, or worse, I followed in my family’s genetic pool?

  The phone rang through the car’s Bluetooth system.

  “Yeah, talk to me,” I bit out.

  “Hey, Ash. Umm, this a bad time?” It was Lil.

  “Nah, sorry, gorgeous. Caller ID assumed it was your other half. What can I do for you?”

  “Oh nothing, I was just calling to see if Tal made it off okay. And I wanted to tell you we had such a great time yesterday. Thanks for setting it up.”

  “My pleasure, glad you ladies had fun.”

  “Oh, we did. And it was nice to get t
o know Talia. She’s so super sweet. I can see why you’re crazy about her. I have to admit though—and it’s not one of my finer moments—that stupidly there was a tiny little part of me that wanted to dislike her. You three have so much history. But I know now my completely irrational jealousy was silly, so I’m going to chalk it up to hormone imbalance.” She chuckled. Lil didn’t have a dishonest bone in her body. She was probably stewing over this for days.

  “That’s ridiculous. You have nothing to be jealous of, but speaking of, sorry I haven’t asked lately. How’re you doing with everything?”

  “Eh, but I didn’t call to talk about me.” Mental note, I needed to check in with Chase. “I’m crazy happy for you. And by the way, Sierra mercilessly interrogated Talia yesterday. And she handled it like a freaking champ. She gets our stamp of approval.”

  “Thanks. I love that you think she’s the one in need of a stamp when we both know it’s really the other way around.”

  “I completely disagree. You’re one of the most handsome, trustworthy men I’ve ever met. Any woman would be beyond lucky to have you. And from the way Tal was talking yesterday, I’m going to go out on a limb and say she feels the same.”

  “Yeah, well, the trustworthy part is questionable.”

  “Maybe she needs to see that you trust yourself. You’re a resourceful guy, I’m not too worried.”

  I let her words sit for a minute. My text signal chimed.

  Just boarded, have some sweet dreams lined up ;)

  7200 minutes and counting...

  Maybe Lil wasn’t just spewing shit. Maybe I needed to man the fuck up and go for it. The future was beyond my control, I’d give it that, but today, right now—that was mine. I knew what I wanted, and she was sitting on the tarmac at Logan International.

  I turned right at the light. I lived left. “Whatcha doing right now, gorgeous?”

  “Right now? Not much. Was going to order myself some dinner. Chase just started a case, won’t be home for hours. Why?”

  “I’ve got you covered for dinner. Pick you up in five...”

  “Ooh, fun. But no sushi, don’t tell Chase, but I’m sushi’d out.”

  I chuckled. “No shit. I’m surprised he’s not riddled with fucking mercury poisoning.” She laughed—she was adorable. “But first we need to make a stop, and I need your eyes.”

  “No problem. Where are we going?”

  Good question. Again thankful for three sisters, I answered, “Restoration Hardware.”

  “You still ski?” I zipped my suitcase and rolled it into the living room. She had no idea where we were going, nor did she know how we were getting there. I toyed with alternate arrangements, which would have never crossed my mind before. The weather looked perfect though and I was fanatical with maintenance, so I couldn’t really explain my sudden concern about safety. But I loved surprising her so today she was going to be sitting copilot. Aside from a few random occasions and mostly as transportation favors, I usually flew alone, never wanting to share the sacred air time. I craved the rush of the take off, the solace, and freedom mid-air; the accomplishment once you reached your destination. Tal was as much of an adrenaline junky as me, and she’d been dying to take a ride. Done. Boston to Vermont and directly into Stowe was less than an hour, just long enough for her to get a taste.

  “Funny time to ask.” She rolled her suitcase next to mine, headbanding her loose hair with her aviator sunglasses. I loved that my barefoot daredevil went nowhere without eye protection and no doubt sunblock. Ha, staples in her line of work. “Maybe you should have questioned before you sent me a winter jacket, which I love and thank you again … and how did we never discuss the boxes of HTs surrounding it?”

  “What? It was Valentine’s Day, you needed a little something red.” And cut flowers were out of the question.

  “You thought by me eating all those HTs I’d have my layer of insulation. You forgot to mention to pack warm and that I was going to need Bogs and ski goggles.”

  I wasn’t sure how to read her cues, whether she was annoyed with the impromptu ski trip or not. Well, it wasn’t exactly impromptu since the whole family met at the same house every President’s Day week since my oldest niece started kindergarten and my sisters informed me it was a mortal sin to pull kids from school. I hadn’t mentioned the family reunion tidbit yet either. And now didn’t seem like a good time so I held my tongue.

  Her lips softened and she smiled. Maybe she wasn’t annoyed.

  “Can you believe with all the years I’ve lived out on the West Coast, I haven’t been once? Tahoe, Park City, Mammoth, none of them. I guess with school, then my practice and all…” A wordless wave of something rolled over her and it was obvious her conversation was with herself. I wanted to press but she mastered the quick recovery with a smile and a subject change. “God, it’s been so long, I hope I don’t suck!” She pouted adorably and I kissed her puckered lips.

  “No worries. I’ll drop you at the bunny slope.” I smirked and squeezed her into a hug. “If that doesn’t work, you can be my sexy as shit ski bunny.” I squeezed her tighter. “Seriously, Teeps, you’ll be fine, it’s like riding a bike.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, okay, maybe if you look like this.” She slid her hands over my abs and chest and down my biceps. Fuck it, if my dick didn’t swell.

  “You rocked those diamonds back in the day,” I mumbled, trying to concentrate on something other than her touch. I sure as fuck wasn’t deprived. It might have been a long week apart, but we thoroughly reacquainted ourselves last night in my brand new Cal-king, which she thoroughly appreciated, and again this morning in my tub. I still had an issue with my overused shower, but I realized the free-standing cast iron tub my designer insisted upon was good for more than just resale value. Her slippery wet form had molded against my chest and my dick sat perfectly between her ass. If I had anything to say, we were going to be spending some quality time soaking in there. Fuck, my mind so easily wandered.

  “Hey, you keep that up,” I removed her hands from their downward track and kissed her palms, “and that flight I’ve been promising you isn’t gonna happen.”

  Her eyes widened. “Today, really?”

  “Yup. You and me.” Another first. “And don’t stress, the house is full of ski equipment. If the jacket doesn’t work, I’m sure Avery will have extras. She’s all about looking the part, has a new jacket yearly, and I’m sure this season won’t be any different.” Her eyes went wide and her brow crinkled, questioning me. “Or I’ll just buy you whatever you need on the mountain.” I shrugged, she didn’t. Oops.

  “Oh, your sister is going to be there? That’s, um, great. Why didn’t you mention it?”

  “What? You love surprises and just the other night you said how much you missed Maggie. Surprise.” I shrugged, she didn’t. Oops.

  “Maggie, too? Why do I feel like there’s more?”

  “Because you’re brilliant.” I planted a chaste kiss against her forehead, unsure how it was going to fly. She didn’t blink, so I spilled. “Annual Craig getaway, the whole fam treks up, kids and all. My nieces are getting older with more and more shit going on. My parents, too. We don’t know how many more years Dad will have it in him to make the trip. Trying to keep it up as long as we can. That being said, it’s been a great excuse to get everyone together. Hit the slopes, enjoy après-ski, cook some good food, laugh and reminisce. Super relaxed and a lot of fun. I promise.” I was rambling, laying it on thick, fully expecting a little hesitation. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about her springing an imminent family reintroduction on me, but then again she was an only child and her parents were both dead. Shit, I hadn’t taken that into account.

  She cupped my cheeks and cocked her head to the side, making her smile a little crooked. “You want me there, you want me to be a part, then there is nowhere I’d rather be. Craig Family ski getaway it is.”

  Her smile got bigger and I felt lighter, like a small weight had been lifted. I had never, not once introdu
ced a woman to my family, and more importantly, to the only four women that—up until now—mattered. This was a page I never planned on writing, let alone actually following through with. And oddly enough, I was bringing my woman home to re-meet them. Son of a bitch, what was I getting myself into?

  “We’ll see, Tal.” It was the probably the fiftieth time she asked about lessons since we landed and got into our rental car. No shock, she loved flying. It was exhilarating, technical, and tranquil. And dangerous. There it was again, shit, this was foreign. Risk never crossed my mind—I never cared.

  “You do realize, I’m not asking permission, right?” Her sass redirected my mind’s random safety tangent. I needed a topic change since her learning to fly wasn’t an option. And for some reason I wasn’t looking forward to breaking that news.

  “Top three unexplored warm destination picks. Go-” She cocked an eyebrow, but no answer. “Somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, just haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

  “Besides changing the subject, where are you going with this? I know you.”

  Hell, I liked the sound of that.

  “Just shoot.”

  She paused for a moment then lifted her thumb. “The Italian Riviera, I’ve always wanted to hike the five points.” Then her index finger. “The Great Barrier Reef, wouldn’t it be amazing to scuba dive there?” Middle finger joined. “And can you believe I’ve never been to Hawaii? Practically right around the corner from me, just no time. I heard hiking through some of those waterfalls can be very secluded.” Her lips curved up seductively. Both of us flashed back to our last waterfall hike; both knowing that the next time was going to end very differently.