by Hazel Parker
I glared at her as I walked past. Megan was none the wiser because she had never met her.
Because of that, I almost said “I love you” loudly enough so that not only would Megan hear it, so would my mother. I stopped myself easily, aware that saying those words for any reason other than Megan’s spirit was soiling their meaning, but I now had to fight my own temper and anger.
We went to a nearby graveyard without incident and laid the body to rest. Only at the end, when her father’s casket had gone beneath the ground, did Megan finally shed some tears. I held her hand the whole time and let her lean on my shoulder.
She and I remained standing for a few minutes as the rest of the crowd dispersed. A few people came up to give their condolences to Megan. They meant well, so I didn’t say anything, but Megan made it clear she was in no mood for deep conversation.
“All right,” she said after what felt like five minutes of standing before the casket.
“What now?”
Megan sniffled.
“Just take me home,” she said.
“Of course.”
Maybe this was the time to say it. I squeezed her tight, took a breath, and—
“Brad?”
You have got to be fucking shitting me.
“Can I have a word with you?”
It was my fucking mother. I nearly slapped her. First of all, did she have any awareness that Megan was right by my side and struggling with this right now? Second, did the context of this situation mean a damn thing to her? Was she that fucking rude and unaware?
“Go ahead,” Megan said.
“I’ll fucking tell her off—”
“It’s fine,” she said.
No, it’s not. But today was not a day for arguing with Megan. I sighed and followed my mother to a quiet space
“Are you shitting me right now?” I said. “Her father’s being laid to rest, and you come here right now to talk to me? Don’t you fucking think—”
“Nothing wrong with paying your respects, Brad, and in fact, it’s admirable,” my mother said. At least she sounded sincere. “But we feel like we’d be doing a disservice if we didn’t try and stop you from—”
“Don’t.”
I was ready to slap her. I’d never hit a woman in my life, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to get her the fuck out right now.
“You want to talk about this, we can do so later.”
My mother opened her mouth and bit her tongue.
“Just think about the fact that we came here to talk to you, Brad,” she finally said. “Think about it.”
My mother walked away. But I had no intention of making sure she left entirely. Once she was out of sight, she was out of mind. If anything, her words were propelling me to go see Megan and tell her how I felt. I turned around, saw her where I’d left her, and walked up.
“She was just being a jackass. I wanted—”
“I just want to be alone right now.”
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
“I’m not going to listen to them, Megan. I’m all in on—”
“I don’t mean that, I promise,” Megan said, putting her hands on my chest. “Seriously. Thank you for coming here, and I want you around in the general sense. But I just…I just need some time to think about my dad. And if I’m with you, as wonderful as that would be, I won’t be able to do that. There’s a lot to unravel with us. I think we’re both willing to do it. But I can’t be unraveling it and mourning my father at the same time.”
Fuck it. I don’t have a choice.
“OK,” I said. “Do you want to reach out to me, or should I come by tomorrow?”
“I’ll let you know,” Megan said.
And as if to do everything she could to reassure me, she reached up and gave me a gentle kiss on the lips.
“Thank you, Brad, for coming.”
“Of course.”
When I looked into her eyes, I felt like I could say it. The look we shared might as well have said it for both of us.
But if she wanted space to mourn her father…
“I’ll see you soon, Megan.”
Chapter 26: Megan
I am so exhausted. Grateful that the funeral went as good as funerals go. Glad to have had Brad as support.
The only family who had come—who was probably left, anyway—was my Uncle Fred, a man I hadn’t seen since my childhood and whom my father rarely spoke of. I always suspected there was some sort of strong tension between the two, and it was easy to see that Fred didn’t want any part of the funeral. He’d shown up, yes, but literally the second the priest ended things, he all but sprinted out of the graveyard. I was pretty sure I’d never see him again.
And I was now pretty sure that as far as I was concerned, I was the only person left of my family.
But Brad had come back, and there was something different this time. Something more compassionate and understanding than before. There was no Brad being angry and forceful like he had in Las Vegas, and there was no Brad being cocky like he had been before we hooked up. This was a Brad who knew what he wanted and got it, but did so in a calm, confident, and level-headed way.
I had a feeling, too, that he was holding something back some of his feelings. But I was sure we’d have time to get there.
For now, though, as I got into my apartment and kicked off my shoes, I just wanted to be alone. I had said that I wanted the quiet time to commemorate my father, but that wasn’t really something I’d do for two hours and then move on. It would be a part of me forever, and that was something unavoidable. I really just needed the space to lie on my couch, close my eyes, and know that I would have no distractions.
And so I did just that. I put my phone on airplane mode, placed it on the kitchen counter, went over to the couch, pulled the warmest blanket I could over, and just closed my eyes. I wasn’t tired, and I knew I wouldn’t fall asleep, but perhaps I could find some respite, some peace, some brief moment of solitude under the stress of everything.
* * *
Somehow, I managed to fall asleep for about an hour and a half. I woke up still feeling sadness, but it wasn’t as heavy a funk as I’d felt before. It just felt like something I could acknowledge was there, but something I’d also be able to overcome with a little bit of time. I stretched out, looked out the window, saw the sun peeking through a few clouds, and smiled.
I had Brad. That would help things a long, long way.
I returned to my phone and turned off airplane mode. I went to the refrigerator and grabbed the fixings to make a sandwich. I heard my phone buzzing, indicating I had some text messages, but I wasn’t in a rush to answer. Work knew I would not be answering any messages today.
After I’d finished making the sandwich, I went back and checked my phone. I had some messages from Julia and a couple of coworkers, wishing me well for the day. But I also had a voicemail from a 702 number that I didn’t recognize. That’s Vegas. That’s probably not good, but…
Although on a day like today, I probably should have just pocketed the voicemail and checked it tomorrow, I couldn’t help myself. I pressed play on the voicemail.
“Good morning, this message is for Mrs. Megan Nimico. This is Nick Ricci from Ricci Family Law.”
Oh, fuck me. I shouldn’t have listened.
“We have served you the annulment papers but we have not heard back from you since. We would like to make this as amicable as possible, but if you do not cooperate, we will be forced to take serious measures on behalf of our client. Please respond immediately. We are open seven days a week. Thank you.”
And honestly, I knew right off the bat that Brad hadn’t been the one to force the issue. I believed him last night when he said that he hadn’t been the one to request the annulment papers, and I believed that he had no reason to double-cross me or change his mind this morning.
But all the same, that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something about this. In fact, if we were to move forward, I needed it.
I called him right then.
“Megan?” he said, surprised at my call. “What’s going on?”
“Brad, I just got a call from the Ricci Family Law firm. Are you familiar with them?”
I took it by Brad’s swearing that he was very familiar with them.
“They said they served me the papers and that if I did not cooperate with them, they would take serious measures.”
“Fucking hell, my mom,” he said. “I had nothing to do with it. Lawyer probably pushed past his boundaries too.”
I knew that. But that wasn’t the issue here.
“Brad, I can’t be doing this,” I said. “Your mom thinks I’m a gold digger, and while I don’t care about that if I only see her on holidays, if she’s going to keep butting in…I don’t know.”
He sighed. I had a feeling he would. But if anyone knew the challenges of dealing with stubborn, asshole family members, well, it was me.
“Give me today and I’ll get it taken care of,” he said. “And I’ll come to you and prove it.”
I nodded.
“OK, I look forward to it.”
I didn’t doubt Brad.
But knowing his family and what they were connected to, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any doubts about them. I just had to hope Brad was willing to consider that risk and still push forward with us.
I had to hope, in short, that Brad was willing to show that the past twenty-four hours or so were not just another attempt to get in my pants, but a real, genuine attempt to see if we actually had something worth making happen.
Chapter 27: Brad
In the middle of the call, I felt unbridled rage.
But as I hung up, I felt something strange.
Certainty and calm.
I was the one in control here. As much as my mother was trying to push me to do something, I had the power to end all of this bullshit.
I was a grown man. I was the client of the Ricci Family Law firm in this case. And most of all, I could find a way to do what I knew was needed in a dignified manner.
But first, I had to see my mother.
* * *
I knocked on the door firmly but not with the same viciousness that had marked some of my other arrivals. My mother opened the door, and when she saw me, she pursed her lips, fearful of what was going to happen.
“Are you going to let me in, or are we just going to stand here?”
My mother opened the door all the way and let me in.
“Mom,” I said, taking a breath. “Megan got a call this afternoon from our law team saying they were going to escalate their attempts to annul the marriage if she did not cooperate. I do not know what all they can even do legally, but to be frank, that doesn’t matter that much. What does matter is that it seems like you want this marriage to end, and guess what? I don’t. I am not some thirteen-year-old who doesn’t know any better. I’m a grown man. I am going to ask you here now, as fucking politely as I can, to stop pushing Ricci for this annulment to happen. If you do not stop, then I will ask you not so politely in the future.”
My mother sighed.
“All I have ever wanted for you was to not suffer through mistakes of love like I did,” she said. “I couldn’t control that my mother was some other man’s mistress and as a result, I was abandoned and fatherless.”
God, every time I heard more about Alf Ferrari, the more I wanted to find him and the whole family and just beat the fucking shit out of them.
“I got lucky with Eddie. When he got taken away…”
My mother shook her head.
“You don’t know how lucky you have it..”
Except that I wasn’t sure that I could say I was “lucky.”
My father had “accidentally” died. I accidentally got married. I accidentally found out the truth about my real father.
“You don’t have to worry about money. You don’t have to worry about work. But I always worry about if you’ll make the right choice in love, as I’ve seen the devastating effects of when the wrong choice is made. And with all respect, Brad, you’ll forgive me if I think that marrying a girl in Las Vegas on just a couple hours’ notice is a mistake.”
I’d had too many accidents in my life. I’d taken charge in my professional life to make things go my way, and now it was time to do the same in my personal life. And you know what? Anyone who got in my way of trying to be with Megan would get left in the dust.
My own mother included.
“Mom, that I have no doubt,” I said. “It is not a mistake. And don’t you ever call it that again.”
My mother pursed her lips.
“Do you believe you can be to her what Eddie was to me?”
I nodded. There was no hesitation on my part.
“Be careful, Brad.”
It was as much as I was going to get out of her right now. A full-throttled endorsement would have been expecting too much, but I didn’t need that to continue. I wouldn’t even be asking for it, anyway.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said, “I have a wife I need to get back to.”
* * *
I knocked on Megan’s front door. She opened it, surprised to see me. I hadn’t told her that I was coming, but I knew that by the end of this particular visit, she would feel thrilled to have me there.
And the funny thing was, in the time it took for me to get from my mom’s place to Megan’s, I had made it so that my showing up would barely be the most surprising or shocking part of the evening.
“Got a minute?” I said.
“Um, yeah,” she said, still uncertain what I was doing.
I walked inside, placed my phone on the kitchen island, and dialed out. Megan looked at me with nervous anticipation.
“Ricci Family Law; this is Rachel. How can I help?”
“Rachel, it’s Brad Nimico. Put me through to Nick now.”
“One moment.”
I kept my eyes on the phone. I could feel Megan looking at me, begging to know what my plan was. I wasn’t going to reveal anything. I’d have to show, not tell, her what I would do. That was the only way, in my opinion, to make sure that what I did resonated as much as it needed to.
“Nick Ricci speaking.”
“Nick, it’s Brad.”
“Ah, Brad, did you get the annulment—”
“Drop it, Nick.”
A silence came on the other end of the line. Nick stumbled over his words. I could see in my peripheral vision Megan looking at me with excitement, but I didn’t look at her just yet.
“Brad, are you sure? I’m ready to ramp up the pressure—”
“I am your client, Nick, and you will drop the annulment. We are going to proceed with this as a legal marriage. Don’t question it.”
“I…I understand; I’m just surprised. Your mother—”
“Nick,” I said, not losing my temper but nevertheless speaking sternly. “I am ordering you to drop it. Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be.”
Nick sighed.
“I will. I will make sure all proceedings are halted and the annulment case is dropped entirely.”
“Thank you.”
I hit the End Call button. Finally, I looked up at Megan.
“You have had go to through all of this bullshit,” I said. “And I’d like to make it up to you.”
“How?”
“Come.”
I didn’t so much wait for her as I took her hand.
“Where are we going?”
“To make this real.”
She didn’t say anything until we got to the Uber waiting downstairs for us. But once she got in the car, and I told him to take us to the private hangar at JFK, Megan’s eyes went wide.
“You’re taking me…”
“Back to Las Vegas, yes,” I said. “I’m going to make things right. I’m going to do this for real.”
“But, but I don’t even have any clothes. I have work—”
I shut her up the best way possible—with a kiss.
&nb
sp; “Fuck work,” I said. “First of all, soon, you’ll be working for me, don’t forget that. Second of all, do you even remember any of our marriage?”
Megan looked like she was trying not to smile so hard. It told me everything I needed to know about how she felt about this.
“Exactly,” I said. “It’s time we actually have something we can remember. And fuck clothes. You’ll be naked plenty, and even when you aren’t, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
Megan’s eyes started to water as her smile broadened to uncontrollable levels.
Megan finally burst into tears. But unlike so much of the past week and a half, they were happy tears, tears of joy.
“Oh, Brad,” she said. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” I said. “You saw just enough good in me to keep things alive, and in return, this is my vow to you.”
I cupped her face gently and looked her right in the eye.
“I will remain married to you for as long as I live, and if anyone has anything to say about that, tough. I will treat you like my queen because you are nothing less than that. And most of all…”
Say it. It’s time.
“I love you, Megan.”
Chapter 28: Megan
Oh my God. He finally said it. He actually said it.
“I love you too, Brad.”
He pulled in tight for a kiss, a kiss that I wanted to last forever. I felt tied to him, not just his body right now, but his spirit and his energy. It was a beautiful thing, something I did not want to leave at all.
“I know it’s been fucking wild—"
“It’s fine,” I said.
Brad laughed.
“You’ll probably get the occasional sniping from my mother. Just warning—”
“I don’t need a warning on that,” I said. “Because I know you’ll guard me, and I know you’ll have me. So whatever drama the Nimico family may encounter down the road, whatever nonsense there is, I’ll be by your side. And I know you’ll be by mine, too.”
Something seemed to light up in Brad’s eyes. It took me a second, but I recognized the look. Security.
