Home to Harmony (23 page)

“You’re back,” she said, breathless.

“It’s good to see you,” he said, holding her with his gaze.

“You, too.” She felt grounded, suddenly in the right place at the right time.

“David tells me you’re staying.” He smiled.

“It feels right. I’ve done a lot of thinking and sorting things out and…” How she loved this man.

“As it turns out, I’ll be staying in New Mirage myself.” He explained about a foundation for health care he was working on with his friend Carlos, some travel, how excited he was, but she wasn’t really listening. She was simply taking him in.

“So, the point is, we’ll both be around,” he said, studying her with his intense gaze. When she’d first met him, his eyes had pulled her in and warned her away, too. Not now. Now they held on tight. “It’s so good to see you.”

“You already said that,” David said. “This is so gross. Come on, Lady.” The boy and his dog took off toward the cottonwoods, leaving Christine and Marcus grinning at each other like a pair of idiots.

“Your son gave me quite a talking-to just now,” Marcus said.

“He did?”

“Oh, yes. He told me I should give you another chance, even though you freak out over every little thing.”

“He said that, did he? And what did you tell him?”

“That we weren’t compatible.”

“That’s true.” She’d thought she’d be too much for him. He’d thought he wouldn’t be enough for her. Was it possible they could both be wrong?

“David said we should fix it.”

“But that’s not as easy as it sounds.”

“That’s what I told him. But he said that was, well,
bullshit.
”

“Such language. What kind of mother lets her son talk like that?”

“One who loves and accepts him, swear words and all. And he made another good point, that I expected him to be a better person, so why shouldn’t I make the same effort?”

“Good one, David.”

Marcus cupped her face. “I need you in my life, Christine. To keep me awake and alive.”

“I’ll make you crazy, you know,” she said, her heart in her throat.

“No doubt. And I’ll disappoint you.”

“Possibly. But it won’t be because you aren’t trying. You never let me down. Not once. You’ve been there for me with David, Aurora, even Bogie. And the rest of it…that’s my job. I can stand on my own two feet and lean on you, too.”

“So we’ll fix it then? Like David suggested?”

“Start where we are and build from there, yeah.” She smiled. “I can’t believe I just quoted my mother.”

“And I’m taking relationship advice from a teenage boy.”

“If it works, it works.” She smiled at him. “I’ve figured out a few things lately—mainly, that holding too tight to what you think about people makes you miss them altogether. If you let them be, who they are will shine like the sun. Bogie always did. And so did David. And you, Marcus. Definitely you.”

“No one shines like you, Christine. You’re the sun and all the stars to me.” He kissed her, long and slow, as if they had all the time in the world. And maybe they did.

She would enjoy every minute, see it all through fresh eyes. She had a mother she’d begun to understand and a father she’d loved without knowing who he was. Never again would she miss what was in front of her because it didn’t fit her picture of perfection.

She would hold on to this, her new life, her man, her family, with both hands and all her heart. Christine Waters had come home at last.

HOME TO HARMONY

Copyright © 2011 by Daphne Atkeson

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