time to think about it for long, though, because he was soon whisked back into the bosom of a family he’d dearly missed, sitting on the arm of the sofa while Annabelle and her sisters held up ornament after ornament, reminiscing about where each had come from. Some were home-made. Some were fancy and expensive. But each held some kind of special meaning to this family.
Anna was gorgeous in her flowing red gown. Off the shoulder, but with some loose straps that draped over her upper arms, it fitted her perfectly, the snug top giving way to a full loose skirt that swished with every twitch of her hips. And they twitched a lot. Every once in a while she threw him a smile that was more carefree than any he’d seen from her in a long, long time. He knew that smile. She’d once worn it almost constantly. When he’d come home from work. When they’d gazed at each other across the dinner table. When they’d made love deep into the night...
His throat tightened, and he dipped a finger beneath his bow tie in an effort to give himself a little more room to breathe, even though he knew that wasn’t the problem. In his hands, Max held the long white gloves Anna planned on wearing to the party, but had taken off so she wouldn’t drop and break any ornaments. In the back of all their minds was Nate and his diagnosis, but when Max looked at the little blond boy, he was smiling and laughing on the floor as he played with his siblings and cousins. Suddenly Max wished he could commit this scene to memory so that he would never forget this moment.
When Nate got up from his place on the floor and came to stand in front of him, looking at him with curious eyes, the tightness in his throat increased.
‘Where’s my ball?’
He blinked. Max wasn’t sure why the boy was asking him, but he was not about to refuse him. ‘I don’t know.’
‘You help find?’
‘Sure.’ Getting to his feet, he tucked Anna’s gloves into his pocket and held out a hand to the little boy. As he did, his doctor’s mind took in the subtle signs of illness. Nate’s small stature, the frailness of his fingers beneath Max’s. Jessica sent him a look with raised brows.
‘He’s looking for his ball?’ Max had to raise his voice to be heard.
‘It’s in the basket by the far wall in the dining room.’ Jessica glanced at her son, the raw emotion in her eyes unmistakable. ‘Thanks, Max.’
‘Not a problem.’
Together he and the boy made their way into the dining room. It looked the same as it always had, polished cherry table laid with glistening china and silver for the meal they would be having later. Gloria had never been worried about breakage, even with such a large and active family. His own mum had rarely set out the good china.
‘There’s the basket, Nate. Let’s see if Mum was right.’
A white wicker chest was pushed against a wall, a large contingent of photographs flowing up and around it until they filled the space with black and white images.
Above the pictures ornate black letters gave a message to all who dined there.
In Stormy Seas,
Family Is A Sheltered Cove.
And it was. This family represented safety. Too many faces to count, but there must have been thirty frames, each telling a story. The birth of a child. The winning of trophies. The weddings of each of the girls. Jessica and Walter, Paula and Mark, Mallory and Stewart...
No. His heart caught on a stuttered beat, and he couldn’t stop himself from moving closer. Annabelle and Max.
That day was pinned in his memory, superseding even his most recent ones. Anna, fresh from his kiss, was staring up at him with eyes filled with love. And he was... He had his arm wrapped around her waist as if he was afraid she might wander away from him if he didn’t keep her close.
And she had. They’d both wandered.
Annabelle said she hadn’t told her parents about the divorce. He wasn’t sure if Gloria just hadn’t had a picture to replace this one with, or if she’d left it up in hopes that one day he and her daughter might mend their fences and get back together.
Little did she know that those fences had been irrevocably broken. His gaze moved over the rest of the pictures. There were no others of them. Maybe because they hadn’t had all that much to celebrate during their marriage.
Part of that was his fault. They’d been fixated on having a baby for so long, they’d never made time to look at the other things they’d shared.
A small hand tugged on his. ‘My ball? In basket.’
That was right. He’d forgotten about Nate and his ball. Forcing the lump in his throat to shift to the side, he gave the child a smile. ‘Let’s see if it’s where Mum said it was.’
He opened the basket to find children’s toys of every shape and size. Gloria must keep them for all of the grandkids to play with while they visited. And all of Annabelle’s sisters now had children. Except for her.
He glanced through the doorway to see her still helping to decorate the tree, laughing at something someone had said. She was truly beautiful. Inside and out.
She seemed to have made her peace with not having kids. At least from what he could tell. So maybe it was time for him to accept that as well and start finding the joy in life. Turning back to his task, he found Nate trying to lean over the basket to get a green spongy ball the size of a football. ‘Is that it, buddy?’
Grabbing the object from the chest, he handed it to Nate, who let go of his hand and gripped the item to his chest. ‘Ball!’
‘I guess we got the right one. Watch your fingers.’ He carefully lowered the lid and latched it to keep small hands from getting pinched. They made their way back to the room and Nate went straight to Jessica, showing her his prize.
‘Wonderful. You’ve found it!’ She glanced up at Max with a mouthed, ‘Thank you.’
He gave her a nod in return. Annabelle handed an ornament to her dad, who still stood ramrod straight and tall, probably from his days in the military. He gave her a quick hug and took the item, stretching up to put it on the very top of the tree. The man then turned towards the rest of the people assembled. ‘Shall we light it before Annie and Max have to leave?’
A roared ‘Yes!’ went up from all the kids, making the adults smile. He glanced at his watch. Seven-thirty. The gala started in half an hour, so they did need to leave soon, since the party was on the other side of the city.
Annabelle came over to stand beside him.
With the flick of a switch all the lights in the living room went off, leaving them in darkness. An affected ‘oooooh’ went up from the people gathered there.
Max stood there, the urge to put his arm around Anna’s waist almost irresistible. The way he’d done in years past. He fought it for a moment or two, then gave up. His contract wasn’t for ever. Once Sienna came back from maternity leave, he would be on his way again. So why not do this while he still could?
He slid his hand across the small of her back, the warm bare skin just above the edge of the fabric brushing against his thumb. Curving his fingers around the side of her waist, he was surprised when she reciprocated, her arm gliding around his back,
