Free Worth the Fall by Mara Jacobs Page A

his language, then left the room.
    It was Lizzie ’s turn to sit on the bed and pat his foot. “Seriously, though, you know she’d be a great listener if you want to talk about this all.”
    “ Talk about falling down the stairs and having my knee twisted all to hell? Doesn’t seem like a lot to talk about.”
    Lizzie pinned him with a look. Her no-nonsense stare that she ’d pulled on him numerous times. And which he’d ignored numerous times.
    “ You know what I mean. Obviously you wanted to talk about your impending retirement with your folks and me, or you wouldn’t have gone through the huge hassle of flying up here for a day when you could have just called or emailed with the news. And that’s when you had several months to come to terms with it. Well, guess what, those terms are now upon you. It’d be no wonder if you went through some sort of….”
    “ Of what?”
    She waved a hand around, as if trying to capture the right words. “I don’t know. A phase or something.”
    “ A phase? Like puberty?”
    “ See? This is why you should talk to Al about it. I’m not the best at figuring out emotions. Hell, I ate mine for fifteen years.” She looked away from him, out the window, and he knew she was a step away from beating herself up inside.
    He nudged her hip with his good knee. “Hey,” he said quietly. He nudged her again until she took her gaze off the wintery landscape and looked at him. “All in the past, Lizard. You’re in a good place,now. You. Finn. The kids. Baby Sam. It’s all good.”
    She blinked at him, and then, as if coming out of a trance, a huge smile lit her pretty face. “You’re totally right. Nothing but rainbows and lollipops.”
    “ And Major-winning clients, unless you blow it by being late for your call.”
    She glanced at her watch and nodded. “Yep, gotta go.” She moved from the bed just as his mother came back into the room with a pitcher of water and a glass, which she put on the bedside table.
    “ I can stay if you want me to,” she said. “Until Alison comes home.”
    Part of him wanted her to. Not because he feared being alone, but because he ’d like some buffer when Alison first arrived. They’d have to be alone together, of course, but if his mom were here then she’d have to be semi-cordial to him.
    Jesus. He needed his mommy to make sure the big bad girl was nice to him?
    “Nah, but thanks. I’m pretty wiped and I’ll probably just zonk out for a while, anyway.”
    “ That’s good. The doctor said you should get as much rest as possible for the next few days.”
    They said their goodbyes and the ladies left him in the pink cauldron to stare out the window at the frozen landscape and think about what he was going to do with the rest of his life.
    ***
    Alison quietly let herself into her home, hoping not to wake Petey. Hoping Petey would be asleep. The kitchen smelled amazing and she glanced around the room from where she stood in the foyer divesting herself of her winter outerwear. No sign of whatever smelled so good. Boots off, she padded across the hardwood floor and peeked in the oven. Nothing. She looked in the fridge. A casserole dish, with a large portion of the cheesy concoction removed, sat covered with a glass lid. She peered at the sink, but there were no dirty dishes. Opening the dishwasher she saw a rinsed plate, glass and some silverware.
    Lizzie or Petey’s mom must have stayed a while and gotten him fed and cleaned up. This was just as well, since she was exhausted after her dinner with her mother and Sherry. She put the bag of warm soup she’d gotten to go from the restaurant into the refrigerator. He could have it tomorrow.
    “ Al?” she heard him call from her bedroom. “That you?”
    Who else would it be, she wondered, but then mentally cut him some slack upon realizing that her home would probably have a revolving door for the next few days. His parents and Lizzie and others would want to come and see how he was faring.