Free Always and Forever by Soraya Lane Page A

her big, burly builder husband at her side. He’d always been so tough and strong, but what scared her the most now was that none of that physical strength had been able to save her when she’d most needed saving.
    “We’re going to think up a whole lot of fun things to do together, things we wouldn’t have done with a baby in tow,” he said, as if it was the most logical suggestion in the world. “And then we’re going to do them all.”
    She loved his optimism, even if most of hers had completely run out and left her as a “glass half empty” kind of gal. “You’re kidding, right?”
    He laughed. “Nope. I’ve been trying all this time to think of something we could do together, and this is it. We can do a whole bunch of fun things.”
    She sat back, tried to forget everything else so she could just stare at her man. She wanted to go back to the way she used to feel, only nothing felt the same anymore. “Okay,” she agreed, knowing she needed to make an effort. “Or maybe we could just come up with one thing, something we could do now.”
    “While we’re at it, maybe we should think of what we’re grateful for.”
    “You go first,” Lisa said, not sure what to say. She was trying so hard not to be negative, to give him a chance.
    “Hey, I’m just thankful you’ve still got your long hair after everything we’ve been through. It’d be a bummer to be married to the pretty beach-blonde and have you looking all bald and ugly.”
    Lisa burst out laughing. She hadn’t laughed for the hell of it in a long time with him, but something about the way he was looking at her made her crack up. Only Matt could ever get away with saying something like that, and it took her back in time.
    “You always did love my hair,” she mused, running her fingers through her long locks. They were well past her shoulders, and she was so fortunate to have survived cancer without losing them. “I don’t want to say something for the hell of it, but I am grateful to be alive, even if I don’t act like it sometimes.”
    “I know you are,” he said, reaching for the champagne bottle and filling up both their glasses with a cheeky wink. “So fire away with your ideas. What fun thing are we going to do?”
    “I’m blanking,” she confessed, not able to think of anything other than curling up to watch something on television before bed. Which was basically what she’d done every night lately.
    “Come on, there must be something?” Matt asked.
    “Um, I don’t know . . .” She hesitated.
    Matt took her hand, squeezed it. “Come on, please. Just have fun with me. For old time’s sake.”
    She felt guilty, knew how hard she’d been to live with lately. She took another sip of champagne and braved a smile. When he touched her hand, she didn’t pull away. Instead, she sucked in a breath and didn’t break the connection even though that had been her instant reaction lately. “Go on a road trip.”
    Matt chuckled. “That’s actually a brilliant idea.”
    Lisa raised an eyebrow. “It is?”
    “Well it’s something that only a couple without kids can do, so hell yes, let’s do it!”
    “You don’t have to drink this just because we’re celebrating,” Lisa said with a laugh, feeling so much more like her old self now that they were joking around and she was coming up with ideas. “Go grab a beer.”
    Matt grinned and did what she’d suggested. When he returned, twisting the top on the bottle, he bent to kiss her, tilting her chin up with his thumb. “We’re going on a road trip, we’re going on a road trip,” he said in a stupid sing-song voice.
    “I guess we actually could.” Lisa laughed, finding it hard to believe that she could even smile, given the way she’d been feeling, given what day it was. Maybe she just needed to take a leaf out of Matt’s book, because right now she was feeling better than she had in a long time. “One day,” she added, even as the familiar feelings of despair started