Free What Family Means by Geri Krotow Page B

“It’s weighing you down, too, babe.”
    Will lifted his hand to pet Rose, whose muzzle rested on his lap.
    He raised his head and looked at me.
    “I’m not even sure how I can help you do this, but somehow you’ve got to learn to let go, Deb. We’re too old to be hanging on to anything other than our happiness.”
    February 1973
Paris, France

    “I CAN’T FIND my key.” Debra fumbled in her backpack, her numb fingers not touching it.
    “Here, let me.” Will took the backpack from her and reached in. His fingers had stayed warm during their walk, since he wore the gloves she’d knitted him for Valentine’s Day.
    “Here we go.” She watched as he found her keychain and inserted the key into the apartment door. Debra liked that Will never said “I told you so.” He’d suggested she put her own mittens on, but she’d preferred to feel his hands through the merino wool of his gloves.
    He held the door for her, waiting for her to pass. They were both inside the small entryway, at the bottom of the stairs that led up to her loft. Will shut the door, and the silence descended upon them.
    It was the first time they’d been alone in her apartment knowing they had hours, days, ahead of them.
    “Hey.” Will grasped her chin and raised her gaze to his. Her desire for him warmed her and excited her at the same time. But she had to laugh because Will—her charming, happy, studious Will—looked so serious.
    “What’s so funny?” His breath fanned the wisps of hair off her cheeks. She loved his smell.
    “You seem so worried. It’s not like you.”
    “Are you still okay with this?” Will stayed true to his nature and kept their focus on the situation at hand.
    Deb swallowed, never losing eye contact with Will.
    She nodded. “More than ever.”
    Will studied her for a moment, then pushed himself away with what appeared to be great effort.
    He looked upstairs.
    “What’s it take for a guy to get a cup of tea around here?”
    She giggled. “C’mon.”
    They went upstairs.
    “Do you have much studying this weekend?” he asked.
    “No, just a paper that’s due on Tuesday. But I’ve got it done.”
    She’d stayed up three nights this past week to finish the paper early. She was so excited at the prospect of spending the entire weekend alone with Will that she couldn’t sleep much, anyhow.
    “What about you?”
    “I have an exam next Friday. That’s it for now.” The weekend stretched before them like a rainbow after a summer storm.
    One huge glorious gift of time.
    And solitude.
    “I still can’t believe we found each other again. In Paris.”
    “Me neither.” She held her mug in both hands and stared at the fire they’d started. A great thing about old Parisian apartments was that they had fireplaces. Will had paid for the wood.
    “Did you ever think of me?” Will’s voice was tentative, almost vulnerable.
    “After high school?” How much could she reveal to him? “Yes, I did. But I tried not to.”
    “Why?”
    “Why? Because we couldn’t do anything about it. We never stood a chance in Buffalo, not with both our families and all.”
    “And all” really meant his mother, but she didn’t comment. He knew.
    “I suppose so.”
    His mug clanked on the floor next to his feet as he set it down. Then he took her mug out of her hands and set it next to his. He traced his finger along her face. “I can’t do this if I don’t know you’re in it all the way, sweetheart.”
    “Will, of course I am! But it’s not just about us. It never has been.”
    “It is now, Deb. And it can be when we go back. We’re adults, and we have our own life to live.”
    “You make it sound so simple.”
    “It is simple, when you get down to it.”
    “How—”
    Her words were swallowed by Will’s mouth as it covered hers. This kiss caught her a bit off guard. Butit was as delicious as all the others had ever been. Even more so.
    Everything in their past had been leading to this moment. She knew that now,