Free Heart's Betrayal by Angel Rose Page B

more beers from the fridge. He looked over at me and said,
    “Hey, smells good in here, Brownies?” he said opening up the oven.
    “Yeah, you want to taste the batter, I made from scratch?” I fed him the batter on the spoon. Michael walked in,
    “Are you hitting on my wife?” He said with an eyebrow raised. He grabbed the spoon from my hand and stared at Eddie.
    “Give me a break! You’re just jealous because she didn’t let you lick the spoon?” he grabbed Michael from behind and hugged him.
    “I don’t need to lick the spoon. I’ve tasted those brownies.” He winked at Eddie. I was embarrassed. I knew what he meant and I didn’t think it was funny.
        Eddie let go of Michael and pushed him playfully. Michael turned and looked at him and smiled. Eddie looked over at me and said,
    “Watch this one, he’s really jealous of me.” He walked out and smacked Michael on the ass.
        Michael flinched then laughed, placed the spoon in his mouth, set it on the table, then walked away. I was really surprised by his reaction and I didn’t know whether he upset or not, but I didn’t say anything and decided to ignore him and keep making dinner.
        The doorbell rang and Tilly answered the door. It was Margaret and Dave. I washed my hands and went out to greet them. Margaret was delighted to see me again. I could tell by the bear hug she gave me. I giggled and she smiled. Dave walked over and shook Michael and Eddie’s hand. Then Dave waved at me and sat in the living room. Michael walked over to the bar and made him a drink.
    “What are you drinking?” he asked.
    “Scotch and club soda.” He answered.
    “Man, it’s fucking freezing out tonight.” Dave said.
    “Really? We were so used the hot weather out in Puerto Rico we didn’t even notice.” Michael chuckled.
    “You had a good time, huh?” Dave said as he sipped on his drink. Margaret and I stood by the kitchen doorway watching Dave and Michael have a decent conversation without wanting to rip each other’s head off. We smiled at each other.
         They sat down on the couch talking, drinking, and listening to music. Tilly’s eyes popped out of her head when she saw Dave. She looked like she was struck by lightning.
    “Excuse me.” She said and headed to the bathroom. I could hear her hurling in the bathroom. I knocked on the door.
    “Tilly are you okay?” I whispered.
    “I’m okay, I think it was the cookies.” She chuckled.
    “Very funny.” I walked into the kitchen.
     
    Margaret stared at the bathroom door as I walked back to the kitchen.
    “What’s wrong with Tilly?” Margaret asked.
    “Nothing.” I gave her a hug.
    “Are you feeling well? You look a little pale,” Margaret said.
    “Yeah, much better.”
    “Are you going to tell him today?” she asked curiously waiting patiently for my response.
    “Yeah, I bought this Christmas ornament to give him; it says 2015,” I said excitedly pulling the box out of my apron and handing it to her. “I know it’s early but it will give us something to look forward to, right?” I swallowed the ball in my throat at the tears welled in my eyes.
    “Oh my God! This is so exciting!” She glanced at it quickly and then gave it back to me. I grabbed her by the hand and we walked into the living room and made an announcement.
    “Before we eat, I’d like to give Michael his present.”
         Michael looked up at me and smiled and those beautiful blue-green eyes were staring at me, lovingly. I grabbed the boxed ornament out of my apron pocket and handed it to him.
    “Happy New Year Michael…I wanted to give you this on Christmas day, but with the wedding and all, I wanted to wait until after.” I smiled as I stood in front of him waiting anxiously to see the reaction on his face.
         Michael looked around at everyone hesitantly and smiled nervously. He opened the box and pulled out the ornament. It was an ornament shaped like a teddy bear and had an inscription