Infinity(64)

I’d raised my eyebrow, questioning her choice. “I’m not looking at the camera.”

She’d leaned over, and kissed me on the cheek. “Yes, but the devoted look on your face says everything that I choose to remember about the birth of our daughter.”

It struck me for the first time that maybe Charlie had to forgive me as much as I had to forgive her.

She has to end this living apart bullshit. It’s been almost a month since her dad passed away. It’s time. Hire a new doctor, sell the practice, do something, but I’ve been a supportive husband for long enough. I’ve offered to give her money, if that’s what Carmen needs. The world is hers if she’d just move back home. It’s time to reclaim my family.





Chapter Twelve




Charlie





The Tank is loaded down. My well-drugged baby is secured in the backseat. Brad is DJing from the passenger seat, and I’ve got the cruise-control set. Barring any issues, I should be able to make it to the second half of Colin’s game.

Jenny is waiting for me at our home. Miguel is going to drive me to the stadium so I don’t have to worry about parking. Carter is anxiously waiting for Brad, and a little reunion   time.

The sun is shining, and it’s another gorgeous late fall day in Texas. In two short hours, I should see my husband in his very sexy football pants and tight jersey. Yum! Five or six hours after that, I might get to actually kiss him, and say hello properly.

Colin must have been a miserable SOB lately because Jenny offered to stay at our house tonight and take care of Ainsley for us. When we announced that we were expecting, we were informed that Jenny’s job description did not include nanny responsibilities. I can only think that Colin’s been such a bear that she feels like she’s taking one for the team by giving us some time away from parenting.

Brad checks the clock, and finds the game on the local radio station. We hit the outskirts of Dallas right when I was expecting. I do a mental fist bump with myself. The Cowboys are about to kick off.

Everything goes as planned. Brad stays to get Jenny and Ainsley settled while Miguel and I race to the stadium. I flip down the mirror and check my appearance, just in case the paparazzi are waiting for their high-dollar picture of me arriving at the game.

Then, I send Colin a text.

Me: The eagle has landed. Pulling into the stadium lot now. Love you to infinity.

As I flash my ticket and have my bag checked, the butterflies in my stomach begin beating their wings in time to the fan noise. It’s been fourteen days since I’ve seen him. I want my husband. Desperately.

I enter our suite to the shrieks of Liza and a couple of the other players’ wives that I’ve become friends with. This feels so normal. I did this every home game for two years. Normal is such a foreign feeling that I’m not sure what to do with it.

Then it hits me. Nothing since my dad passing away has felt right. Gosh, I could even go all the way back to becoming a mom, or finding out I was pregnant. My life has changed so much in a year and a half. Right now, in this second, I feel like the old Caroline. The one who attended every one of her husband’s games. The girl who lived and breathed Colin Fucking McKinney.

I’m the girl who’s practicing the kind of medicine that I love again. The one who walks through the practice doors every morning, and feels alive. I’m no longer just biding my time, keeping my medical license active. I’m developing relationships with patients—watching them heal because of my care.

The feeling of normalcy is so foreign to me that it almost barrels me over. I grab the granite countertop in the suite to steady myself. Since I dropped Ainsley off, I haven’t thought about her once. I’ve only been focused on getting to my husband. I let out a sigh, realizing that this is what the old Caroline felt like, and the best way to describe this sensation is right.

“You okay?” Liza asks. Her face is tight with concern.

I smile, and it’s not forced. “Yes. I think that I am.”

“Read your card. Our curiosity has almost gotten the best of us.” She motions to a vase filled with mixed colored roses that I honestly hadn’t even noticed.

I grab the envelope that reads Charlie in Colin’s script.

Carefully, I remove the card, and read his awful left-handed penmanship. “My heart only beats for you.” Then he drew the sideways number eight, and signed it CFM.

I’m smiling like an idiot as I bring the card to my chest, pressing it against my heart. Dear God, my whole body tingles with love for that man.

I pour myself a glass of wine, and say hello to Colin’s parents before I settle into the open seat next to Liza to watch my man play football.