“It means I don’t go asking my partner about what is making him sad.”
“Oh Jesus, Shane. You don’t have to lose your man-card just to ask a friend what all has been happening in his life!”
Tired of talking about Matt when he really wanted to be buried in her, he moved to her side of the coffee table, crawling over her body as she lay back on the floor. “Want to know more about my man-card?” he asked, effectively pinning her underneath him.
Giggling, she admitted, “Oh yeah. You can show me your man-card anytime you want.”
* * *
The next morning Shane was gone when Annie awoke, but by the time she was out of the shower he was back in the kitchen with pastries from Mrs. Greenwald. And he brought plenty for Leon and Suzanne as well.
Kissing him goodbye, she watched as he headed out of the door to work as she walked down to the clinic. Smiling to herself, she could not help but think how right this felt. It’s as though he belongs here. With me. In my life.
As soon as she walked through the door of the clinic she was immediately surrounded. Leon took the pastries out of her hand while Suzanne grabbed her other hand and pulled her into the room.
“So spill, chickie. How was meeting the family?” Leon asked while shoving a bear claw into his mouth.
Annie laughed, “Well, it was interesting. They hadn’t seen him in a long time, so it was pretty emotional. But other than that, they were really nice.” She noticed Suzanne’s sharp eyes focused on her intently. “Honestly, Suzanne. It was good. His family is very much like mine. Speaking of mine, I need to call my mom.”
“Of Lordy, I can hear the wedding bells already once Momma Donavan gets hold of this information,” Leon joked.
“That’s why I have been putting it off. But when she finds out that I’ve met his family, she’ll have a fit!”
The front door chimed signaling the start of another day as the three hustled to get ready.
* * *
Shane looked over at Matt where he was talking on the phone and taking notes in one of the many files they had strewn across their desks. As he hung up the phone, Shane said, “Let’s get out of here man and have some lunch.”
Once in the diner down the road, Matt looked over at Shane and said, “Okay, go for it.”
Surprised, Shane asked, “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been lookin’ at me like you’ve wanted to ask me somethin’ all morning. Stop screwing around and just ask.”
Chuckling as he shook his head, he admitted, “You’ve always known me. Guess that’s what made us good partners.” Pausing for a moment to think about what he wanted to ask, he finally just went for honesty.
“Look, last night Annie wondered about you and I had to admit that we haven’t really had a chance to catch up. I realized that while I was dealing with my own shit, you were back here with a life that I don’t know about. And…you seem quieter. You were always up for a good time and now …I don’t know…like you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
Matt sat for a few minutes and Shane let the comfortable silence flow between them. Their food was delivered and they began to eat. As their lunch was almost finished, Matt began to talk.
“It was hard when you went under, but I knew you. I knew after the rescue of your friend’s woman, you were determined to do anything to shut down that pipeline. Had a couple of partners while you were under. They were good. Not you, but good enough. I just kept thinkin’ that I had not only lost my partner but my friend as well, so I kind of shut down. Stopped going out as much.”
Shane sat listening as he got the feeling that there was so much more to the story than what Matt was saying.
“I met someone.”
That got Shane’s attention. He was about to ask to hear more, but realized that it must have ended badly for Matt’s reaction to be what it is. So he let the silence speak for him once again.
“Met her at a bar mixer one night, but she wasn’t a bar troll. Nice girl. Hell, drop-dead gorgeous. Real smart…a lawyer in the city. We got together and stayed together. Dated for six months.”
“I had no idea, bro.” Shane hung his head for a moment. “Fuck. I missed so much!”
“Yeah, well, some things are better missed,” Matt said ruefully. “Met each other’s families. Even talked about marriage, although looking back, it was more of a one-sided conversation. My side.” He self-consciously rubbed the scar on his face.
Again the silence at the table spoke volumes. Shane knew that whatever was coming was not going to be good.
“I got the cut on my face when I was off duty and having to break up a bar fight. A drunk asshole broke a bottle and took a swipe at me like he thought he was in some goddamn wild-west movie. For a while, it looked really bad – stitches, all red and swollen. She didn’t handle it well. Wanted me to quit the force. Said the scar upset her to look at it. I figured when it healed, she’d be fine. Then the typical started happening. She had to work late. Missed our dates. Said she had too much goin’ on.