The Winner's Game(84)

Dell allows a sheepish smile to brighten his face. “Because I really want to go deep-sea fishing in December.” He pauses. “I figured breakfast in bed would be a good way to give me an early lead.”

The game! Oh my gosh…he remembered! Even after a long night’s sleep, he remembered. And I…forgot.

The tear breaks free. “I’m so sorry, Dell. Take a point for trying. Heck, take ten. You deserve it.”

“You forgot, didn’t you? When you saw the smoke, your instincts took over, and you forgot we were playing.”

“This game is going to be harder than I thought.”

“Yeah.”

“You bit your tongue, didn’t you? When I was yelling at you. You wanted to lash out, but you held back.”

He nods.

“Then take a point for that too,” I tell him. “Plus one for apologizing. That couldn’t have been easy.”

Now his mouth stretches into a grin. “No, it wasn’t. But to be honest, it was not as bad as I thought. Certainly a lot easier than hours of fighting and being mad, and I’m pretty sure that’s the direction we were headed.” He quietly pulls his notebook from his pocket and makes a few marks on the first page.

I can’t stop myself. I walk across the room and wrap my arms around him in a giant hug. “Thank you, Dell. Thank you so much.” I love being this close to him. It makes me feel…whole.

The rest of the day isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than usual. We’re both trying hard to be nicer to each other, and it shows. Especially Dell—he really is competitive, making it clear that he wants to win. Whenever I’m on the verge of picking a fight with him for something innocuous, all he says is “Cabo,” and suddenly the tension is gone.

By the time we crawl into bed at night, I can tell he’s really starting to get into the swing of things, because he pays me a compliment for no reason at all: “You smell really nice tonight. Is that a new perfume?”

“Nice of you to notice,” I reply dryly. “I’ve been wearing this same perfume since Christmas. You put it in my stocking.”

“Did I?” He sounds embarrassed, but he laughs it off. “I guess I’m not surprised that I’m not more familiar with it. We haven’t been all that close since then.”

“No.”

“I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

“I know. Me too.”

“But it’s going to get better, right?”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

The darkness goes quiet for a minute. Then he reiterates something that validates my hope. “I am going to beat you at this game, Emily. I just want you to know that.” His voice is kind, but earnest. “I don’t want to fight with you anymore, so whatever it takes, I’m going to win. I’m going to win you.”

“I don’t know about that. I’m very good at games.”

“At Scrabble, yes. But dear, this is not Scrabble.”

For a moment, I can’t speak. He called me “dear”! “We’ll see about that,” I tell him finally. “Because I’m pretty set on winning too. Fishing for our anniversary just doesn’t sound like fun to me. Not when we could be in the City of Love.”

He hesitates for a moment before speaking. When he does, there is worry in his voice. “If we go away on a big anniversary…what will we do with Ann?”

Good question. In my zeal for an improved marriage, I haven’t considered such details. The unfortunate truth about his question, which I’m sure we’re both thinking, but neither of us will say, is that if Ann doesn’t get her new heart soon, it may be a moot point. There’s a chance she might not still be around in December. What will we do then? How could our family exist without her? How could we leave Bree and Cade alone without their big sister, just so we can go off on some grand trip?

I can feel the mood in the room has changed. It’s gotten suddenly cooler. And darker. “We’ll figure something out,” I whisper.

He sighs. “How do you think she’s doing?”

“Physically, or emotionally?”

“All of the above.”

Now I sigh too. I’m sure she’s upstairs at this very moment wondering what in the world she could have done differently with Tanner. It breaks my heart every time I see her. She’s trying so hard to put on a brave face, but I know inside it must be killing her. I just wish I knew what caused him to turn on her so quickly. Did he think of this as a summer fling? But how could he after what she told him? He just didn’t seem like that kind of boy. But then, I only met him a few times, and he’d have been on his best behavior.