“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” I bit out, pacing a path into the manicured grass. Considering I was alone and standing in front of Mia’s grave, my question went not surprisingly unanswered.
It had been a while since I’d been out to the cemetery, but after dropping Liv off at the new house, I knew that it was time for a special trip.
“Those letters were the most ridiculous play I have ever seen. Do you have any idea how hard I’ve had to work to convince her that we weren’t having an affair on you? For fuck’s sake, Mia. You really could have saved me a lot of trouble if you’d stopped with the mind games.” I stilled, glancing down at the small stone that marked her final resting spot. At the sight, the pain still sliced through me, but a smile grew on my face. “Thank you,” I whispered into the cold, dark night. My breath formed a puff of white, and as it dissipated, it took a lifetime of pain along with it. “Thank you so fucking much for her.”
I stood there for a few minutes longer, trying to find words to express my gratitude for the way Mia March had touched my life.
For keeping me in line as a teen when I’d thought that, at any minute, the world was going to crumble at my feet.
For loving such a broken boy who had been so angry that he couldn’t even figure out how to love himself but had somehow found a woman who would love him anyway.
For accepting Liv and healing her timid soul in a way I never would have been capable of doing.
For being so strong in the face of death that she’d still had the foresight to offer Liv and me peace in a world where she no longer existed.
And, most of all, for just being the type of woman who loved with wild abandon even in the middle of utter chaos.
She’d been gone for almost five years, and I could have stood there for five more, trying to find those words of gratitude, but that wouldn’t have been living. Right then, the woman Mia had all but given to me was at home, curled up next to a fire, waiting for me to come home, so that’s what I did.
With a simple nod, I signed the words I love you and then headed back to my car.
“Leo, come on, man!” I complained.
Liv shifted in my lap, passing me her empty wine glass to set on the end table. “Let him talk,” she scolded, burrowing into my side.
It was Christmas night, and we were all over at Till’s house, relaxing after a huge dinner. Slate and Erica had come over with their kids, and Leo and Sarah had driven down the night before with Liv’s little brother, Ty, so we could all be together on Christmas Day. I had personally invited Leo with one thing on my mind, but as he stood in front of my entire family, preparing to tell this story, I knew I’d made a huge mistake.
“Jesus, how old were you, Q?” Leo asked, but I refused to answer.
“Thirteen!” Till called out with a huge smile from the couch, his arms securely anchored to Eliza’s thigh. His other was wrapped around a beer.
“Right. Okay, so he was thirteen. You have to remember Quarry didn’t look anything like a kid back then. I knew grown men who would have cowered if he’d approached them in a dark alley.”
“Damn right!” I yelled, causing the whole group to laugh.
“So there I was, doing some paperwork in Slate’s office, when the door swung open, and lo and behold, there stood this mutant teenager. I shit you not, the light flowed in from behind him like he was the grim reaper coming to take my soul.”
I groaned, knowing that, if this was the sensationalized spin Leo was giving it, this story was going to get a whole lot worse in a few minutes.
Liv looked back at me and giggled. I found not one thing funny, but her exuberant reaction still made me chuckle.
Leo continued. “When my eyes adjusted, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Great ‘Stone Fist’ Page, king of amateur boxing, was standing in front of me with tears streaming from his eyes.” He raked his fingers down his face to exaggerate the tears.
“It was, like, one tear!” I shouted.
“Bullshit! I’ve seen rivers that contained less water.”
I cursed under my breath, and Flint decided to chime in.
“Little baby Q always has been good at the waterworks.”
I flipped my brother off before turning my attention back to Leo. “Can you just fucking get on with it?”
“Language!” Sarah yelled with a grin, tossing an empty water bottle at me.
I quickly caught it and then hurled it at Flint. He easily caught it and acted like he was going to retaliate, but I ducked my head behind Liv.
Erica scowled and then confiscated the bottle like we really were the kids we were acting like.
Leo started up again. “You should have seen him. His chin was quivering and everything. I’d heard all the trouble he’d been in since coming home from Till’s fight in Vegas. Hell, I think it’s safe to say we were all having trouble adjusting to life after that.”