Chapter Eighty-Four

“You ready?” Richie had invited her to come spend the week with him at his house before they left for Europe.  Now, here he stood in the doorway, not so patiently waiting, watching her pack.

Stephanie closed her suitcase. “I think so.” It hadn’t been easy to pack to be at his house for a week and then in Europe for a month, but she had managed it.  She zipped her suitcase and when she tried to lift it from the bed, he crossed the room and stopped her.

“Let me get that.” She still had the splint on her arm and he didn’t want her to hurt herself further.  He muscled her out of the way and lifted the suitcase, setting it on the floor next to her laptop case and her oversized tote bag/carry-on.

She attached the laptop case to the suitcase, hitched the carry-on over her shoulder and took one last look around her room. “I think that’s everything.”

He extended the handle on her suitcase and started out of the room. “I expected a few more pieces of luggage to tell you the truth.” Neither Heather nor Denise had ever learned the meaning of the words “travel light” so he was genuinely surprised to see that Stephanie managed to get everything into one suitcase.  One large suitcase.

“Yeah, well, there was this little voice in my head making snide comments as I was trying to decide what to bring.”

At the top of the staircase, Richie lowered the handle and picked up the two bags, “oh yea, whose?”

She cocked her head and looked at him, “”Mark’s.”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. She hadn’t mentioned his name in a while.  “Really?”

“Whenever we would go away” she explained as they walked down the stairs, “he would tease me about the amount of clothes I would pack and he always had something to say about the number of pairs of shoes I would take and end up not wearing.”

Richie set her bags down by the door at the bottom of the stairs. “Brave man trying to tell a woman how many shoes to bring on a trip.” Never, not in all the years he was married, had he ever tried to tell Heather how to pack when they went away. He liked his head where it was, thank you very much.

Stephanie smiled and shook her head in resignation. “Yeah, well, he was usually right.” She looked at her bags and then at Richie, “I took it easy on the shoes this time.”  She set her tote bag next to her suitcase, “besides, you have a laundry service, right?”  At his nod she continued, “so I didn’t need to pack enough for every single day. Makes it easier, and, I fully expect to do some shopping too.” She had no idea what tour travel would be like, but there had to be some free time built in to their schedules, right?

She poked her head into her office.  Everything was in order.  With Richie following her, she wandered down the hall and into the kitchen giving everything one last check. She turned and found herself caged in, the counter at her back, Richie at her front.  She ran her hands up his chest and rested her arms on his shoulders. “Well hello there.”  Her voice had gone soft and a little uncertain.

He shifted his hands from the counter on either side of her to her hips and he caught her pretty mouth in a sweet kiss. “Everything all right?” She didn’t seem to be quite herself at the moment.

Turning her head slightly she blew out a sigh. “Are you sure you want me to stay at your place for the week?”  As much sense as it made, she still felt like she was intruding on his space and his time with Ava.

“Of course” he pushed at the curls that had fallen over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”

“But I know how precious your time with Ava is. Are you sure I’m not intruding?”

A knuckle under her chin had her looking up into sincere brown eyes. “She was the one who asked me if you were going to stay with me now that I was home.”  He kissed her lightly. “Don’t worry so much, Sweetheart.”

She leaned into him, deepening the kiss. “Can’t help it, I’m a worrier by nature.”

The doorbell rang and Richie pulled his mouth from hers. “You expecting someone?”

Stephanie moved past him, “yeah, I am.” It was probably Darcy. She was going to take care of things while Stephanie was away and had promised to come by to get the key. “Hey Darcy” she said as she pulled the door open.

“Hey yourself girlie.” She stepped in and looked at her friend. “Look at you, you’d never know you were in a bar fight a couple weeks ago.” Darcy pulled her friend in for a hug. “I’m really glad you’re okay” she added quietly.

Stephanie stepped back and held Darcy’s hands, “thank you for everything you did and are doing for me Darcy.” Holding on to one hand, she pulled Darcy down the short hallway. “Come on, there’s someone here you need to meet.”

Before Darcy could respond, she found herself face to face with Richie. She stood there star struck and unable to form a coherent thought.

Richie looked her up and down and winked at Stephanie over her friend’s shoulder. “Well, well, this must be Snow White,” he looked over at his girl, “right?”

Stephanie smiled and made the introductions. “Rich, this is Darcy.”

He reached for a delicate hand that was glued to the girl’s side. He brought it to his lips, kissing the pale skin lightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you darlin’.”

He let her hand go and she took a breath, finally engaging her brain and her mouth. She turned to her friend, “oh my God, you could warn a girl!”

She turned back to Richie, smoothing her hair and widening her smile. “The pleasure is most definitely mine.”

Instead of letting her go, he tugged on the hand he still held, drawing Darcy into a friendly embrace. “Thank you for watching out for my girl.” When she looked up at him he smiled at the shock in her eyes before dropping a chaste kiss to her cheek. “And thank you for not leaving her alone.”

Not knowing what else to do, Darcy wrapped her arms around the man’s waist and hugged him back. “I’m just glad she’s okay.”

Darcy stepped back and turned to Stephanie, “now, what do you need me to do while you’re away and the hot tub works, right?”

~

Unlocking the door, Richie ushered Stephanie in ahead of him. She set her bag down and looked around. “Is she here?”

“Who?” he asked as he parked her suitcase inside the door.

“Ava the Hun” Stephanie smirked.

Richie snickered and laughed. “Was she really that bad? And no, she’s not here. We’re picking her up for lunch tomorrow and she’ll be with us until we leave on Sunday.”

Moving through the house, she headed toward the kitchen.  “No,” she sighed quietly, “she wasn’t that bad.”  She opened a cupboard and pulled out a drinking glass, moving to the refrigerator for water.  “She was actually very sweet and it was nice to have someone there, at least for those first few really awful days.”

Stephanie took her glass and sat on a stool at the breakfast bar.   She thought about those first couple of days, when she couldn’t really take care of herself.  She had needed help getting to the bathroom, washing herself, eating.  Her shoulders slumped and the enormity of all that had happened finally settled on her.  She dropped her eyes from his as they filled and there, in his sun drenched kitchen the tears she had been trying not to shed for the last few weeks finally came. 

Richie hurried across the room to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.  “Shh, Sweetheart, it’s okay.”  He stroked her back as she shuddered against him.  “It’s okay” he repeated.  Gently he lifted her from her perch and carried her to the den, settling on the couch.  He continued to hold her, whispering soothing words while she shed her tears. 

“I’m sorry” she managed to get out around the sobs.  “I didn’t mean” she tried to continue but everything was all jumbled and nearly incoherent.  “I can’t…”  She couldn’t seem to stem the flow of tears.

Richie stroked a hand down her hair “get it all out Sweetheart, then you can talk.”  Her tears were killing him, but she obviously needed to shed them, to purge herself of the emotions she had been storing up inside.

After an eon of sobbing and an ocean of tears she finally started to quiet.  The tears ebbed and the words started to make sense.  She sniffed against his shirt, “sorry about that.”

He kissed her head and reached across the end table, hooking the box of tissues with his long fingers.  He offered it to her, “here.”  He waited while she blew her nose and mopped her face. 

“Feel better?”

She inhaled a deep, shuddering breath and wrapped her arm around her still sore ribs.  “Actually, I do.”

“Is that the first time you cried since this happened?”

She nodded against his shoulder.  “I kept telling myself I was fine.  Obviously I’m a liar.”

He kissed her head, “a person can only handle so much, Sweetheart.  I’d have to say you finally hit your limit.” 

She sighed, she hated that she totally broke down and cried all over him.  “I guess.”

He caught her chin with his thumb and finger, drawing her eyes to his, “there’s no shame in crying over what happened, Sweetheart.  You don’t have anything to prove to me.”

“I know” she said quietly.  “I just don’t usually cry like that.  I really thought I was okay.”

Gently, he pushed her head back down against his shoulder, “well now we know you’re not superwoman. Damn shame too, I had a costume all picked out for you and everything.” 

She hiccupped out a laugh and gave him a half-hearted smack on the arm.  “Stoppit, you did not.”

 He chuckled, “I guess you’ll never know now.”

 She pressed a smiling kiss to the spot under his jaw, near his ear.  “Thank you.”

 When she didn’t say anything more, when the shadows grew long against the walls he looked down at her.  She had fallen asleep on his shoulder, her lashes long dark fans against her cheek.  “Lean on me a little Sweetheart” he pressed a whisper of a kiss against her forehead.  “You don’t have to handle everything alone anymore.”