with steak. It’s not a healthy way to make them, but they’re so tasty that even Sebastian loved—
She stops the thought, and then braces herself for the inevitable gut punch, which happens every time she’s reminded of her son. But nothing happens. The thought flits in, and then out, and she realizes she feels … okay.
Derek is watching her closely, his eyes filled with compassion. It’s like he knows exactly the path her mind just took, probably because his just did the same.
They both get out of the car. He moves their skis into the garage and brings the suitcases into the house.
“I love you.” He reaches for her hand and kisses her palm. It’s an intimate gesture, and she can’t remember the last time he did that.
“I love you, too,” she says.
He steps through the front door, but before she can shut it behind him, he’s back inside, pushing her up against the wall, his lips finding her lips, his fingers in her hair, and everything about it is natural, and romantic, and right.
She waits until he drives away before she closes and locks the door, then goes about doing what she normally does when she gets home after being away for a few days. She sorts through the mail. She waters the few plants they have scattered throughout the main level of the house. She checks on the orchid that sits in the middle of the kitchen table.
The orchid’s been in the same spot for a year and a half, and she remembers the day she got it. Derek took Sebastian to an indoor swimming lesson in November, the last Saturday before Thanksgiving. Afterward, the two of them stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some of the thick-cut maple-glazed bacon they all like. Sebastian loved grocery shopping, because they rarely said no to any food he asked for, so long as it wasn’t junk. Marin was finishing her coffee when she heard the garage door open, and a moment later, Sebastian was thundering through the mudroom and into the kitchen holding a giant pink orchid in a gray ceramic vase.
“Mommy, lookit!” Every inch of her little boy’s forty-inch frame was bursting with pride. “Daddy said we could buy you a flower! It’s your favorite color! I choosed it myself!”
“Aw, Bash, it’s beautiful.” She took the flower from him before he could drop it. “I love it. This is a present for me?”
“Daddy said you’re beautiful and that we should buy you a beautiful flower, so I choosed this one because pink is your favorite.” Sebastian was beaming.
Marin bent down and kissed his nose. “You’re exactly right, pink is my most favorite. Thank you, my love. Where should we put it?”
“Here on the kitchen table, and you have to water it every day, or the lady said it will get dead.” He shook out of his coat, letting it drop to the floor.
“Not every day,” Marin said with a laugh. “If I water it every day it will definitely get dead. Hey, excuse me, mister, where does your coat go?”
He ran back into the mudroom to hang his coat as Derek was coming in, overloaded with groceries. Derek dropped the bags on the counter, and she spied steaks, avocados, bananas, fresh-baked Asiago bagels, oatmeal raisin cookies, and chocolate croissants spilling out of the totes. She raised an eyebrow and he grinned, sheepish.
“You know I can’t just buy one thing,” he said as she kissed him hello. “We got a little carried away.”
“I gave Mommy the flower, Daddy,” Sebastian said.
“He sure did.” Marin picked her son up. He immediately wrapped his legs around her waist and his arms around her neck. She peppered the side of his head with kisses, grateful that he was still at an age where kisses from Mommy were welcomed. “I will take good care of it, Bash, I promise.”
And for the most part, Marin has. Orchids are sturdy, but finicky, and in the weeks after Sebastian disappeared, she stopped remembering to water it, and all the blooms fell off. Derek almost threw it away, but she’d screamed at him.
“Don’t you dare!” she shrieked, catching him just as he was putting it into the garbage. “Don’t you dare throw that away!”
“I was—”
“Give it to me!” She grabbed for it, and he let her have it, backing away. She was wild-eyed, her hair falling out of its loose bun. She’d barely slept and she hadn’t showered in days. “Look at the stalks. They’re still green. The