A Second Chance in the Show Me State - Jessie Gussman Page 0,53

friend come along to the emergency room, where they put two stitches in my lip and told me to take it easy for a while.”

“They gave you a really cool ice bag too.”

“I’m pretty sure it was a catheter bag that they cut the end off of and filled with ice from the vending machine down the hall,” Emerson said dryly.

“Like I said, it was cool.”

“Maybe to you.”

“Definitely. The hospital was small, understaffed, and short on funds. But I didn’t mind because I was getting out of school and because I was with my best friend.”

“They closed it not long after that.”

“Yeah. And turned it into senior living apartments. Too bad, because I had some pretty good memories there. Your nose was about six times its original size, and with that catheter bag, you were like the coolest kid on the block. And you were my best friend.”

“Would you stop trying to make me feel better? My nose is crooked, and it’s almost as hideous as my eyebrows.”

“I love your nose, because I lived the story that goes along with it. I love your eyebrows, now that I can see them. But I have no clue what you’re talking about with the proper arch or whatever.” He didn’t want to let go of her hand, but he did, taking his finger and running it across her eyebrow. “It looks perfect to me.”

She swallowed, and her eyes met his, but maybe what he was feeling was showing too strongly in them, because she looked down before closing her eyes.

He ran his finger over the other eyebrow. Who even thought about eyebrows? He had no idea there was a proper shape for eyebrows.

“Everybody should have their eyebrows shaped just like this. Whatever shapes these are, they’re my favorite. Along with these.” He ran his fingers lightly over the freckles on her nose, and he allowed himself to smile, since her eyes were still closed, when she shivered.

He liked that.

That she was feeling what he was.

Using a single finger, he traced the knot in her nose, and her lips tilted up, her eyes still closed. “This is beautiful to me because I have a memory attached to it. Not everybody knows exactly what their wife looks like with a catheter bag lying across her face.”

“You always were so romantic,” she said without opening her eyes.

“Only with you.” He heard the humor in his voice, and her eyes fluttered open. They weren’t teenagers anymore, but if someone were to come in on them now, with their goofy grins, they’d be hard-pressed to believe they were adults in their thirties.

“That’s true. I put too much store in other things and didn’t appreciate that. Because it really was only me. Thank you.” Her eyes drifted down as her smile faded. “I’m sorry I got upset about the things you didn’t remember, instead of appreciating the things you did.”

“Hey,” he said, putting his finger under her chin, pushing up and over, trying to get her eyes to meet his. “I made just as many mistakes. More. I could spend the rest of tonight apologizing. Probably I should. Because a blanket ‘I’m sorry’ really isn’t going to cut it any more than a blanket ‘thank you.’ If you don’t know what you’re apologizing for or thanking someone for, what’s the point?”

“It’s a start.”

“It’s not a good enough start.”

“It is for me.” Her brows, those brows that she insisted were hideous, lifted, like a challenge.

He grinned a little. “I don’t agree with you when you say your brows are hideous. I think they’re expressive. Right now, you’re challenging me. And I know I’m right. You can’t just say I’m sorry and expect to cover everything you’ve ever done wrong. And you can’t just say thank you without explaining why you’re saying it.”

“Okay.” She shrugged a little and smiled.

“Now I’m suspicious. Why are you agreeing so easily?”

She laughed. “It’s a habit that I’ve tried to establish in the last eight years. Agreeing rather than arguing. I’m not very good at it, but I’m practicing right now.”

He laughed. “You’re trying to change your entire personality?”

It was her turn to laugh. “Is it that bad?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry, but yeah. If you agree with me, I start to think you probably hit your head, possibly broke your nose again, and I start thinking about emergency rooms and catheter bags.”

“Well, since you think that stuff is cool, I’m glad I can help you think positively.”

“It scares me.”

“Good. I think that someone needs to