Mick reached for the card on the left and stopped. His huge hand lay over all three cards and he slid them to Dylan. “I’m sorry, Dylan.”
“But, Mick, it’s so important. Please.”
“There’s nothing that can be said to change my mind. You’ve said it all before. Nothing’s changed. So now… it’s over. No more.”
Slow, Dylan nodded. “I see. Fine. I’m sorry.” After waiting a few seconds, Dylan turned to leave.
“What about your cards?”
She paused in the doorway of the kitchen. “You keep them. One of these days you’ll turn them over. And it’ll be too late. I’ll be gone.”
Dylan turned and left.
Glue. Mick had to imagine glue kept him in that chair because he diligently fought not to get up and follow Dylan when he heard her leave. But he didn’t fight too hard to refrain from turning over those cards.
Lifting the first card on the left, Mick let out a heavy breath when he looked at the paper with Dylan’s handwriting stuck on that card. It read, ‘I’ll do ANYTHING for you.’
Shaking his head, Mick turned over the center card. ‘I want you in my life… always.’
“Aw, Dylan.” Words she’d said before, words he had heard before, but they still moved him. Mick grabbed the third. He hesitated before turning it over, but he was glad he did. ‘I love you.’
Every ounce of his being sank when he laid eyes upon the words Dylan had never said to him. Allowing the feeling to radiate through his body, Mick stood up, snatched that card from the table and with top speed he raced from his kitchen into his living room.
He expected, fully expected Dylan to be on the porch. Perhaps that was the reason he stopped running when he opened his front door. But she wasn’t. Mick saw her. Walking up the street, Dylan was only a speck of a figure moving away.
Mick ran. He kept on running until he not only caught Dylan, but passed her as well. He made sure he got ahead of her, then catching his breath he stopped her by standing before her.
“What?” She crossed her arms.
Mick lifted the card to her eye level. “Say it.”
“You had your chance.”
“Come on, Dylan,” Mick said heavily, emotionally. “Say it.”
Dylan’s eyes shifted from the card to Mick, then she grabbed it from his hand and tore it in half.
Mick shrieked. “Uh! You ripped my card!”
“That was nothing. Try this.” Dylan ripped it once more, dropped the card then stepped on it. “Ha!”
Mick shrieked again. “What in God’s name is the matter with you?” He bent down, and lifted her foot to get the remnants.
“Me! You!” She reached to a bent over Mick and smacked him on the head. “You had your chance. I told you it would be too late. But, no. You come chasing me down.”
“Dylan.” Mick stood up holding the pieces. “You said you love me. You have never said that. Ever.”
“And I will never say it again.” She stared at him.
“Fine.” Mick threw the pieces.
“Fine.”
“I’m going home.” Mick marched by her.
“Alone!” Dylan shouted to a moving Mick.
“Like I always do!” Mick yelled back.
“I hope you choke on that green food you were eating!”
“It’ll be a hell of a lot less painful than dealing with you!” Mick screamed his final words as he stormed into his house.
Dylan warbled a frustrated scream.
“Dylan!” Tom’s strong voice, close, called her name.
Slowly Dylan turned to her right. She slouched when she saw her father standing on his front porch not far from where she was. “Sorry.”
“I have to live around these people. You want to scream and act like a fool on the street? Do it in front of your own house.” Tom opened his screen door. “And pick up that trash!”
“God!” Dylan screamed when her father’s door slammed. “He treats me like a child.” Growling her anger, she bent down to pick up the torn card. Picking up the pieces, looking at the ripped words, made Dylan stop. She clenched them in her hand. “What am I doing?”
In a matter of thirty seconds, Dylan was opening Mick’s front door. She didn’t expect him to be back at his kitchen table indulging in his green food. He was where she thought he’d be, just sitting on the couch.
She slowly walked in, shutting the front door with her back and staying there.
Mick slumped forward some on the couch, his arms resting on his knees. He only raised his eyes to her.
“Mick,” Dylan whispered, “I grabbed what’s left of the card.” She held up the parts. “I can’t put the pieces back together. Well, maybe I can, if you have some tape.” She let out an emotional chuckle. “Maybe I will and that will help piece us back together.”
“We aren’t as ripped apart as that card is. Don’t kid yourself,” Mick said gently.
“What do you need me to do, Mick, I’ll…”
“Dylan.” He held up his hand still keeping his voice soft. “Just… just say it.” He closed his eyes. “I swear I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear you tell me those words. Just say them.”
“I love you.”
Mick let out a sigh as he rose from the couch. He didn’t even give Dylan a chance to step away from the door. He moved to her, gently placed his hands on her face, and kissed her. A welcoming kiss, long, wide, and deep. He smiled, chuckling when he finished. Hands still on her face, he kept his forehead to hers. “See, it wasn’t all that difficult to say.”
“I probably would have said it sooner had you not hounded me about it.” Dylan kissed him. “Mick, I’ll say the other things on the cards, too, if you want.”
“You’ve said them before.”
“Then I’ll prove them.”
“Do you really mean that, Dylan?” Mick asked, his eyes locked on hers. “Really?”
“You tell me, Mick. You tell me how, and I’ll do it. I don’t want to lose you. And I certainly don’t want to give you up.”
After giving Dylan another kiss, Mick spoke, “Get him out of that house.”
“It’s not that simple. He has nowhere else to go.”
“Bullshit, Dylan,” Mick argued softly. “I don’t want you living with him, married to him or not. You have a divorce pending. I just don’t want you sleeping in the same house as him.”
“Then how about I sleep here,” Dylan suggested. “Panicking yet?”
“Nope. I would love for you to sleep here. Live here.”
“Then I will.”
“No, you won’t.”
“Yes, I’ll move in tomorrow.”
Mick smiled. “What about the boys?”
“Well, Dustin and Chris won’t come with me. But they’ll only be four blocks away. Tigger will. Even though I know it’s gonna be a masochistic mistake and I’ll fight with you constantly, we’ll do it. If you’ll have us.”
“Oh, I’ll have you all right.” Mick leaned into her. “When are you telling Sam?”
“Tonight,” Dylan said. “I’ll tell him all of it.”
“Now,” Mick said as they stood together, close and intimate. “Tell him now.”
“After.”
“After?”
“After.” Dylan reiterated and kissed him softly.
“OK. I can handle after.” Mick pressed his body to Dylan, flashed a sneaky grin, then slid his lips to her neck, and took Dylan up on her ‘after’ invitation, right there by the door.
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
Paul wasn’t a huge fan of modern electronic communication. His number one preference was face-to-face, then the telephone. Clicking away at a keyboard to convey what he wanted to say was not only not his style, it was annoying.