Second Time Around

Chapter Forty-Eight

When they returned to his parents' house and warm light blazed from what looked like every window and she could hear his sister shouting with laughter over something. Gazing up at him, she said, "I like your family, Tony. You know, I never knew families like this actually existed outside of books. You all seem to like each other. It's amazing."

"We do like each other." He sighed softly, leaning against the wrought-iron railing ringing the front porch. "You never seemed unhappy, Kelly. Every time I saw you, you were laughing and talking with your friends."

"I hid it well, I guess." She combed her fingers through her hair, raking it away from her face. "And it wasn't always bad. It's just that when it was, it really was."

"Bad how?"

She shook her head, gazing down at the chipped concrete between the red bricks. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Kelly." He caught her face in his hands to lift to meet his gaze. "What happened?"

"It was a long time ago and there's nothing you can do about it now." She took a deep breath, smiled up at him, and added, "And I survived, so it's all good."

However, he didn't smile. He just stared down at her, his thumbs moving along her cheekbones. "I wish you'd tell me."

"You don't want to hear it and I don't want to talk about it."

"You told me Dan hit you once. Did anyone else?"

Her stomach twisted with enough force that she couldn't hold back her wince. Sometimes memory lane was a fun place to visit, other times, it was like the ninth circle of hell. Parts of her childhood definitely fell within the perimeter of that circle. "Tony--"

"Did anyone else?"

"It doesn't matter now."

"It matters to me."

"Why?" She met his eyes, held them as she fought back the rising anger that usually accompanied the walk along that particular path. "You can't change the past. You can't undo it. You can't erase it. All I can do is keep moving forward and that's what I choose to do."

"Kelly," his hands tightened on her as she tried to look away, "don't."

"What?"

"Why didn't you--"

"Say anything? To you? You were my gym teacher, Tony. What was I supposed to do? Corner you in your office and dump my problems on you?" She pulled away from him. "I was already enough of a mess in your presence as it was. Confiding in you was never on the table. I wanted to screw you, not cry on your shoulder."

His eyes softened in the porch light. "What happened?"

"Everything happened. I come from a long line of Irish drunks. Some are the happiest people you ever met and some are the most vicious people you'll ever cross paths with. And I survived and put it behind me."

His fingertips were even lighter against her face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong. And I'm okay. Really." This time she didn't have to force her smile. "I'm happy. I'm in a great place. My kids are healthy. I'm healthy. I've got them, and you and your girls. It was worth it to make it here. Trust me."

He bent toward her, blocking the light as his lips met hers. She curled her fingers about his warm wrists, giving them a gentle squeeze as he parted her lips with the tip of his tongue. His kiss was slow and deep, his hands tightening on her face.

The door opened and Deirdre said, "Whoops!" and slammed it shut.

Kelly couldn't help her laugh as she pulled back. "Guess we were the show for tonight."