Always and Forever by Kathryn Shay Page B

away, he called after her, “I’ll go with you,” and trailed Brie into the house, like a puppy dog.
    “What’s that all about?” Liam asked.
    Pat stared after them. “Ithink he has a crush on Brie.”
    “Who doesn’t have a crush on Brie?” This from Aidan, lazing against the table. “I have since you met her.”
    “Me, too,” Dylan said. “Since then.”
    He looked at Liam. “Well, as long as we’re being honest…”
    The guys all laughed at Pat’s shock. “You’re shittin’ me.”
    They shook heads in unison.
    “Yeah, well, she’s all mine, so get any fantasies ofher you still have out of your heads.”
    Dylan teased, “I’d be wantin’ some coffee right now, Paddy, if I were you.”
    “If you get his meaning…” Aidan’s voice was droll.
    “You know,” Pat said, setting his beer on the table. “I could use some caffeine before I drive home.”
    oOo
    On the Fourth of July, fireworks burst in the sky over the East River, lighting up the ten p.m.sky. Behind Brie, Pat encircled her waist with his arms and whispered in her ear, “How many of these shows do you think we’ve seen?”
    “Nearly two decades’ worth.” She leaned back into her husband and enjoyed the solid weight and familiarity of his body. The kids had wended their way with Aidan through the crowd to get a better view, and the rest of his brothers and sisters-in-law had joinedthem. Pat and Brie had stayed back on the tiny hill, enjoying each other’s company. It had been like this between them for a week.
    As another big pink ball exploded in the sky, Brie thought back to the past few days. On Monday, they’d played hooky from work, and she and Pat had spent the day at the beach. They’d gone swimming, walked the boardwalk and held hands while they’d sat in the warmsunshine…
    “We need to do more fun things. Without the kids.” Already tanned from just an hour in the sun, Pat had stared over at her. “And I’ll probably lose my man card for sayin’ this, but outside of bed, too.”
    She’d pretended a pout. “Well, if you don’t want regular sex anymore…”
    He’d leaned over and ran a finger down her sun-screened arm. “I want both. I think it’s good for usto do things like this, lass, don’t you?”
    Lost in the moment, she said dreamily, “Yeah, I do…”
    On Tuesday, they’d lounged at home after Irene had taken Isabella on an excursion, made delicious love, watched the news and ate chocolate croissants that Pat had surprised her with.
    “Let’s go to a play,” he’d said spontaneously on Wednesday morning. He didn’t have to be to work until nighttime.“You can pick it out.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah, you told me about your conversation with Dr. Forbes. And you’d like to start goin’ again. What do you wanna see?”
    “Something adult…”
    So they’d attended a showing of a revival of a new play starring Robert DeNiro and Pat had found that he liked the theater more than he thought he would. Brie was thrilled.
    “What are you thinkin’ about?”Pat asked when there was a lull in the presentation. He still held her from behind. The night was warm, but she liked the cuddling.
    “What a nice week we had.”
    “Yeah, it was.” She could feel his chin rest on her head. “The kids were funny about it, weren’t they?”
    Sinead had teased them about acting like kids, Sean had asked what that meant and Kathleen had gotten pouty because she lovedNew York plays and was missing one.
    “We had some good family time, too.” Something Pat valued. Something
she
valued in him.
    “We did.” She pictured their morning in the pool. “Isabella will be swimming soon.”
    “And Sean did great in his summer baseball league. Him and Cleary.”
    She felt Pat take a deep breath and let it out. “All’s right with the world,” he murmured.
    For now
.But she shooed away the negative thought. Brie was hoping this week was a new start, a commitment to calmness in their relationship. As the sky