The week with my parents went by faster than I would have liked. We spend the first couple days in LA, taking in the popular tourist sights, spending a day on Catalina Island and going out to eat at some of the nicest restaurants in the area. Dianna’s barbecue went off without a hitch and if I didn’t know any better I’d think my mom and Dianna got along better than she and I did. Which was a good thing to know they immediately hit it off and by the end of the afternoon even exchanged emails.

Then we finally packed up Alex’s SUV and were off on our way north to Sonoma Valley and the fun that awaited us there. First it was San Francisco, where we visited Fisherman’s Wharf and watched the sea lions sunbathing, then we took a boat out and experienced the whole whale watching event, including one right beneath the boat. I thought my mom was going to have a heart attack as it surfaced within feet of us and finding out my dad had caught the entire thing on video made it even that much more fun.

The bed and breakfast in the heart of Sonoma Valley was next. We let my parents spend the day touring a grape vineyard and seeing the process that went into making wine while Alex and I drove along the coast and spent the afternoon having a picnic on a little piece of secluded beach we’d come across. He had sworn that he was okay to do the tour and vineyard, but out of respect to him and the fact that I didn’t want to be the cause of any drinking issues, I opted for our own afternoon off. Which I thoroughly enjoyed and I think he did as well.

Finally, our last day before heading back to LA and one day closer to my family leaving me, we rented a yacht and took it out over the crystal blue waters of the Pacific. That was probably one of the most relaxing things I had done in a long, long time; just spending the afternoon lounging on the dock while we drifted along felt so peaceful and serene and all the worries that had been plaguing my mind easily dissipated. I think it recharged everyone’s batteries because the mood felt lighter and more carefree once we were back on dry land and home in LA.

“So, when do you two plan to get back out to Connecticut and visit us?” My father questioned on their last night of the trip. We had made it home the previous day and had spent today just resting for fear of exhausting my grandmother.

“I’m not sure yet, but hopefully it won’t be forever away.” I sank down next to him on the couch and tucked my legs beneath me. “But I guess it really depends on Alex’s schedule and when he can get away.”

“Well, how ‘bout over Christmas?” He cast his eyes over to where my boyfriend was engrossed in a game of Scrabble with my mom and Mimi.

Alex looked up. “What’s going on?”

I giggled low. “My dad wants us to come to Connecticut over Christmas.”

“Oh, that would be so wonderful!” Mimi enthused. “We could get a big tree and go caroling and drive around to look at all the beautiful Christmas lights.”

I mulled it over. “It would be nice to have a wintery wonderland kind of Christmas again. I haven’t had one since I moved out here.”

Alex smirked. “Then we could drive into New York City for the Times Square festivities over New Years.”

“You really wanna go out in that crowd?” I lifted my brows at him.

“Oh, yes, darling and you’ll be coming with me.”

His smirk made me giggle. “Mmkay. And you know what I was thinking?”

He arched both his brows at that. “With you, there’s no telling.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” I spoke over my father’s rich laugh. Alex just shrugged boyishly and I continued, “Well, I was thinking that for Thanksgiving, maybe we travel to Florida and spend it with your mom.”

His brows lifted at that thought. “Ooh, that’s a very good possibility.”

“And here you are teasing me while I’m thinking about going to visit your mother.” I shook my head and tsked.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself,” my own mother chided him.

Alex dropped his head all ashamed. “I am. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me, baby.” Then he brought those soul stirring eyes up from the table and locked them on mine and I felt shivers go down my spine.

“It’s okay this time, just don’t let it happen again.”

He smirked, knowing exactly what his gaze did to me when he looked at me that way. “I’ll try not to.”

And that’s all it took for my cheeks to flush and I excused myself to the kitchen to refill my glass of water.

My grandmother found me in there a moment later. “That boyfriend of yours is really something else.”

Her words startled me since I hadn’t seen, or heard, her come in and I jumped about a foot from the floor. “Mimi!”

“I’m sorry, dear,” she chuckled then slipped an arm around my waist, giving me a squeeze, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

I placed a hand over my racing heart. “I’m okay. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I used to do that to your grandfather all the time and he’d get so annoyed.” She laughed but I saw something sad pass over her eyes.

I pouted and wrapped her lithe body in a hug. “I’m sorry, Mimi.”

“Every day that goes by I think that I’m one step closer to healing, but then something will just come right up and smack me in the face and knock me back a few steps.” More sadness filled her eyes.

“Oh, Mimi, don’t be sad, don’t cry.” I hugged her tighter, knowing exactly how she felt and then peered to her face. “You’re out here on vacation and having a wonderful time.”

Her hands pressed to my cheeks and she kissed my forehead. “I really am, Morgan. I think this has been one of the best vacations I’ve had yet.”

“Well, I hope you don’t set the bar too high or else you’ll be disappointed every time you come back.”

“I could never be disappointed when it comes to you, my darling.” She stroked my cheek in an affectionate and grandmotherly way. “I knew that eventually you would find your way in life again and I told that to your mother over and over.”

That made me smile. “I’m glad you never lost your faith in me.”

“I never could, darling. And this Alex boy,” she paused as she searched for the right words to say. “He really is right for you. The way you two look at each other and how he treats you and the love I see between you two reminds me so much of your grandfather and I.”

I couldn’t help the blush that flowed to my cheeks. “Really?”

“Oh yes, really. And it’s a love like you two have, and your grandfather and I had, that can withstand just about anything.”

I let myself lean against the counter. “You think so? Even this crazy tour he has coming up and the fact that we may be separated for weeks at a time?”

My grandmother’s mouth settled into a firm line and she watched me with the most serious of expressions, making my insides flutter at what her next words just might be. “Time nor distance can keep apart what’s truly meant to be,” she finally spoke after a slight pause.

I smiled and took her hand in mine. “I hope not, Mimi, because I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him.”

“You’re not going to lose him.” She squeezed my hand back affectionately. “God wouldn’t be that cruel to you, not after what you’ve gone through.” She winked at me. “You’re going to end up married one day and have beautiful babies that I will just dote over and spoil rottenly then send back home to you to handle.”

I laughed at that. “I’m sure you will; you and my mom both.”

“Isn’t that what grandparents are for?”

I thought back over the many times Mimi had done that to me and Grayson and nodded. “I think you’re right.”

She smiled then winked. “You just have to promise to bring them out to Connecticut to come visit me. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to jet back and forth like this, eventually my age is going to catch up to me.”

I slipped my arm around her shoulders and took up my water glass then steered her back toward the living room. “I think you have a long, long time before that happens. But I promise that we’ll come visit as often as we can.”

“Oh good!” She clapped her hands together. “But promise me one more thing?”

I paused at the serious tone of her voice and looked to her face. “What’s that?”

My grandmother pressed her lips together for a moment then spoke, “Promise me you won’t let them get tattoos till they’re at least 16. I don’t know how I feel about my great grandchildren running around with tattoos up and down their arms.” Then she smirked and her eyes danced with amusement and I knew she was just teasing me.

I laughed and gave her a squeeze. “Do temporary tattoos count?”

“Hm, I guess those would be okay.”

I giggled. “Good, because those would be so much better than permanent marker and if they’re anything like their father, they’ll want to be decorated, too.”

“That’s going to be my next Scrabble word; tattoo.” Then she laughed, delighted with herself, and we headed back into the living room.

~*~*~*~*~

Hours later, Alex and I were lounging on the back patio while my parents and grandmother slept inside the house. I hadn’t wanted him to leave, so we’d sat outside in two separate chairs holding hands and listening to the sounds of the ocean lapping the shore down at the beach. Daisy was settled between our chairs with her head resting on her paws and every so often would rise up to nudge our hands or legs and elicit a scratch behind her ears.

“So, this has been a really nice time, huh?” I spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence that had befallen us.

Alex blew a plume of smoke into the air and flicked his cigarette into the ashtray on the small table next to him. “It really has.” He squeezed my hand for emphasis. “I really like your parents and grandmother, Morgan. They make me feel like I belong.”

That made my heart swell. “That’s because you do belong.”

He sent me a cheesy grin. “And I even handled your dad’s serious talk earlier.”

“What?” I sat up in my chair and looked at him.

“You didn’t know about that?” Amusement riddled his voice and he reached to stroke Daisy’s flank as she bumped him, reminding him that she was still there and shouldn’t be forgotten.

“I…no,” I shook my head, “that’s news to me; what happened?”

Alex chuckled. “He just pulled me aside and had that talk that all fathers have with their daughter’s boyfriends.

“Oh no, Alex,” I cringed some, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea he was going to do that.”

“No, baby, don’t feel bad. I understand and it wasn’t a negative conversation at all.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was discussed, but my curiosity won over. “What did he say?”

Alex chuckled and reached for another cigarette. “Just the usual ‘don’t hurt her’ or ‘lead her on’ and ‘always respect her wishes’ kind of thing. Then he asked just how serious we were and if I was planning on marrying you and what I was figuring out for the tour.”

I blinked. “Wh…what did you say?”

His eyes met mine. “That I planned on leaving you for another woman.”

I blanched and it felt like my eyes were about to roll right out of my head.

Alex blinked and reached for my hand again, quickly realizing what a mistake it must have been to say something like that. “Baby, I’m kidding, I would never. I didn’t say that.” He lifted it to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “I told him that I loved you very much and that yes, I was going to ask you to marry me, but that we had some time still. And then I told him that we would figure the tour out and that it wasn’t going to hurt us and that I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that you were happy and taken care of.”

My heart began to settle back down in my chest. “What did he say?”

“That so far I seemed a man of my word and that your mom and he trusted me to continue to be so.” He shrugged. “Then he clapped me on the back and told me he couldn’t wait to welcome me to the family officially.”

I grinned. “He likes you.”

Alex smirked. “Course he does; what’s not to like.”

“Careful there, we wouldn’t want that head of yours to grow any bigger.”

“Which head are we talking about here?”

I laughed and smacked his arm lightly. “Don’t be crass.”

“You love it when I’m crass.” He caught my head again and kissed my palm. “You know, we could sneak out and go to my place for the night and I could have you back before they even wake.”

I tried to pull my hand away and nudge him, but he held it fast and began to kiss his way to my wrist. “There’s hardly enough time for any of that and we wouldn’t have to go all the way back to your place. We’d just have to be quiet.”

His lips curved into a smirk against my skin. “Oh baby, the things I’m planning on doing to you, there’s no way you could stay quiet.”

I felt a twinge in my tummy at his words. “Shh, there’ll be plenty of time for that after they leave me tomorrow.” Then my face morphed into a pout. “I don’t want them to go.”

“Aww,” he dropped the ‘getting into my pants’ act and returned my pout. “I know you don’t and I’m sorry that they have to leave you.”

“Why do I have to live so far away?”

“Well, because you moved to California and made a life for youself.” Then he cheesed at me. “And you met me and now you can’t leave because you can’t stand to be apart from me for even a day’s time.”

Little did he know how much that was true. “What are we gonna do when you go on tour?”

I think the question caught him off guard because he paused and stared at me for a moment. “I thought we were discussing your parents leaving.”

“Well, we were, but your comment made me think about you leaving and I think now’s a good time to talk about it.”

He sighed and lowered my hand from his mouth to his chest. “Don’t you want to go with me?”

“Truthfully?”

“Please.”

It was my turn to sigh and I took my hand back and sat up straight in the chair. “Part of me does because I can’t stand the thought of us being away from each other for great lengths of time, but then there’s a part of me that wants to stay here so I can work on my career and take care of my dog and my home.”

“Right, because you want to get your own office.”

“Yeah.” I nodded my head and watched him with a growing feeling of apprehension in my stomach. “Is that okay? To want that for myself? I just feel like I’m working so hard for it then your tour comes up and I have to drop it and go off with you, who knows what kind of position I’ll be in when I come back to it.”

“I get that, baby, I really do.” He turned in his chair to face me, snubbing out the last of his cigarette. “And I think it’s great that you’re working toward your own agency and have those goals for yourself.”

I studied his expression. “Where’s the but?”

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m trying not to be selfish. I do really want you to come with me; I’m going to be gone for weeks, or months, at a time and it drives me crazy just thinking about you not with me and us away from each other for that long.”

“Are you worried about us being able to handle it?”

He paused and bit on his bottom lip.

That made my stomach drop. “You don’t think we’ll be able to survive it? If I stay here and you go on tour? You think something like that would break us up?”

“I…I don’t know, baby,” he raked his fingers through his hair, “are we talking like…you don’t even come visit?”

My mother’s words went through my mind and I forced myself to calm down and not fly off the handle at the way he seemed to be thinking of our relationship. “Of course I would come visit you; every chance I got. I want us to work out as much as you do and I’m not going to let distance come between us.”

“And how many times is ‘every chance I got’? If you’re trying to start your own agency and branch out on your own with employees and everything, then really, how much free time are you going to have?”

I could feel my heart kick up a notch. “You don’t think I would make time for you?”

“Would you?”

“Of course I would!” I exploded, feeling hurt and offended. “You’re the most important thing to me and I wouldn’t let my work come between us.”

“Then why can’t you come with me? Staying behind because of your job is letting work come between us.”

“No it’s not!” I frowned at him. “I’m my own person, Alex, and I can’t just drop everything going on in my life to follow you around the World while you do your job. Do I not count? Do I not get something I want?”

He sighed and leaned back into the chair. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

My heart softened at the sad tone of his voice. “Baby, you aren’t going to lose me. I want our relationship to work out and I want a future for us. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that we stay together, but I just can’t put my life on hold like that.”

“And what happens if you meet someone while we’re apart?”

I wasn’t sure if I should be offended at his question, but I decided to remain rational. “I’m not going to meet someone else.” I studied his face, making sure our eyes were locked before speaking again, “There is no one else. Besides, I won’t have my heart to give to anyone; you’ll have it in whatever country you’re in.”

A small grin tugged at his lips. “That’s right.”

There were so many routes I could take with this conversation that it was making my head ache. Did he not trust me? Did he have that little faith in our relationship? Was he worried that I didn’t love him enough? Did I have that little faith in our relationship? Was he the one that might become lonely and go looking for love elsewhere? It felt like all the questions were swimming around in my brain shouting at me to ask them, but I couldn’t form a single one of them on my lips.

Alex must have sensed something because he tilted his head and watched me with a curious expression. “What are you thinking?”

I rubbed my face with both hands then tucked my hair behind my ears. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” he replied without missing a beat. “Do you trust me?”

“Completely,” was my reply.

“Look,” he looked off for a moment then his gaze settled back on my face, “I guess I’m just not used to being with a woman who hasn’t based her entire life around me. You’re the first girl who’s put her foot down like this when it comes to my touring and it’s a little hard for me.” He reached out and caught my hand in his. “But it’s not a negative thing, baby. We’re going to be okay and if I allow myself to think rationally and not let my emotions take over, then I know that we’ll see each other and make time for each other. I know that we’ll make it through this.”

I felt the weight just fall from my shoulders. “Good and I’m so glad you said that, because you were really starting to freak me out.”

He pouted then kissed the back of my hand. “I’m sorry and when I get like that again, just remind me that you’re not my exes and that we have a healthy and mature relationship.”

“Are you like those spoiled kids who always get what they want and then the minute someone tells them no they have a temper tantrum?”

He blinked at that. “Was I having a temper tantrum?”

“You kinda, sorta where.”

He dropped his head at that. “I’m sorry.”

I squeezed his shoulder then ran my fingers through his hair. “And we still have a little while to figure it all out.” The conversation with my mother from their first night here was replaying in my head and I suddenly felt guilty for my decision having been made before the tour was even planned out. She had told me to relent some and not be so stubborn and to really listen to what he had to say and here I was already determined not to go and to focus on my career. Could we withstand the separation if I had that kind of a mindset? Was I being fair to him?

Alex lifted his head and stroked his fingers over my cheek. “All I know is that I’m gonna miss you like crazy.”

I felt the knife of his words twist into my heart. 80% giving, 20% receiving. 80% giving, 20% receiving. I had to repeat the words over and over in my head for a moment. “Once you guys have it planned out more where you’re going and all that, then maybe we can figure out a schedule; like the best days and times for us to see each other.”

He smoothed his finger along my jawline. “I’d like that.”

I offered up a small grin. “We’ll probably be flying back and forth so much we’ll have enough frequent flier miles to get a free honeymoon.”

That made him laugh and he pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “I sure hope so.”

“Me too.” I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Can you do me a favor?”

Alex reached out and pulled me from the chair and into his lap, settling us against the back and wrapping his arms around my waist. “Anything for you, love.”

I smiled and nuzzled into his embrace. “Every so often, will you just say to me ‘80% giving, 20% receiving’?”

I could tell he was perplexed because he peeked around and down into my face. “80% giving, 20% receiving?”

“Yes.”

“Any particular reason?”

I smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Sometimes I just need a reminder that in life it’s important to bend a little.”

He shrugged some at that then gathered me in his arms and stood from the chair. “I can do that, but right now how ‘bout we go upstairs and I give you a few reminders of my own.”

I giggled at that and allowed him to carry me inside. “Only if you promise to keep quiet.”

“For you I can; for you, I’d promise anything.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his jaw. The tour that lay ahead of us next year was scary and trying to figure out when we’d see each other and how often we’d see each other was scary, but as long as I could remember to not be so stubborn and to give in a little every now and then, then I think we just might be okay. At least I hoped so.