CelebrationAfterDarkKobo Read Free Page B

with how it worked out for them.”
    “Not to mention, they all came home.”
    “Thank goodness for that.” Big Mac reached for the small wrapped package he’d stashed under his pillow before bed and plopped it down in front of her.
    “What’s that?”
    “The first of your anniversary gifts.”
    “Mac! We said we weren’t doing gifts!”
    “We say that every year, and every year we do gifts. And besides, this year is extra special.”
    “Every year is extra special.”
    “Open your present.”
    Looking over her shoulder, he noted the slight tremble in her hands as she pulled the ribbon and paper off the blue velvet box.
    “Mac,” she said with a gasp, recognizing the distinctive Tiffany blue. “What’ve you done?”
    “Open it.” He’d been anticipating this moment for months as he went back and forth with the folks at Tiffany to get it just right. And judging by her gasp of shock, he’d gotten it just right.
    “Mac… Oh my God , are you kidding me ?” Holding the velvet box, she sat up in bed, her hand over her mouth as tears filled her gorgeous eyes.  
    He sat up, too, took the box from her, retrieved the ring and slid it onto her finger.  
    Her hand trembled as she held it out in front of her for a better look. “It’s too much! My God!”
    “It’s four carats, one for every decade we’ve spent together, and it’s the least of what you deserve for putting up with me that long.”
    “Putting up with you? Is that what you think I’ve done?”
    “Sometimes,” he said with a smile.
    “Mac…all these years later, you still think you lured me away from some grandiose life for something lesser here, and that’s not the case at all. I’ve been exactly where I wanted to be every day that I lived here with you.”
    “You could’ve had anyone.”
    “ You could’ve had anyone.”
    “I chose you. My heart chose you. I’ll never forget the first time I laid eyes on you and knew it was you. I just knew .”
    She took his hand and brought it to rest over her heart. “My heart chose you, too. It still does. Every day.”
    Smiling, he used their joined hands to tug her closer to him. “We’ve got a lot of celebrating to do today. What do you say we get this party started?”
    “What do you have in mind?”
    “What do I always have in mind when you’re in bed with me?”
    She laughed and reached for him. “At least you’re predictable.”
    Overwhelmed by love for her, he pressed his lips against her neck. “Thanks for spending forty years with me, Lin. You’ve made my whole life just by being here.”
    “Same goes, my love.”

  Chapter 3
    Mac McCarthy Junior woke on that cold winter day to the distinctive sound of retching coming from the master bathroom. He was up and out of bed before his brain had time to catch up with his body. Maddie was sick again, and he couldn’t bear to listen to her suffer.
    Though she’d told him before she didn’t want him anywhere near her when she was puking, he defied her orders and went in to hold her hair back while she dry heaved, flushing the toilet for her when she was done.
    “Mac,” she said between waves of nausea, “go away.”
    “Not happening. It’s my fault you’re sick, so you have to let me help you.”
    “It’s not your fault, and I don’t want you seeing me like this.”
    “Aren’t we past that by now? Don’t ask me to pretend I can’t hear you throwing up.”
    She moaned and rested her face on the arm she had propped on the toilet.
    Mac released her hair and went to wet a washcloth with cool water. Her eyes remained closed while he got her to lift her head so he could wipe her face and mouth. Then he encouraged her to lean on him rather than the toilet.
    “It’s so gross. Who wants to see his wife like this?”
    “I do. I want to see my wife every minute of every day, and I don’t care what she looks like.”
    “Or what she smells like?”
    He nuzzled her neck. “She always smells delicious.”
    That drew a grunt