Part 55

"Plain tea or sweet tea?"

Jumping, she dropped the mixing spoon on the floor clutching her heart. "Kevin!"

"Oh, Bec, I’m sorry, I thought you knew I was there! Are you ok?" He grasped her arms to steady her, his deep green eyes searching her own.

"I think so," she gasped, and then giggled at the look in his eyes. "Really, I'm all right, Kevin. I promise not to have the baby right here, okay?"

"Oh, good," he said laughing. "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies," he drawled in a horrible accent straight out of 'Gone With the Wind'.

Their laughter died down and both spoke at once.

"Kev-" "Bec-"

"You first," they both said in unison then just stopped and stared, each daring the other to speak.

Kevin shook his head laughing. "You're perfect for Nick, you're just alike."

Becca glared at him. "I think I was just insulted. Was I?" Finally she couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed along with him.

"I'm sorry, Becca."

"For insulting me?"

"For the way I treated you at Sarah's wedding."

"You were an ass."

"So I've been told, by several people." He smiled at her before continuing. "I don't have any excuses, Bec, at least not any good ones."

"Kevin, you don't-"

"Yes I do. You didn't do anything to deserve the things I said to you. When you came home – well, when I saw you I thought the worst. I'm ashamed of the things that went through my head."

"I love him, Kevin," she said softly with conviction.

He nodded. "I know you do. And I didn't know why you left until Sarah told me on the plane last week."

"You didn't?!"

"No. Nick or Howie didn't share any of that with the rest of us, Bec, it was too personal."

"So when I showed up looking like this –" She broke off mid-sentence, her eyes filling with tears.

"Can you ever forgive me?" he asked quietly. "I wouldn't blame you if you-"

Suddenly she was in his arms, both giving and taking comfort. They stood together, silently holding each other and neither heard the footsteps in the hallway. Nick stopped short, the words he was about to say caught in his throat at the sight before him. He watched them embrace and knew everything was going to be fine, just fine. Quietly he turned and walked away, leaving them alone.

Nick made his way back to the pool where he found AJ and Ali in the pool and Sarah leaning against Howie in one of the lounge chairs. Nick decided to join Howie and Sarah and he pulled a chair up with them.

"Hey, Nicky. What happened to Bec?" asked Sarah.

"She went to make some tea and she’s talking to Kevin."

"He apologizing?" asked Howie.

"Yeah. Thought I’d give them some space."

The three talked while they waited for Becca to bring the tea out. It wasn’t long before Kevin and Becca appeared at the door and Nick rushed to help.

When Kevin appeared at the door, Sarah saw a peacefulness about him that she hadn’t seen in almost a year. It was as if he was finally comfortable with where his life was and where he was with his relationships. It made Sarah feel good but she wanted Kevin to find love…the kind of love she’d found with Howie.

Howie heard her sigh happily and he whispered in her ear, "Everything’s back to normal…because of you."

"No…not because of me. I just gave it a kick. One more thing needs to be fixed."

Howie laughed softly, "Not happy until everyone has a partner?"

"No….I just like seeing everyone as happy as you and I are, D. Kevin looks better now that he’s let things go but he’s still not completely happy."

Howie kissed her neck and breathed, "Make it right then, Angel. You know what he wants."

Sarah laughed softly, "That could be taken SO many ways."

"Take it any way you want you want, Angel. It’s up to you."

Sarah looked around at Howie. "Howie, I told you…I’m happy with the way things are with us. I don’t need ANYONE else. Besides, Kevin can’t handle it right now. He’s FINALLY getting past all this and it would only confuse him."

"Dayum, Angel…you really have grown up!" teased Howie.

"You know something….you can be so mean sometimes. I’m gonna go talk to Kevin."

As Sarah started to get up, Howie pulled her back to him. With his hands on her stomach, he kissed her and whispered, "Angel, put my shirt on."

"Why?"

"Because…talking to Kevin looking the way you do right now is only gonna get him hard."

Sarah took Howie’s shirt that he handed to her and slipped it on. Then she headed to where Kevin was sitting as Howie dove into the pool. She sat down beside him at the picnic table and leaned against him.

"Hey, ‘Boo’! You look like you feel better."

"Yeah….I talked to Becca and apologized."

"Good. Since you’re on a roll with fixing relationships…have you given any thought to making your relationship with Vanessa work?"

Putting his arm around Sarah, Kevin said, "Yeah, I have, baby. Why are you always looking out for me?"

"Cuz you looked out for me when I was being so stupid. I just want you to be happy, Boo! So, have you?"

Kevin took Sarah’s hand in his and started playing with her rings. He didn’t say anything as he twisted the ring on her thumb around. It was the one he had given her with ‘4-ever’ engraved on it. He asked, "You still wear this?"

"Yes."

"Does Howie know about it?"

"Yes. Would you stop dodging the question? Have you given any thought to fixing your relationship with Vanessa?"

"I don’t know how to fix that, Sarah. I hurt her so bad. She was right…I was obsessed with you so how do I convince her that I’m past it?"

"Tell her…show her. If I weren’t married to Howie and you had a chance to be with me…no, forget that scenario. Kevin, Vanessa is a very forgiving person and if you would just apologize and ADMIT you were wrong, which I’m gathering by the repaired relationships you’ve gotten pretty good at, she’ll listen. And if it means staying away from me for a while, I’ll understand. It’s not like I can’t find something to occupy my time with."

Kevin laughed. "Yeah, I’m sure D can keep you occupied. Okay…any suggestions to get me started?"

"Yeah, call her. She’s gone back to Fernandina. Why don’t you call her now and ask her when she’s coming back to Orlando and if you can see her when she does?"

"Think Becca would mind if I used the phone?"

"Use my cell….it’s in my pocketbook in the living room."

Kevin gave Sarah a kiss. "Thank you, baby."

"Not a problem, Boo. Just don’t screw up again. I’m getting REALLY tired of having to straighten you out."

Laughing, Kevin got up and said, "And you straighten me out in so many ways."

Sarah grinned, "I swear…between you, AJ, and my husband, I’m not sure which one of you is worse."

"That’s easy…your husband."

Part 56        The Dance Index