He sat at their usual table in the Book Café, a grin on his face as he thought about his beloved’s reaction to a minor makeover. What were her exact words? He had been hunkified? He laughed then, his blue eyes meeting hers before they leaned in for a kiss. Amazing how just a different hairstyle, some new clothing and contacts changed everyone’s perception of the former geek...

Not that he minded. He would have done anything to be with Kay and if this is how she wanted him; this is how he would be. Besides, he rather liked his new look.

She walked into the shop, the bells on the door jingling against the frame, and headed right for their table. For the first time in years, she looked businesslike, a black suit with matching shoes and her hair curled and loose. But the most striking difference was the fact that she didn’t stop at the counter for a drink; Kay never missed a chance for a cup of coffee and Reese knew that whatever she had called this meeting for was going to be important. As she reached the table, he stood, leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek. “Hello, sweetie.”

“We need to talk,” she replied coolly, sliding into the seat across from him. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, worrying Reese terribly. Still, he joined her at the table and took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

She jerked her hand away. “Reese, this isn’t working,” Kay sighed, placing her hands on her lap. “You know, for the longest time I tried to forget where we came from and move past that. I mean we’re both just finished college this year, we’re both going to be successful. I thought we could have made it work. But we really can’t, Reese, and the harder we try the more exhausted and frustrated I get. We’re not from the same world; we don’t really want the same things. Your Scientific America and I’m Cosmopolitan. We’re just not meant to be…”

“Well, yes, we are from rather different circumstances in life, but…”

“No buts…”

“At least allow me to defend myself, Kay. You owe me at least that much, don’t you think?”

She sighed and relented, knowing she did owe him that much. With a huff, she settled in for some long discussion on just how much he loved her, just how right they were for each other...

She was definitely surprised when that wasn’t what left his mouth…

“Yes, we are quite different in many aspects, Kay, but do you really think that we can’t make it work? That we are so different that it would be impossible for the two of us to have a lasting relationship?” He raised her chin to look at him. “What’s so different about us? We’re humans; we’re in love. We both were put on this earth to find someone and, Kay, I know that someone is you. Our love…that’s a bond that no one and nothing can break.”

She groaned. “Reese, we’re just too different…”

“How? Because loving parents raised you and your siblings in a home where you knew just how much your parents wanted you and I wasn’t? I spent my entire life living with a foster mother that was old enough to be my grandmother and she barely paid attention to me. In high school, well we both know about high school. But Kay, these difference don’t change what’s inside.”

“You don’t understand,” she jumped up, glaring at him. “You never did understand me!”

“I understand more than you think,” he stood, dropping some money on the table for a tip. “Just look into your heart, Kay, and you’ll see that we’re a lot more alike than you think.” He looked into her eyes.

“How?” she crossed her arms. “How are you and I so alike that we could make this work? Huh? What makes you and me the same other than the fact we’re both from the human race, which at one point I could have HIGHLY debated with you! Tell me, Reese. HOW are we alike?”

He took a second, a slow smile spreading on his face before he said…

“How?” Using a finger to brush some hair from her face he answered his own question, “We both laugh when something funny happens, or when I do something stupid. We both love each other very much, more than you want to admit. We both hope for things to go our way and we both try to make things happen. We both hurt,” he cupped her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. “I’m hurting now, aren’t you? We both need other people, other things, to survive. We both have fears, both cry when we’re in pain. We’re not as different as you think, Kay Bennett, whether you want to admit it or not.”

And before she could reply, he walked away, leaving her just standing there in the Book Café with his words still echoing in her mind.

She could almost hear him say, “That’s how,” as the door closed behind him.

And then she left too…

Kay walked home, her mind just full of thoughts. Sure, Reese was right, they were a lot alike when it came to emotions, feelings, common things that all humans shared. In fact, she knew what it was like to be overlooked quite often, especially since Charity had fallen into her world and taken over her life. But even the most logical statement and the most basic emotions in the world weren’t going to change her mind. She just couldn’t love him like that. Her heart felt that this was wrong, that they weren’t enough alike to make this work. So she just tried to close her heart and forget about it. After all, she did have a plane to catch this afternoon and she didn’t have time to debate between her heart and her head.

She just had to move on and she fully intended too..

When she arrived home, Kay collapsed onto the couch and sighed. She had always dreamed of being in love with someone more like Miguel and for the longest time she could have sworn that she would be his wife. Then along came Charity and ruined that…

Which was fine, considering Miguel and Charity now had two little brats that ruined everything they touched and a marriage that was nearly in shambles because of her cousin’s stupidity and lack of sanity…

And it had only been three years since they were wed!

But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. When she started college, Kay had bigger dreams, one of a mysterious man that would sweep her off her feet and treat her like the goddess she felt she was. She wanted a man like the one in a romance novel: tall, dark, handsome, built and exotic, complete with the accent that made your body quiver when they said hello. Reese was just Reese. He was tall, but fair and relatively handsome. His build was…ok well that part was fine, but he wasn’t exotic. In fact, he couldn’t be more American if he tried. He was just…

Reese…

The geek from high school turned hunk…

And he had one fine body…their first time had been nothing short of magical…

The way he touched her…

Caressed her…

Kissed her…

Was it getting hot in here?

She groaned. “Get over it, Kay, you’re leaving for Europe and whether or not you find that exotic man, you’ll never want Reese…not that way. It wouldn’t work.”

And so she left too…

For three years she traveled Europe, seeing the sighs of Spain, Italy and France…even Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. She went wherever she felt like, did whatever she wanted and never once worried about the consequences…

But nothing, and no one, had ever made her even the slightest bit happy as Reese had.

Jessica would write her letters, telling her just how lonely Reese was without her and just why she should return.

But she didn’t…

She met man after man; saw sight after sight while living in some of the most beautiful countries in the world. Kay had tried everything to find the man she had dreamed of since childhood, but he never showed up.

Reminded her of something her grandmother always said…

The grass is always greener over the septic tank.

She had laughed in her teen years, hearing her Granny, the woman she adored, say such foolish things. But she was right. Kay was never happy and she could never forget Reese’s words…

When she closed her eyes at night, woke in the morning or found three seconds in her day where she could just daydream, she heard his warm, soft voice caress her with the only true words she had ever heard in her life…

“We both laugh when something funny is said, or when I do something stupid. We both love each other very much, more than you want to admit. We both hope for things to go our way and we both try to make things happen. We both hurt. I’m hurting now, aren’t you? We both need other people, other things, to survive. We both have fears, both cry when we’re in pain. We’re not as different as you think, Kay Bennett, whether you want to admit it or not.”

And she knew one thing was certain, in three years she never loved a man like she did Reese Durkee.

And before she knew what she was doing, Kay packed her bags and headed for the airport, deciding that the truth, or perhaps the time alone, had taught her how to truly love the man she was meant to be with.

Somehow, she managed to get herself back on a plane to Harmony, back home, that very night. She hadn’t told anyone she was coming back, hadn’t said a word about her thoughts to anyone, just came home…

Back to the place that meant the most to her…

Back to the man that meant everything to her…

The second she was off the plane, Kay hailed a taxi to Reese’s house, finding the lights still on in his small place. In all her years she had never seen a better sight that Reese’s brightly lit house…

Except for the man inside…

Climbing out of the taxi, she ran to the door, ringing the bell and waiting for someone to answer. She heard feet walking to the doorway, the lock turned…

And then the door was opened and she was bathed in the light from inside.

Her tears fell freely from her eyes, falling at his feet on the cold brick stairs. She looked into his eyes and grabbed his hands, holding them tight. She didn’t say I love you or I was wrong…

She didn’t say I need you or take me back….

What did she say?

“I laugh when something’s funny and I love with all my heart…I hope in times of trouble and I try to fix things when they don’t work…I’ve hurt for the last three years without you and I need you now more than ever. I’m so afraid that you won’t take me back that I think I’ll cry…and you know what Reese. I know you laugh and love, hope and try, hurt and need and fear and cry…so you were right all those years ago. We’re not that different and we can make this work…if you’ll take me back.”

“I’ve waited three years to hear you say that, Kay Bennett. Of course I’ll take you back. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she kissed him. “So very much.”