The Way Back: Chapter 7

After dropping the kids and Addie at the airport, she made her way back to Llanfair. He was waiting for her outside on the front steps. He had a small duffle bag beside him, something, it appeared, that he borrowed from Clint's closet. It was then, seeing him there, she realized that he really had nothing. Everything he owned, worked for and cherished had been taken away. Her crazy, romantic, impulsive and sometimes hurtful millionaire had been reduced to a broken, penniless man, just by the actions of a few others. Tomas was at the top of that list. You know, Blair Cramer, after all you've been through and learned over the years, what else should you have expected from a Delgado?

She parked the car and sat, looking at him for a moment. He hadn't noticed her yet, because his eyes were closed. His face was turned up to the sun, and his eyes were closed. He was basking with his hair hanging back a bit from his face, his hands resting on his knees, and his beautiful, broad shoulders lowered. He's relaxed. She couldn't help but watch him a bit longer before interrupting his solace. And then, it happened.

He leaned over in one motion and collapsed into sobs. His face was buried in his hands, his shoulders were heaving with sadness. Stunned at first, she focused her eyes to be certain she was not imagining things, then disembarked the car, running on her high heels, to his side. Sitting beside him in the suddenly oppressive sun, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled his upper body onto her lap, leaning over him and shushing; petting his hair and cooing; doing everything she could think of to let him know he was safe. His arms then became wrapped around her waist, and he let her run her fingers through his hair, as he tried to regulate his own breathing and come back to her and to his life as it stood. After what seemed a very long time, she bent over and kissed his ear. He sniffed and said, "Hey, no more kissing. Just sayin'." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes. Then, she kissed his eye. "I don't like rules." He moved his head into her lap and wrapped his arms around her hips and knees. Resting his scar on her thigh, he held on for dear life. She didn't dare let go, not now. And, she continued to smooth his hair, damp with perspiration, along his forehead. "Don't say that. You know we're going to need a lot of them." He sounded as if he had a cold. Still stroking his hair, she moved her hand over his eyebrows and traced them, then to his exposed cheek, down to his lips. He took her hand and held it over his mouth, and kissed her fingers, holding them to him like precious gems. "Why don't we make a new rule?" She asked. "All right, but does it have to do with no hugging? I don't think I'll like that rule." He sniffled again, wiping under his eyes. "No, it has to do with rules. Why don't we say that for the next two days there aren't any?" She felt his body relax more and saw him close his eyes as he hugged himself closer to her knees. "I like that rule." Within a moment, he sat up abruptly. She pulled a tissue from her purse and handed it to him. "Kids," she said. He took it and got himself together. "Do you want to go into the house and wash your face or anything?" "No, I want to get into the car and drive off with a sexy blonde." "All right then," she stood up. "Let's go." "All right then," he stood up. "Let's go." On the drive, she purposely played his favorite jazz, at least from what she could remember, and the idle chatter lead to his request for her to sing along, them holding hands across the seats. So, she sang as many of the songs as she could, using "da" and "la" where ever she could not remember the lyrics until he dozed off. Of course, she'd noticed, except for a very few minor incidences, whenever he had been in the room with her since the premier, something of him had to be touching her. And as he slept, he was holding her hand across the center console. She didn't even think of letting go, even though it was a challenge to drive with one hand. Finally, his sleep deepened, and his hand slipped away from hers. She put both on the wheel, determined to get them to the cabin safely before the sunset. She knew he would love to watch the sunset from the cabin, and wanted to somehow bring him everything that was beautiful. She would make a fire for him, as well, and had already packed the car with groceries to make his favorite, chicken, roasted, not skinned, crispy, with mashed potatoes. Then she would...Blair, slow it down. Just let it come along as it does. Whatever it is, make it beautiful for him. He's had enough ugliness for a while. Which meant, nothing ugly at the cabin. She promised herself to not bring up anything he was not ready to discuss, especially the talk she had with Tomas. She was not sure how much he knew about her relationship with Tea's brother and didn't want to cause him any more pain. Of course, that's totally over with anyway. She glanced a peek at her heart's husband next to her. He was sleeping peacefully and seeing that was a rarity with him. Pangs of loss washed over her. She wasn't sure what would happen to them, or their love. But she knew for certain Tomas Delgado was not in the way and never could be. As difficult as it was loving Todd Manning, she was positive that it was her life's calling, regardless of how it turned out on paper, her heart belonged to him.

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