Missing You

“Shit.” His voice lowered and Jon slid down the tree he’d been resting by. He was in the center of Sydney proper, the sun was blazing and he’d just run five miles to put his head on straight.

“Babe?” The worry in her voice kicked him into gear.

“I’m here.” He cleared his throat, hoping his voice sounded better than it sounded to him. Five minutes on the phone with her and he was aching for her. Christ, what a sap. All week he’d been a bear.  He knew it was because he needed a break. He’d been home for Thanksgiving—it wasn’t like he’d even been away for her for that long. But when he had been home he’d still been on.

He was so tired of being on.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. Talk about mood killer.”

He couldn’t stand the misery in her tone. Purposefully he lightened his voice. “Just a few more days and I’m home. We’ll do the family thing and then pack up the kids and go somewhere warm. Just us and the kids. No ex-wives and no parents. Just my brats, my wife, and me.”

“You have no idea how good that sounds.”

“Oh I do, babe. Believe me when I say I do.”

“Oh my God! Bon Jovi! It’s him!”

He tried not to look. If he looked they knew it was him and then they came running. But the chirpy little screams and the native accents only grew louder and closer. “Well crap.”

“Do I hear fans?”

“Multiple.”

“Time to run again, husband?”

“They'd just chase me,” he sighed.

She laughed. “Remember when I chased you?”

A quick flash of that rainy beach and his Tessa running toward him filled his mind. How the fucking hell would he ever forget it? "You knew you were losing a good thing if you didn't, Mrs. Bongiovi."

 

"I know. I don't think I'd ever run so hard in my life."

 

He tipped his head back, letting the sun warm his face and that memory fill him up. That had been the first time that he'd truly known she was in it for the long haul. After the months of feeling her fade away from him, and trying to fight the fear that he'd lose her, that moment had been as sweet as it had been defining for what they'd become.

 

And that's why he'd make the absences work. And that was why he could make it through the next few days until he'd get that hard hug of welcome. And that agile and willowy body would curl around him just like she'd done that day on the beach. He swallowed the lump that had formed, standing up as the circle of fans started to descend on him. "I better get the same run at the airport when I come home next week."

 

"Even if I make a spectacle of myself?"

 

"I don't fucking care. I want you in my arms the minute I get off that plane, wife."

 

"Well, shit." She sniffed.

 

"There's no tears in trans continental calls, love."

 

"I know, I know. Stop saying such mushy things and I'd be okay."

 

Only his Tessa would think a growling order was him being mushy. "Okay, before our conversation ends up on Extra or the Sydney equivalent, I'm shutting off. I love you, babe."

 

"See ya soon."

 

And she was gone. Jon sighed and jammed his phone into his shorts with a weak smile. There were too many eyes on him to ignore them or walk away without looking like a complete ass. "Hi, girls."