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“Thanks,” she says. “I believe that now. She helped me to see that. But you did too. You helped me see that I’m not just impulsive. Even though, yeah, we are pretty impulsive,” she says, shooting me a playful grin. “You’ll probably never let me live down the we’re marrying the hell out of each other comment.”
“I might,” I say. If you stay with me.
“But your faith in me—like with the loan, and the shop, and what we could do, and my potential as a businesswoman—helped me see other parts of myself. Like how maybe I’m not as chaotic as I was raised. Perhaps I’m actually—gasp—responsible. Empathetic too.”
“I don’t know anyone who’s more like that.”
“I’m not sure I would have seen those sides of me without you,” she says, her blue eyes filled with emotion, and maybe possibility too.
And…hell.
I’m so fucking in love with my wife, it’s ridiculous. I’m going to need to do everything to keep her—starting with not scaring her off with a love confession too early. She’s spent a long, long time worried she’s impulsive. But she’s not. She’s thoughtful. I can’t risk losing her by moving too soon, by playing into those things she’s trying to leave behind.
We’ve got a few more weeks of working together. Then I’ll tell her. That gives me a few more weeks to win her big, beautiful heart.
It. Is. On.
The next morning, I take her to the de Young Museum for our secret date. She shows me her favorite Lichtenstein titled View from the Window. I’m not sure I have the tools to say anything intelligent about art, so I just ask, “Why do you like it?”
“Because it’s colorful, and it reminds me to see things in new ways,” she says, then turns to me with curious eyes. “Are you going to take me to the tea gardens soon too?”
That was on the list of our fictional dates. “Yes.”
In the new year, I add silently.
And I’ll be counting down.
Until then, I’ve got my work cut out for me. Elodie’s a package deal, and I want my wife to know I’m all in when it comes to her and the fantastic young woman she’s raising.
Today’s a big day for Amanda, and I’m ready, if all goes well.
37
SNOW DAY
Elodie
After our secret date, I pay off the loan. It feels great to see the balance dwindle to zero.
What a beautiful number.
But Friday afternoon, something even better happens when I hear a shout from the back room where we make the chocolate shortly after Amanda arrives.
“I got in!”
I swivel around, excitement whipping through me. “Bug!”
With her bandana on, Amanda rushes from the back room, squealing as I wrap her in a big congratulatory hug.
Kenji’s here, and he gets in on the act, embracing her too.
“I knew it! You’re going to be the world’s greatest potter,” he declares.
When she breaks the hug, she says, “Ceramicist.”
He wipes a hand across his brow. “Oh thank god you said that. I hate the word potter.”
“Me too,” she says, then I hug her again.
