“I only made notes because as I was reading, I imagined the story going a different way.”
“So, you rewrote it in the book?”
“Yeah, I guess. Plus, some of these books should really have another proofreader.”
I shake my head, noticing more notes in another book. So, I grab another and another. “Do you like changing the story in your head?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Do you like editing books more than reading them?”
“Not exactly, but yeah, editing as I read is . . . oddly comforting to me.”
“What are you going to school for again?”
“Just good ole business.”
“Oh, right, so you could work for your dad.”
“Right.”
As Mark takes a seat and starts to unpack some books, I study him.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and I want to raise this little girl with Mark by my side. If I stick with graphic design, I can do that anywhere, and in the end, we will be a family. I can travel back to see my family and June. Everything will work out great. I’m happy about this, and I know Mark will be too.
Still, Manhattan is a big choice.
“Would you ever consider staying here instead of moving back?” I ask.
The look he gives me is curious. He wasn’t expecting me to ask him that.
He breaks our eye contact before I can respond to how that look made me feel. Wanted. Desired. Beautiful.
“You know, I feel like I don’t know the answer to that fully. Both places are great—”
“Oh my god,” I laugh and grip my stomach. “This girl is a moving machine today. Do you want to feel her.”
“Yes.” Mark beams, and I take his hand to touch my belly. The baby kicks against him. “That’s amazing.”
“I know. Oh, I hope she does it again tomorrow when we are having dinner with my parents. They wouldn’t want to miss this.”
I set the books in my lap to the floor and then rise to sit next to him. I cup the side of his face and kiss him.
“Speaking of dinner,” Mark says, breaking the kiss. “Are you hungry? I’m thinking Chinese,” he says and moves for the door, not looking back.
Oh, his mood changed fast, and that’s when I realize what I said. I didn’t say it to start a fight, and I should probably ask him more on why he won’t stay here, but he seems pretty set on moving to a new subject. I’ll ask him later when the feelings aren’t so fresh.
“Chinese sounds great.”
“Cool. Chicken lo mien and egg rolls?”
“You know it.”
He turns to leave. “Hey, Mark,” I call out and push off a couple boxes to stand. “I think you’d make a great editor. You should talk to my brother.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that would work out. That is a whole other degree I haven’t been going to school for. More college while raising a baby. I need to be smart.”
“True, but you’re forgetting one thing.”
