Page 78 of The Other Plan

When my hand slid into his, those little electric sparks crackled between us, and a shiver traveled down my spine. We walked onto the dancefloor hand-in-hand, and he pulled me up against him. When my body pressed against his, I sighed.

Home. He felt like home. Safe. Protective. Warm. I leaned into those same arms that had held me a decade ago that I’d never stopped craving. The only arms I ever wanted to curl up inside again. I knew right then I’d do anything, go anywhere, as long as it meant I could spend my life in his arms.

“I’m surprised you said yes,” he whispered against my cheek as he moved me in a circle.

“Well, I did some thinking.”

“You? Thinking? Never,” he teased.

“Shut up.”

“Sorry. So, you were saying? You did some thinking, huh? A little planning, perhaps?”

We moved our bodies in time with the song.

“Yes. A little planning.”

“And? What is this other plan you came up with?”

He dipped me, and I gasped when he yanked me back up into his arms. His mirth-filled eyes met mine, and I knew I’d made the right decision.

“Well, first off, I decided that I want to give this a try. I know we’ve got some obstacles in our way, but if we don’t give this a shot, I’m guaranteed to spend the rest of my days in agony missing you. So, instead of overthinking and overplanning, I’m just going to do what you used to tell me to do. Go big or go home. So, I’m going big. I’m done fighting it. I want to be with you.”

He wrapped me tighter in his arms and pressed his chin on top of my head. “Those are, without a doubt, the greatest words I’ve ever heard uttered in my life.”

“Yeah?” I smiled as I pressed my cheek into his chest.

“Yeah. I’m crazy about you, Jenna. You know that, right?”

“I do,” I uttered. “I know. And that’s why I’ve decided we can make this work. I’m going to come to New York every winter and spend it with you. I know I hated it when I was there before, but I only went the one time. I shouldn’t write off that I could be happy there without giving it a real try. I hated it before, but maybe I won’t hate it with you. I don’t think I could hate anywhere with you at my side. I hope you can take a month or so off every summer and spend it with me here. Then the rest of the time, we’ll just rack up a lot of air miles. I hate flying, but I’ll get over it. You’re worth it. We can make long-distance work.”

He spun me around, slowing his steps as he sighed. “Actually, we can’t.”

My feet stuttered to a stop as I pulled back and looked up at him. “What? What do you mean? You don’t think we can make long-distance work?”

That heartbreak I’d been feeling amplified to unbearable levels as I tried to process his words, but finally, his stern face softened into a cocky smile.

“We can’t make long-distance work because we won’t be doing it. I just agreed to sell my company, and I’m moving to Door County.”

“What?” I choked out, the shock stealing away any other words.

He started dancing with me again, and my feet just followed along though I had no idea how they were moving.

“Last night, I sat down by the water and really let myself think. You know how I feel when I’m by the water.”

“Yeah,” I said. “You always say the water gives you clear thoughts. It’s why you love it so much.”

“Exactly,” he answered. “And while I was down there, I came to one horrifyingly clear conclusion.”

“What is that?”

“That I hate my job, I hate New York City, and I’ve been living someone else’s dream while I let my own slip away. My dream isn’t to be some big shot in New York. My dream is to be on the water. It’s small towns, good people, and doing something I love every single day. At no point in my life was making lots of money and getting high up in the business world a dream. In fact, like you pointed out when I first saw you again, at one point, it would have been a nightmare.”

I chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. I’m still struggling to picture you in a suit and going into a big city office every day.”

“Exactly. You can’t picture it because that’s not me. Never has been and never will be. And seeing you living your dream, making it happen, made me realize that my dream doesn’t have to be just a dream. I can find a way to make a career doing what I love, just like you did. So, I called up Harold Elswood, told him I wanted out, and after I explained everything that happened, he agreed. He’ll buy me out of my company. It’s basically turnkey at this point, and he’s going to hire someone to run it, and he’ll still make bank. I will use the money I make in the deal to buy myself a little piece of waterfront property and start up a paddleboarding and kayak rental place in Door County. I can take people out on tours, hire college kids when it’s time to expand, and eventually, I plan to have rental sites all over the county.”

“Carter, that’s incredible!”