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"Where is your inhaler?"
"In my purse."
I heard him race up the stairs to get my purse from my things. He gave me my inhaler, and I did two puffs on it. I tried to let it sink into my throat and lungs, and I felt them get a little looser. I could breathe again, though it was still a little labored.
"Jesus Christ." He ran a hand through his hair. "Don't ever do that again."
"You aren't the boss of me." I stood up, then I quickly sat back down. My body did not like the change of position. I was dizzy and nauseous, and pregnant women threw up enough, thank you kindly. "Why didn't you tell me that my dad had paid you a billion dollars to marry me? Jeez, Jimmy, how are you supposed to be my husband if you constantly lie to me and cheat on me?"
"I didn't cheat on you."
"We've been married for a day, and you're already kissing some other girl."
"That was a show that Mary Jo was putting on for you. She kissed me. I didn't kiss her."
"I didn't see you pushing her away."
He sighed. "We were high school sweethearts. We broke up a long time ago, when we went to college. I stayed here so that I could live at home. She went to study in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was engaged."
I blinked. "And then?"
"It didn't work out, for some reason. She came home, and I tried to be nice, you know. She would come over and bake me cookies, and it was nice to have a little company. There aren't too many people out here."
"You could very easily move into Madison, Milwaukee, or Chicago. I'm sure that your mother would be happy to see you."
"My mother was raised in Chicago. I was born here. I belong here. I run my business empire out of Madison."
"Empire? Just how much money do you have."
"Enough that the billion that your father gave me isn't even a tenth of my net worth."
My eyes popped as wide as they could get. "You have an eleven-digit net worth?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "On good market days, yeah. I mean, once you get enough money, your accountants cannot really evaluate your precise net worth.”
I leaned back in my seat. "That's a lot of money. I'm pretty sure that's more money than my dad has. I know Dad has billions, but I don’t think it’s ten or over.”
"If you're truly rich, you never know how much money you have. You know that."
I smiled. "Daddy gets irritated because he can lose more in a day than most people make in their entire lives."
Jimmy shrugged. "It's part of the game. Will you forgive me?"
I sighed. "I want to go home. Wisconsin is too cold for me. Honestly. It's not good for the baby if I asphyxiate in the air out here. Maybe I should come back in the summer.” Maybe I should come back when Mary Jo moved away or died. I was ashamed of my uncharitable thought, but there it was.
"That's true." He rubbed his chin. "Do you want to go live with my mom? It seems like you hit it off.”
"No, Chicago isn't that warm. Isn't there lake effect snow and stuff?"
"Yeah, there is." He rubbed his eyebrow. "Should I send you to Hawaii?"
I looked at the thermometer. It was 25 degrees in April, and flakes of snow were drifting downwards and sticking to the window before melting.
"Yes."
Hawaii
Amelia
