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"I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. Jesus, I don't want to fight. I want to know these things so I can protect you and Milo. I want to be important to you." That was the crux of it, I realized. Her green eyes softened. I seized the chance and moved closer to her.
"You are important," she whispered. "I'm just not used to sharing my life with anyone outside my family."
I kissed the tip of her nose, and moved to kiss one eyelid, then the other, feeling tension seep out of her.
"Want to talk about him? I think if I knew more, I'd understand better."
She nodded, leading us both to her couch.
"I met him when we were in med school. I got pregnant accidentally. He wasn't thrilled, but for a while, it seemed things would work out. But when it came down to making plans for the future, he said he couldn't do this, that he wanted to focus on his medical career and broke up with me. And he did his med school in LA, only moved for residency. When Milo was about a year old, Jeff called me. I foolishly thought he wanted to make amends, but he wanted to get laid and thought I'd fall for it."
"If I ever meet the guy, I'll give him a black eye."
"I'm not going to hold you back. Can I ask you something?"
“Sure.”
“Are you in contact with your ex-wife?”
“No. Last time we spoke was at our divorce hearing. She moved to London after that, and neither of us wanted to stay in touch.”
“Okay.”
"So you wanted to be a doctor. Found out something else about you today."
"I did. But it wasn't doable with a baby. All those long hours at school, then the residency... so I switched gears."
"How did you come up with event planning?"
"Well, I’d always liked it. After our parents passed away, each of us was trying to do their bit in... you know... keeping the household together. Landon and Val were taking care of us while also running the pub we’d inherited and taking classes at a local college. Jace and Hailey were young. Will was watching us when Val and Landon weren't home. They didn't have time to deal with celebrations, so I started to as a teenager. Christmas, New Year, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Fourth of July. Name any celebration, I was your girl."
"I see."
"Fun fact: if you ever plan a surprise party, don't tell Hailey. She can't keep a secret to save her life."
"Duly noted."
"So event planning sounded appealing. It was flexible, required no start-up capital. Now, I can't even imagine doing anything else."
"You're an extraordinary woman."
She shrugged. "I'm just like everyone else. I have my good days and my bad days."
"See? I need to know these things, so I can help you relax."
She laughed, snuggling closer to me. I buried my nose in her hair, breathing in her scent. It felt like home.
"You were doing fine with the grilled cheese sandwiches and the pancakes. Feel free to treat me to them anytime. How about tomorrow morning?"
"Is this your way of asking me to spend the night?"
She pulled back, poking my chest. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"
"Absolutely. You have no idea the kick I'll get out of it."
"What if I refuse?"
"You know how convincing I can be."
