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“Don’t get so hung up in what the future might be that you don’t make yourself happy in the interim. That’s why it took Tim and I so long to get divorced.”
Tim squeezed Valerie’s knee again. “If you’re concerned, ask Shel what she sees happening in a few years. Maybe she’ll surprise you.”
“Why are you so patient with me?”
He shrugged and leaned back for Maria Lucia to slide a sandwich in front of him.
Valerie looked down at her own sandwich, the same kind she’d had on the day she’d met with Nikki Paulsen. Nikki was a negotiator. She did that for a living, and it carried over to her personal life, too. She was used to asking for what she wanted. She’d told Valerie that the first step in getting what she wanted was figuring out thatwas.
Valerie’s career was important to her, and she was happy with the possibilities offered to her. Her little family was important, as was being near enough to them to render aid in case of rare emergency.
But what she’d been neglecting for a lot of years was thatshewas important, too. She had to feed both her happiness and her future, and Tim had been trying to have a part in both of those things.
She gripped his hand tightly and raised her gaze to his curious one. “Timmy, I want everything.”
“Are you asking me to give you that house key back?”
She laughed and picked up her sandwich. “Your house is cramped. I’d be better off staying in Shora.”
“You said you were going to fix my house. That’s not fair.”
“Iwillfix it.” She took a bite of her sandwich and stared at the layers of meat, cheese, and vegetables.Damn, that’s good. Tim had picked well. She swallowed, and said, “You know, there’s a space off the back corner of the master bedroom nearest the river that can be pushed out along with that tiny bathroom. You could turn it into a walk-in closet.”
“I know which wall you’re talking about. That’d be a pretty big space.”
She shrugged. “More space for my steel-toed boots.” She gave the sandwich a turn and took another big bite. “I mean after we’re done using it as a nursery. Convertible spaces are kind of my thing.”
“Yay, office baby!” Heidi said softly.
Valerie raised an eyebrow at that inscrutable statement and looked at Tim, who was just grinning.
“I should…probably show you those plans soon, huh? Takes a long time to make things happen.”
“I think you should show them to me right now.”
“I can’t. I gotta go back to work.”
“Bring them over later, then. I’ll give you back the key, and maybe you can help me practice installing some things.”
Heidi seemed to get the crude reference well before Valerie did. “Tim!”
“Whatever,” he murmured. “You’re used to it.”
“Don’t scare the poor woman. You haven’t even dragged her down the aisle yet.”
Valerie laughed again and fixed her gaze on the world outside the window.Hernew world. She’d never really taken the time to appreciate it because she hadn’t wanted to get attached, but now she craved it—having a connection to a place…tosomeone.
She wouldn’t give up on her quest to have it all and didn’t care how long her gig in Shora lasted. When it ended, she’d be like Nikki and keep looking for ways to get everything she wanted. She’d have to be creative.
She was an architect. She wasgoodat being creative.
“I don’t need an aisle,” Valerie said. “Just someone to say the words and maybe a bottle of champagne right after.”
“We can do it on my boat this weekend, then,” Tim said, twirling his fingers around an escaped wisp of Valerie’s hair. “And then sail off to…wherever.”
That sounded amazing. Having a plan. Knowing what came next.
Beinghis. Loving him.
