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I spent an hour in hiding before showing my face again. I showered and changed into my pyjamas, which helped relax me. When I went to the back door, Charlie and Emmett were still out on the deck getting started on their model boat. I wasn’t sure how much they could see by the light of the lantern they had on.
“Hey, Charlie. I think it’s time to get ready for bed, mate.”
“Okay,” he said with a pout. He got to his feet and headed straight over to me. He threw his arms around my middle. “Are you okay, Mom?”
“I’m alright. I’m sorry about before.” I squeezed him and lifted my gaze to Emmett to include him in the apology.
Emmett didn’t smile. All he did was glance at me before getting back to the instructions sheet.
“Go and have a shower for me, and brush your teeth and hair, okay?”
“Okay.”
I leaned down and my son and I gave each other a kiss on the cheek. I watched him disappear down the hallway. With a deep breath, I approached the table. “I’m sorry, Emmett.”
“For what?” he asked.
“For getting angry at you for no reason.”
Emmett finally set the instructions down and looked at me. “Was it for no reason?”
Uh-oh, the psych was coming out in him. I decided to face him head on. “If I’m being honest with myself, your talk of elaborate plans for the future paralleled Miguel’s in the beginning. I know you’re nothing like him . . ..As a young woman having been raised by an idealistic mother, I fell into Miguel’s trap easily, believing he would give me everything I desired, just like he had promised. My mind had an ‘oh, shit’ moment, Emmett.”
“Okay. What can we do about this, so it doesn’t happen again?”
He was calm, he was collected, and he was being practical. I was grateful for it.
“I want to be your equal in this relationship. I want to contribute to us and to the household. I don’t want to liveoffyou, I want to livewithyou. There’s a huge difference.”
Emmett smiled, and it was genuine. “You’ve only been on vacation for a couple of weeks and you’re already itching to go back to work?”
I sat down next to him. “The point is, if we go away somewhere, I want to be able to pay for half of it. I want to be able to pay for some of the bills and food and be helpful to the household. Is that stupid?”
“No, it’s not. I understand where you’re coming from. I’m sorry I neglected your needs. I got carried away. I want to have an amazing life with you two.”
“I want one with you, as well. As your partner.”
He took my hand in his. “Okay, so without thinking too hard about it, tell me something you would do if money issues weren’t holding you back?”
“I’d do the nursing course I never ended up doing. I’d . . . I’d go home and visit Mum, Raven, and Meadow. Charlie’s never met his grandmother face-to-face, and I haven’t seen her since I was nineteen.”
“How would you feel about them visiting us as well?” Emmett asked.
“That would be amazing.”
“Alright, so we need to come up with a plan. What do you think that plan might look like?”
I liked that Emmett was taking this approach. He was allowing me to call the shots instead of dictating what I should do. I was a fool. He was nothing like Miguel, and I was stupid to make the comparison.
“I want to train to be a nurse. I’d also like to work part-time somewhere. Somewhere nice with good bosses, not jackasses like my previous boss. I want to be a part of Charlie’s life more, I want to put him into a good school, and I want to see my mum and siblings.” I swiped at a stray tear that had trickled from my eye. “But first, I want to go away with you this weekend, and I want to meet your family.”
Emmett leaned his forehead against mine. “Everything will fall into place, Olivia. You’ll see that you can have it all, but maybe in a way that’s not evident to either of us yet. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Because we are going to have a fantastic weekend.”
