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“Loving Florida.” I smile as I look ahead. “Moving down there with her friends was the right thing for her after the divorce.”
My parents split five years before my dad died. There wasn’t a big falling out. No one cheated. They still loved each other but knew it was time to explore their lives separately, so they did that.
“Let’s talk about that career change,” I circle back to that because it’s too important to ignore. “What direction are you thinking of going?”
With the degree she earned in behavioral science, the possibilities are endless. Or maybe she’s considering something not related to that at all.
Her gaze drops to her lap. “I want to make a difference in people’s lives.”
“You have made a difference in people’s lives,” I stress each word because it’s an important point that needs to be made. “You’re really making a difference, Gina.”
She laughs and leans closer to the car door. “I’m helping people decide what eye shadow to wear or what vacation destination is perfect this time of year.”
“It’s more than that.”
“It’s not,” she argues. “I know that people look to me for guidance. I don’t take that lightly. I’ve always tried to present myself as the person I am. I set out to be genuine, but I think that got buried beneath all the sponsorship offers at some point.”
“How so?” I ask.
She looks at me again as we slow for a red light. “That night you found me in the bar in Vegas, I was contractually bound to take an image with a particular brand of whiskey.”
“You hate whiskey,” I point out before she can continue.
“I do,” she admits. “But the money was too good to pass up. I’ve thought about it since, and that’s not the first time I’ve promoted a brand that doesn’t align with what I like.”
I set my gaze on the road again as the light changes to green. “You can change that.”
“I am,” she says. “I’ve been turning down more deals since we got back from Vegas.”
I slow the car to allow someone parked to merge into traffic ahead of me. “When you set out to earn your degree, what was the life plan then?”
Her light laugh carries through the air. “Does anyone know their life plan when they’re eighteen? I went for a degree in behavioral science because the career counselor told me it was the best fit for me, and I loved my courses. I loved college.”
“Me too,” I admit because although a lot of my college days are a blur, I earned a degree in finance that I’m proud of, and it’s afforded me many things.
With a glance over her shoulder, she sighs. “It would have been nice to have the Yale experience, but I’m glad my life turned out the way it has.”
“Are you?” I wave my bare left hand at her. “Even the married to me part?”
Her gaze drops to her left hand. “Are we getting close to our final destination?”
I should be disappointed that she ignored my question, but I’m relieved. I don’t want one of the last memories of us as a married couple to be her desire to end it.
Logically, I know she’ll board a plane headed to Vegas to annul the marriage tomorrow. Today, I want to enjoy being her husband, even if it’s only on paper that will soon be deemed void.
“We’re very close.” I glance at my phone. “I memorized the directions before we left New York so I wouldn’t have to look at my phone. I know you’d try to sneak a peek, and I wanted this to be a surprise.”
She looks at my phone but makes no attempt to touch it. “I haven’t had a lot of surprises in my life. I like this one.”
If I had more time, I’d surprise her as often as I can forever, but today will have to do.
“It’s up ahead.” I point toward the windshield and the corner beyond with my index finger. “Are you ready?”
She nods. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Daniel
