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The loss of the unborn baby who would have come a few years before Harper…
Loved ones who we have since said goodbye to… his father losing his battle, a man we loved so dearly and miss daily.
Vacations and holidays, birthdays and celebrations…
Bad haircuts and junky cars, times when we had fewer wrinkles, times of hardship and times of sorrow…
Happy times and moments of immaturity, bad decisions and right decisions…
We laughed and we shed tears — well, the tears were mostly on my part.
We remembered.
And when we close the final photo album, Barrett stands up and reaches down for me to help me stand. He wraps me in his strong arms and holds me tight. He blows out a deep breath before saying, “Tess, there is no other person on this earth who I would rather do life with than you. It hasn’t always been easy, and sometimes the mess got in the way but it’s been perfect. I wouldn’t change a single moment.”
“Me either, babe. I’ve loved every moment of being married to you. Even the not-so-fun moments.”
“I figured something out,” he tells me, his voice low and hushed.
“What’s that?” I whisper, looking in his eyes that have turned a deep shade of green — damn his hazel eyes that change colors like a mood ring.
“You know, we keep wondering what happened to us, why we feel so disconnected. It happened when you went to the design show,” he tells me, and I start to pull away from him but his hold on me tightens. “Just hear me out. I’m not blaming you. I promise. I told you I didn’t care if you stayed home for Mary Ellen’s party. I hurt your feelings when I made you feel like you weren’t important enough to be there. You didn’t stay home anyway and you hurt me, even though I didn’t realize it at the time. I think that’s why I hired Keri without consulting you, without pushing for you to meet her. I was pissed that you didn’t care enough and you were mad that I didn’t care enough. It’s both our faults.”
I gasp because the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. “So apparently we reverted back to high school.”
He grins at me, clearly just proud that he “figured it out”. “Yep. We behaved like our children. How’s that make you feel?”
“Like an idiot stupid head.”
He chuckles. “Pretty much defines both of us.”
“Barrett, how could we have been so… immature?”
“I have no idea, but that’s what happened. Tess?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that I didn’t care if you were there for our party or not. I didn’t mean to not include you from hiring Keri. Or to make you question… any part of us.”
“I accept and I’m sorry, too. I should have talked to you instead of Andy and I shouldn’t have been so selfish as to care more about a design show than someone who’s been a part of our lives for almost two decades now.”
“I accept, too.” He smiles. “But you know what else? I know how to fix it.”
“Tell me, oh wise one.” I smile up to his grinning — albeit a bit smug — face.
“Go away with me?” he asks, his voice both shy and sure at the same time.
“What?”
“Go away with me. For a week. We keep saying we want to go hide away in a cabin up north for a while. I found a place that’s right along the lake, small and perfect for us — just one bedroom, but it’s all open otherwise. There’s a hot tub and fireplace inside and an area set up for fires outside too. It has what we need to be away from it all. I want to do this. I need to do this. With you, obviously. It really won’t be any fun by myself. Let’s do it.”
I giggle at his rambling then ask, “Did you talk to Lauren?” because it’s exactly what she suggested to me.
He scrunches his eyebrows at me in confusion. “No. Actually, Cole. He told me you and I need a break.”
“Well that is… unexpected. And scary. The fact that our son, who doesn’t even live here, acknowledges that we need a break is a little unnerving,” I tell him.
“I know. It scared the crap out of me when he mentioned it. I think it was the kick in the ass that I needed though.” He pauses, and I can tell he’s thinking about his conversation, which I really wish I knew more of but let it go. “Why did you ask about Lauren?”
