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My phone is by my ear in an instant.
“Hey, Tiger.” Ash picks up on the first ring.
“Hi.” I clear my throat, taken aback at his sentimental gesture. “Thank you for my flowers. I love them.”
“Yeah?” His question is cheerful and I can almost hear him smiling down the phone.
“They are beautiful.” Sitting behind my desk, I can’t stop admiring them.
“Just like you,” he says without hesitation.
He’s told me I am beautiful hundreds, if not thousands, of times before, but today I feel his words. Today I am feeling everything.
“I love you, Ash. I have never stopped and will never stop loving you.” I pause for a beat. “I want us to work.”
He lets out a long breath as if he’s relieved. “You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that. It’s the only thing I want and I’m sorry about lunch. I promise I am trying to fix my insane work schedule, or I wouldn’t have canceled otherwise.”
“Okay.” I believe him.
“I’ve taken the next two months off work with no pay.”
I rise to my feet at the speed of a shooting star. “You did what?” I shout a little too loud at the unexpectedness of his news, and like a mob of meerkats on high alert, every one of my employees looks my way as if a predator entered the room.
I give my forehead a rub to ease the tension. He can’t leave his job.
“It’s what needs to happen,” he says, firmly.
“We should have discussed this together first,” I shrill, feeling panicked.
Blooming with confidence, he says, “It’s done. I’ve already decided.”
“Without me?”
“It’s because of you.”
I take a moment to gather my thoughts. “Ash,” I say eventually. “I can’t let you quit because of me.”
“I don’t see it that way. I’m not quitting hockey. I’m saving our marriage.”
Well, when he puts it like that.
I place my hand on my hip and look out over the snow-covered park. “Is that what you want to do? Are you sure?”
“Yes.” His answer is simple and to the point.
Then I make my own confession, which I wasn’t going to tell him about until the deal was signed. “I also have plans to reduce my workload.”
“You do?” he asks hopefully.
“I want to save us, Ash. More than anything.”
“So, we’re doing this?” he asks, sounding excited.
“Yeah.” My phone pressed to my ear, I lean against the floor to ceiling window.
“I love you, Lily Johansson. I will love you until my last breath.”
As if hearing it for the first time, I giggle at how romantic that sounds. He’s making this grown woman feel young at heart again.
