“What’s this weekend?” I asked.
“They’re coming in for a weekend in the vineyards,” he said. “We leave Friday afternoon.”
Shit. It was already Wednesday. “When were you going to tell me?” I asked.
“This afternoon,” he replied. “I had a surprise for you.”
I wasn’t sure how many more surprises I could take.
“What kind of surprise?”
He sighed, set his cup down, and came to stand in front of me. I wasn’t sure I liked the way he looked at me, like he was about to apologize for whatever was on his mind. He reached out for my forearm and took my hand in his.
“I’m leaving for New York on Monday when we return,” he said. “And then the week after, Matthew and I will head to Tokyo for a couple of weeks.”
“You’re going to be gone three weeks?” I asked. “The wedding is in six.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing my arm. “I know it’s a lot, but this deal—“ An excited smile had spread on his lips. “This deal will set us up foryears. I can stop traveling as much. We can buy a house back on the east coast. You will never have to work another day in your life.”
Things I didn’t want.
“But I like working,” I said.
“Not when we have kids running around, you won’t,” he said as he took a step back, still hanging onto my fingertips. “Four. Five, maybe. You’ll have your hands full.”
Nausea twisted my stomach. “I thought we were going to travel first,” I managed through the queasiness. “Travel a few years andthenthink about kids.”
“You’re one trip around the sun from thirty, love,” he said. “Time to get the factory open.”
“And if I don’t want kids now?”
He paused amid putting on his coat and frowned at me. “What are you talking about?”
“I mean… I want them, but what if I don’t want themnow? I just got my business running smoothly.”
“Something you won’t have to worry about once this deal goes through,” he said. “You can sell Ezzie your part of the company when we move.”
“What is this timeline?” I asked, anxiety swelling inside me.
“If the deal goes like I want… six months. Maybe eight.”
Six…six months?!
“Tyler, I’ve barely had my business a year,” I said as breath seemed to escape me. “When were you going to tell me all of this? When were you going to run any of it by me?”
Then he just smiled. “I wanted it to be a surprise,” he said. “Getting told you never have to work again, that’s a pretty great surprise, don’t you think?”
Except I love my job.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek, then grabbed his coffee mug from the counter. “I’ll be late tonight. Don’t wait up.”
I stood flabbergasted in that spot for what felt like hours.
Six months.
Six fucking months.
It felt like someone had told me I had six months to live.
