WILL
After I left Natalie’s, I headed home for a shower and to get some work done. There was a note waiting for me on the kitchen counter.
Will,
The kids were great. Hope you had fun.
Love,
Sarah
I smiled at her neat handwriting, grateful for her help as always. Upstairs, I turned on the shower and stepped in, letting the hot water pour over me as I sorted through the day ahead. I needed to call Kelly and set up a time to meet. There was plenty we had to cover, starting with Madison having her boyfriend over when I wasn’t home. We needed to be on the same page—no boys in the house without supervision. And then there was theharder part. I needed to tell her that Natalie and I were getting serious.
Once I was out of the shower, I dialed her number. She answered after a few rings.
“Hello, Will.”
“Hey, Kelly, do you have time to meet up this afternoon before the kids get out of school?”
“Will, I just got back from our trip last night.
But I do need to talk to you about something important, too. Let’s plan to meet at the coffee house—say, around 1:00?”
“Great,” I said. “I’ll see you there.”
After hanging up, I finished getting ready and headed to my office to work through some leasing details for The City Center. I had a stack of papers to review, including a few potential tenants for open spaces. Lori called me while I was working, her tone brisk and impatient as usual.
“Will, I’ve got a restaurant owner interested in another spot,” she said. “Alan wants to work with Natalie on the design. He was impressed with how well Pier and Table turned out.”
“That’s great news,” I said.
“Sure is. So, what’s up with you and Natalie? I thought you were going to keep your dick in your pants,” she added, half-joking but full of attitude.
“Lori, it’s not just messing around. It’s the real deal,” I admitted.
“Oh, Will,” she said with mock pity. “Well, it took me three tries to get marriage right, so who am I to judge? Now I’m married to the sweetest asshole around.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, Lori,” I said dryly. “Can you set up a meeting with Alan and the new possible tenant next week?”
“Will do. And bring Natalie. He values her input.”
At 1:00, I arrived at the coffee house. Kelly was already seated at a small corner table, her planner open in front of her.
“Hello, William,” she said, looking up briefly before returning her attention to her planner. “I ordered your usual, black coffee.”
“Thanks,” I said, sitting across from her.
She wasted no time. “While we were in Hawaii, Jeff proposed,” she said. Her tone was even, but there was a slight edge to her voice. I haven’t told the kids yet. I was planning to do it tonight.”
“Wow,” I said, keeping my tone neutral. “Congratulations. You seem happy.” I meant it.
“Yes. We’re planning to get married after the kids are out of school in June. We’re taking them to Hawaii, it feels right to go back to where we got engaged.”
“That sounds nice,” I said.
Kelly flipped a page in her planner. “So, do you want to go over the schedule for the next few months?”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about two important things,” I said, leaning forward. “First, Madison had her boyfriend, Kellen, over while I wasn’t home. I told her to wait until I got back, but she decided it was fine to let him over anyway.”
