It was Monday, Josie had been home for almost two full days and things were getting back to normal. At least as normal as they could get when there was a McAllister involved. I was sitting at the kitchen counter, checking my work emails to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I found that if I started early enough, chances of me screwing up were a lot smaller. My eyes lost focus and my brain couldn’t remember what I had been doing when Rhett walked into the kitchen for a glass of water after his run. He ran every morning. Usually I wasn’t up to watch him come back, but since I was a new and improved Emmerson, I had gotten up when he left.
And if I had known what I’d been missing out on all this time, I’d have gladly gotten up earlier. Because Rhett in a sweaty muscle shirt, hair mussed and breathing hard? I could look at that every second of every day. He grinned at me knowingly, and I folded my tongue back into my mouth and made sure there was no drool anywhere.
“How was your run?” I asked to be polite. What I really wanted to ask was, “Can we go to a hotel for the day and practice making babies?” Because practice makes perfect.
“Good. How did you sleep?”
“Okay. There is a loose spring somewhere, and it’s been digging into my back.”
He raised an eyebrow at me, and I know he had something to get off his chest. Well bring it on. I was filled up on caffeine, had already gone through half my emails and I could handle whatever he would throw my way. Or at least so I thought. Should have known better.
“I’ve been sleeping on a couch for the past week.”
Well, didn’t expect him to state the obvious, but all right. We’ll start off slowly. I’m sure he’d get to the point he was trying to make. “I know. What’s your point?”
“I am a billionaire.”
“Someone likes to show off.” And he was even wealthier than I would ever have thought. Guess it explained a lot.
“This is a two bedroom house and there are four of you living in it. Five if you include me.”
“Again, I know this. I’ve been here a while.”
“You are important to me. More important than anything else. And I know how much you hate Denver.”
“It’s not so much that I hate it. It’s more sort of an intense dislike.”
“That’s why I bought a house in Butler.”
“You did? That’s awesome. Does that mean you’ll come down on the weekends?”
He scowled at me in response. I guess that was the wrong thing to ask. But if he had no intention of using the house, why buy it?
“I’m not just going to stay there on the weekends. I’m going to move in. I’m opening an office in Butler.”
“You are?” Well that made more sense. Except for the opening an office in Butler. Not much business in a small town like ours.
“I’ll still have to go to Denver and New York for meetings, but I’ll spend most of my time here. With you.”
He was moving back. And he was doing it for me. I blinked hard to stop the tears from falling. They were happy tears, promise, but they wanted to escape nevertheless.
“Babe, you okay? You look like you’re gonna pass out.”
I shook my head, not ready to say anything yet for fear of starting the waterworks.
His eyebrows raised in confusion. “Is this too much?”
Another shake of my head, followed by tightly pressed together lips.
He seemed to have made a decision, the stern set of his lips not allowing for an argument. “I love you so much. I don’t know how to go through life without you anymore. I’m moving to Butler and you’re moving in with me.”
That unglued my mouth and stopped any tears that wanted to escape. I did not appreciate it when he made decisions for me. “But I’m living with Oma. I can’t just leave her. And what about Freddie and Josie?”
He seemed to expect the argument and didn’t seem fazed by my objections. “They can move in with us. I’m sure they’ll find a room somewhere out of the ten that are available. There is also a guest house if Oma wants some privacy.”
I shook my head again. “She loves this house. I don’t think she’d move. And have you really thought about what living with a teenager and toddler would mean for you? Josie is going to be living with us for at least the next sixteen years. And Freddie’s teenage hormones are raging a war against humanity at the moment. Last week Mr. Carlisle from next door called the police because he thought she was a burglar ransacking the place. The only good thing that came of it was Celeste’s disappearance, thanks to all the noise. She stayed away for a full day. And then you’ll have to go through it all again with Josie. I don’t think she’ll be as bad as Freddie, because let’s face it, she’s always been a bit of a nut. But teenage hormones are unpredictable. Even sweet Josie could turn into the Hulk.”
I could have easily continued babbling but stopped when I saw Rhett smile at me. A full-on, no-holds-barred, blinding smile. It was a thing of beauty. But not sure if the timing was right no matter how much I loved the look on him.
