The second I walked through the door of the cottage and saw the ocean from the living-room windows, I felt a sense of peace.
I turned to look at him. “Can we really come here whenever we want?”
“Whenever you want, as long as you want. We own it.”
Weown it.
Yeah, that was going to take some getting used to. Along with everything else I’d learned and experienced so far that day.
Starting with flying first class. That’d been way out of my comfort zone.
I’d whispered to him, “Is this normal?” when the flight attendant fawned all over us the minute we sat down. She offered us drinks, snacks, and even a blanket, and asked if I needed anything for Ruthie.
“Yeah, but I think they’re really going out of their way because we have the baby.”
“That’s so sweet.”
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You’reso sweet.”
We rented a vehicle at the airport, which confused me.
“Don’t you have a car in Lancastle?” I asked as I pushed the stroller and he wheeled our luggage through the rental agency’s lot toward our numbered spot.
“Yeah, well—a truck. But then someone would have had to come pick us up, then we would have had to take them back to Lancastle before we could head to the Cape, then we’d need a ride back to the airport next week. It’s just easier to rent a car.”
He found our vehicle—a Chrysler Pacifica minivan— and clicked a button on the fob.
“How much money do you have?”
“You mean, dowehave. And I can go over our finances with you this week.”
“Really?”
I didn’t remember my dad ever discussing my parents’ finances with my mom. But he must have in private, because Mama was always cognizant of how much she was spending—whether it was at the grocery store, school shopping, or the school fair… she knew exactly what her budget was.
“Are you going to give me a budget?”
He furrowed his brows as he put the bags in the back. “You’ve got the credit cards I gave you.”
“I know, but what’s my budget?”
“Uh… the credit limit on your cards? Although the American Express doesn’t have one, so I guess the answer is you don’t have one.”
“Oh.” I blew out a breath as I handed him Ruthie’s stroller and set her car seat in the rear seat. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I want a budget. What if I spend too much?”
He shut the rear hatch, came over to where I stood at the side door, and pulled me into an embrace. “Babe, we have a lot of money. Unless you’re buying a Bentley or a private jet, you’re not going to spend too much. I don’t want you to worry about it.”
“I have a feeling that’s going to be easier said than done.”
He kissed my forehead and said, “Try, babe. I don’t want you worrying about money. If you decide to keep working, you’ll do it because you want to, not because you need to.”
****
Alan
