"You can’t do that," she says, getting up and my whole body goes solid like a rock. The happiness that I had two seconds ago turns to ice-cold feelings.
I turn to face her as she stands in front of me. "What do you mean I can’t do that?" My stomach sinks thinking that maybe she doesn’t want me to do this. Maybe she is over this and just thinking about that I’m going to be sick.
"I mean that you can’t do that," she repeats and rubs the tear off her own cheek. "You can’t do that because I’m moving."
"Well, I see that." I try to swallow but the lump in my throat grows bigger and bigger.
"No, you don’t." She laughs and puts her hands to her mouth. "You can’t move here because I’m moving to you."
"What?" I ask her and it’s my turn to be shocked.
"That’s what all the boxes are for." She holds her hands to the sides of her. "I’m selling my practice."
I shake my head, not sure I’m actually hearing the words that she is saying. "I’m sorry," I say, laughing at us and this whole situation.
"Well, let me see if I can explain it better." Her whole face lights up with a smile and if I didn’t love her before with everything I had, this moment right here would be where it would happen. "Actually, this decision was made four years ago," she says and if I wasn’t sitting down to begin with, this news would knock me on my ass. I hold up my hand and she holds up her own. "Let me talk, please." She waits and makes sure that I’m not going to say anything else. "Four years ago, I was going to tell you that I was going to take a job at the emergency clinic with you." My brain feels like it’s going to explode in my head, and my mouth hangs open. "Yeah," she says. "I had decided that I was going to stay with you."
"But," I start to say as the pieces come together. The clinic telling me that they were short-staffed because someone who was going to take the job decided not to. I never even put two and two together.
"But you broke up with me," she says, shrugging. "And my plans changed, so I came home."
"Why didn’t you say anything to me?" I get up. "You never even told me."
"I was waiting until you brought it up." She takes a deep breath. "I didn’t want to just assume that you would want me with you, so I was waiting until you asked me." Her voice goes low. "And then you broke up with me, so there was no point in that."
The only thing I can say is. "But."
"So I called my father and told him I would take his offer."
"You had told your father already?" I hiss out. "Great." I put my hands on my hips. "If he didn’t want to, he’ll want to shoot me now."
She laughs and comes over to me, standing in front of me. She puts her hands on my hips. "I went four years without you." She looks up at me with all the love that she has always looked at me with. The look I thought I would never see again. "And it took one day for me to see that I really wasn’t happy. I mean yes, I had my practice and it was thriving. Yes, I had my family all around me. I had everything that could make me happy, except I didn’t have that missing piece."
"I can’t let you give this up for me." I shake my head. "I wouldn’t let you do it four years ago. I’m not going to let you do it now."
"Well, good news is you have no say in this," she sasses me. "The decision has already been made and I have three interviews on Monday."
"You did all of this without telling me."
"You did the same thing," she counters back at me and my hands come and hold her face. "I really think we should talk about how we communicate with each other." She laughs and I can’t help but bend down and kiss her lips.
"I don’t want you to sacrifice all of this."
"That’s the thing, Travis," she explains. "I’m not sacrificing anything. I’m choosing me and my happiness." She gets on her tippy-toes and kisses under my neck. "Now that we have that settled, can we get naked?" Only she can shock me one minute and then make me laugh the next. Only she can argue that what she is doing for you is really for her. Only she can make everything better. Only she can make my heart beat without pain. Only her.
Chapter 26
Harlow
"That’s the thing, Travis," I say, my chest feeling full for the first time in the last four years. "I’m not sacrificing anything. I’m choosing me and my happiness." I get on my tippy-toes and kiss under his neck, exactly where I can feel his heartbeat under my lips. His heart is beating as fast as mine and all I can do is smile. "Now that we have that settled, can we get naked?"