He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 36
Derek used to complain that I traveled too much for work. His mother had even written “quit my job” onto that display board as if it were a price I had to pay to become a wife.
I took my phone into the hallway and called Everett.
“The project will last six months. I’ll be gone at least a week every month.”
He said, “Do you want it?”
“I do.”
“Then take it.”
He answered so quickly that I went silent instead.
I heard him flipping through a calendar on the other end.
“Send me the rough dates. I’ll try not to travel the same weeks. And if we overlap, we can ask Carol to water the flowers by the window.”
“You don’t think I’ll be gone too much?”
Everett was quiet for a moment.
“I’ll miss you.”
“But missing you and stopping you are two different things.”
The sky outside had already gone dark. In the activity room, Carol was teaching someone how to tuck a broken thread into the backing cloth.
I leaned against the wall, my eyes stinging a little.
“Then I’ll reply to them.”
“Reply first. Tell me tonight where your first stop is.”
After I accepted the project, my first business trip was to Chicago.
When the plane landed, I opened our message thread out of habit and typed in the hotel address and the flight information.
My fingers paused for a moment, but I sent it all to Everett anyway.
Not because I was afraid he’d be upset.
But because I wanted him to know where I was, and because I knew that if I arrived late, the only thing he would ask was whether I was safe.
A few seconds later, he sent me a photo of the flowers on our windowsill.
Carol had forgotten to water them, and the leaves were drooping.
“I might kill this thing before you get back. Want to teach me long-distance?”
I laughed out loud in the airport.
My mother used to fear that after she was gone, I would be wronged and have no one left to call.
Now I had Carol. I had Everett.
And more than that, I finally no longer tried to persuade myself to forget every time I was hurt.