“Me either, babe. I’ve loved every moment of being married to you. Even the not-so-fun moments.”
“I figured something out,” he tells me, his voice low and hushed.
“What’s that?” I whisper, looking in his eyes that have turned a deep shade of green — damn his hazel eyes that change colors like a mood ring.
“You know, we keep wondering what happened to us, why we feel so disconnected. It happened when you went to the design show,” he tells me, and I start to pull away from him but his hold on me tightens. “Just hear me out. I’m not blaming you. I promise. I told you I didn’t care if you stayed home for Mary Ellen’s party. I hurt your feelings when I made you feel like you weren’t important enough to be there. You didn’t stay home anyway and you hurt me, even though I didn’t realize it at the time. I think that’s why I hired Keri without consulting you, without pushing for you to meet her. I was pissed that you didn’t care enough and you were mad that I didn’t care enough. It’s both our faults.”
I gasp because the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. “So apparently we reverted back to high school.”
He grins at me, clearly just proud that he “figured it out”. “Yep. We behaved like our children. How’s that make you feel?”
“Like an idiot stupid head.”
He chuckles. “Pretty much defines both of us.”
“Barrett, how could we have been so… immature?”
“I have no idea, but that’s what happened. Tess?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that I didn’t care if you were there for our party or not. I didn’t mean to not include you from hiring Keri. Or to make you question… any part of us.”
“I accept and I’m sorry, too. I should have talked to you instead of Andy and I shouldn’t have been so selfish as to care more about a design show than someone who’s been a part of our lives for almost two decades now.”
“I accept, too.” He smiles. “But you know what else? I know how to fix it.”
“Tell me, oh wise one.” I smile up to his grinning — albeit a bit smug — face.
“Go away with me?” he asks, his voice both shy and sure at the same time.
“What?”
“Go away with me. For a week. We keep saying we want to go hide away in a cabin up north for a while. I found a place that’s right along the lake, small and perfect for us — just one bedroom, but it’s all open otherwise. There’s a hot tub and fireplace inside and an area set up for fires outside too. It has what we need to be away from it all. I want to do this. I need to do this. With you, obviously. It really won’t be any fun by myself. Let’s do it.”
I giggle at his rambling then ask, “Did you talk to Lauren?” because it’s exactly what she suggested to me.
He scrunches his eyebrows at me in confusion. “No. Actually, Cole. He told me you and I need a break.”
“Well that is… unexpected. And scary. The fact that our son, who doesn’t even live here, acknowledges that we need a break is a little unnerving,” I tell him.
“I know. It scared the crap out of me when he mentioned it. I think it was the kick in the ass that I needed though.” He pauses, and I can tell he’s thinking about his conversation, which I really wish I knew more of but let it go. “Why did you ask about Lauren?”
“She said the same thing. That we need a break, to get away just the two of us. She suggested two weeks — and that James could come stay with the kids.”
“You don’t want to?”
“I don’t know. Can we? First of all, can we afford it? Second of all, what about the kids?”
“It’s in between seasons, so things are a little less expensive, so yeah, we can afford it. We can use it as our Christmas gift to one another, if that helps. And James is going to come watch the kids. Cole is around. So are Lauren and Josh.”
“You’ve thought about this, huh?”
“To be honest, I’ve been wanting time alone with you for months, but we never get it. But it wasn’t until Cole mentioned actually getting away that I really started thinking of it. After we talked, I made a few phone calls before I got home.”
“I want that too, but…”
“Nope. No buts. We’re doing this. We leave on Saturday morning. We can still see Grady’s game on Friday night — even though he won’t be playing — and Maggie’s volleyball game on Thursday night. Harper might even learn how to sleep in her own bed when we’re not around.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Really?” he asks with hopefulness.
“Yes. Let’s do it.”
“Yes!” he says as he does a goofy fist punch. “I kind of expected you to put up more of a fight,” he admits.
“No way. I want this. I’ll talk to my clients this week and let them know I’ll be away. And if we wait, then we’ll be getting too close to the holidays.”
He spins me around as he whoops loudly, making me laugh. He bends down and kisses me sweetly before dipping and kissing me on his spot then pulls his face away and slowly lowers my feet to the ground.
“Oh, speaking of holidays…” he says with a huge smile on his face.
“Yeah?”
“Cole’s bringing Mia for Thanksgiving.”
“I thought you said he was bringing his new girlfriend?”
He looks at me expectantly with his eyebrows raised before it clicks.
“Mia!?” I hit his shoulder lightly and he laughs at me, clearly pleased with his news to share.
“I know. He just told me tonight. Cool, huh?” he says then slaps me on the butt and walks down the hallway to our bedroom.
Chapter Fourteen
Barrett
“Bye guys, have fun!” Maggie says as she bounces on her toes. She’s so excited to have Tess’s brother, James, staying with them that she practically packed our bags for us. Obviously, Grady is old enough to not have a babysitter, but we need someone here for Maggie and Harper, Harper especially.
I look over at James who is leaning against the side of the house, giving us the time we need to say goodbye. His left arm is a sleeve of tattoos, his hair shaved close to his head, and his beard scruffy; his bright blue eyes are sparkling. He looks far more reckless than what he really is, but those eyes are what give him away. He’s really just a big softy.
I lean down and take Maggie into my arms and hug her tightly, followed by Grady then Harper, who climbs up my legs and links her tiny little arms around my neck. I let go of her after a while, but she doesn’t. Her arms are still hooked around my neck, but her little legs are dangling. I swing her a couple times lightly and she giggles. I grab her around the waist, and eventually she loosens her hold on me before jumping down and directly into Tess’s arms.
Tess is sniffling, hopefully at the thought of missing the kids and not at being alone with me for a week. She’s a sentimental sap and cries easily. Last Christmas there was a commercial where a young woman decorated an elderly man’s house with twinkle lights for the holidays. Every single time it came on, she turned into a weeping mess. Unlike my pretty girl, I’m not emotional in the least about saying goodbye to the kids for a week. I’m friggin’ ecstatic. An entire week alone with Tess has me giddy. We may not be at our best right now, but I’m about to make damn sure that we’re at perfection again before we leave that cabin.