Page 26 of Summer With You

9

Work Always Comes Before Family

Ace

Being away from work for so long hadn’t been my finest idea. Coming back for two days was another terrible idea.

Everyone wanted a piece of me the moment that I stepped into the building. People swarmed Ryan and me, all of them asking plenty of questions. It was overwhelming, but slowly, we worked through each employee’s problem so that we could finally get to our own work.

His father was surprised to see us there. We had a meeting in his office where we mostly spoke about the lake house over a cup of coffee.

By lunchtime, my eyes were growing heavy from a restless night of sleep and the early drive back home. I missed my family already. Leaving my beautiful wife in our warm bed to go and face the cruel world was hard.

The kids had called me during lunch to show me the food Celine had made. I caught a glimpse of her in the video, her blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, a blue dress hugging her curves, but most importantly, her rounding belly.

I didn’t want another child, didn’t need another to satisfy my itch of being a father, especially after how sick she was during the last one. Toward the end of her pregnancy with Charlie, it had been touch and go with her, and I often fell asleep holding her in my arms, wondering if she would wake up in the morning or if she would be strong enough to have our child and stay alive.

Like always, though, she surprised me with her endless strength.

She was so weak, unable to keep any food down. She had become so small, arms so thin, stomach barely showing. Charlie was a small baby, but he grew quickly once out of the womb, but that didn’t stop our worry for our boy.

After seeing her so close to death, the thought of her having another child scared me. I couldn’t face losing her. I couldn’t be a father without her guidance. I didn’t want to live without her.

I pulled up the weather forecast on my computer after glancing out my window at the gray sky. I didn’t like the sound of a hurricane tearing through here, especially with me so far away from my family – from Celine. I knew I had done my best to ease her fears over the phone, but the news of the hurricane had made me uneasy.

Not only did I need to get back to my family, but I also had to board up our house here, and then the lake house. Celine was scared. I knew she was. It had been twelve years since a hurricane hit us, and the last one devastated Florida for months and caused Celine months of recovery and more surgery. It was a miracle she could walk today, and yet, that woman persevered. Nothing stopped her once she had her mind on something.

The storm was headed straight for Puerto Rico, and the cone was curving straight through the middle of Florida, the worst of the potential damage hitting my family. Fear flashed through me. I needed to get back to them.

I was on the verge of saying fuck work.

Reading through the report, I saw that the cone could still move, and it was too soon to tell where it would hit, but preparations needed to be made.

My phone rang, and Celine’s beautiful face lit up my screen.

“Hey, Princess,” I greeted, relaxing now that I was talking to her again.

“Hi, Asshole.” The familiar nickname washed over me, causing a hundred different emotions and memories to seize my mind. “How’s work?”

“Do you really want to know?” I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair, listening to the sound of the kids splashing in the pool, their laughter coming through the phone.

“Of course, I do. You know I used to work there every day,” she reminded me as if I needed to be reminded. Every day that she was here, all I wanted to do was take her on every single surface in my office. “I still care about that place.”

Oh, I remembered. Getting her to stay home was a nightmare at first. She loved working here almost as much as she loved me, but eventually, bringing a newborn to work became tiresome for everyone involved, and she had to stay home.

“Well, where should I start?” I asked sarcastically. “Every department has acted like a wildfire has gone through and caused chaos, when in reality, it was simple problems that people were overlooking. Your dad was surprised to see us. You haven’t spoken to your mom in a while, have you?”

She laughed, the sound causing my heart to squeeze in my chest. “Oh, the life of a hotshot boss is so tiring, hey, babe?” I grinned. “I did call her this morning after I spoke to you. She said Dad has been staying there late every night trying to cover for you and Ryan.”

Her dad did look tired when I saw him earlier, but he was happy. This business was his baby that Ryan and I were running for him, and lately, it had been booming.

“About that,” I started, looking at the stack of papers on my desk that needed my attention.

“Oh, no, Ace, don’t you start. I know exactly what you are going to say.” She sighed. “Charlie, get off of Summer!” she screamed a moment later, and I held in a laugh. Celine as a mom was hot as hell.

“I need to stay a little longer, and I promise, we can spend more than a week at the lake house.” Ryan was at my office door, holding up a burger and drink. I signaled him, and he winced after hearing Celine scream through the phone.

“Ace Danvers! You said two days! Two! How many are you planning on staying now?” she screamed, her voice traveling beyond the phone.

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