Page 37 of This Is Why

LEXI

My kitchen isone of my favorite places in the house. Sure, the tile is old and the counters are out of date, but this is where Gabe and I spend the most time together. He does pull-ups while I cook and we sit at the table and make each other laugh while we eat. Today though, with Ty sitting across from me, looking so forlorn, there’s nothing happy about this kitchen.

Ty’s face says everything. Resigning from the Marines is so far off his radar, it never even crossed his mind. I feel like I want to cry. I thought I had made peace with the reality of our situation, but now, with reality staring me firmly in the face, I realize I was mistaken. I don’t want him to leave, but I can’t move with him just like I can’t ask him to stay. An idea starts to form. It’s not quite as crazy as one of us quitting our job to move across the country after only a week, but it’s still pretty high up on the crazy scale.

I hold up my hands and suck in my lips. “I might have an idea, but it might be almost as impossible as me moving to Hawaii.”

“Nothing’s impossible, babe.” Ty’s face brightens and he leans forward. “Hit me withit.”

“What about a compromise?”

“Let’s hearit.”

“What if Gabe and I came for an extended visit? I have vacation time that’s been accruing all year, close to three weeks I think. We could consider it a trial run, see how we do when we’re all crammed together in the same space. No upheaval or uprooting necessary. And maybe we can come up with a better idea in the meantime.”

The truth is, I don’t see how we get to stay in each other’s lives without one of us giving up everything we’ve built, but I’m not ready to admit it yet. I’m not ready to say goodbye. I’m not ready to go back to living a life of fine when I have a chance at great.

Ty bobs his head. “I like it. But is it too late to put in for vacation at work? I have to leave tomorrow and I’m selfish enough to want you guys on that plane with me. If our time together still has an expiration date, then I’m going to fight for each and every second.”

“That’s the only thing I don’t know. In the past, the Department of Nursing would hold off on approving vacation requests right before the requested dates. So maybe requesting at the last minute will work in my favor?” I shake my head. “I really don’tknow.”

Part of me wonders what I’ll do if they deny my request. Would I quit work and move to Hawaii to be with a man I’ve just met? It sounds insane and even more so when I admit to myself that there’s a chance I would go through with it. A small chance, sure, but it exists. I’ve met my fair share of people in my thirty years, but none of them have made me feel like Ty. If I wasn’t afraid this feeling would fade, it would be worth it to quit my job and uproot my life and chase him around the globe. But nothing in the world is guaranteed and the first blush of love is always the sweetest. I would be a fool to make a decision this big until I knowmore.

“So, what do you have to do?” Tyasks.

“It’s probably best if I go to the hospital and make the request in person. Maybe it’ll be harder to turn me down to my face.” I smile and stand. A woman can hope, right? “Do you have anything you need to do today? Would you be opposed to staying here and hanging out withGabe?”

“I don’t care if I had a mile-long list of things I had to do today. I would push them all off to spend a day hanging out with Gabe.” He stands and pulls me to him. “And I would put everything off to be with you, too. I can’t stop thinking about resigning from the Marines to be with you. I don’t know what I’d do and it’s important that I find a way to provide for us, but I haven’t written it off. I don’t know if you realize how big a deal thatis.”

“I do realize what a big deal that is.” I reach up on tiptoes and kiss him. His hands slide up my ass and under my shirt while goose bumps flare out across my skin. “Maybe I can talk Michelle into letting Gabe spend the night one last time,” I whisper, my lips brushing his. “We can have tonight to ourselves.”

Ty grips my ass and pushes my hips into his. “I am a fan of thatidea.”

I get ready quickly and decide to stop at Michelle’s before I make the drive out to Grayson to request time off. So much is happening so quickly and I need to talk to someone about it and see if I’m being as crazy as I think I am. I hate that Bailey is still on her honeymoon in Bora Bora, because I could use her input, too. I mean, I don’t really hate that she’s on her honeymoon because if the way she feels about Liam is even remotely the way I feel about Ty, then good forher.

As I pull into the driveway at Carmichael Farms, I realize just how ridiculous that thought was. I’m comparing the way I feel about Ty, a man I’ve only just met, to the way Bailey feels about Liam, a man she loved enough to commit the rest of her life to. Am I really that narcissistic or am I falling in love with Ty? Is love even possible after such a short time? I sit, stunned into frozen silence by the thought. Maybe it’s a good thing I decided to stop at Michelle’s because it seems like we have a lot more to talk about than I initially thought.

Thunder rumbles in the distance as I take the steps up to the front door of the stately farmhouse. A strong wind whips the trees into a frenzy and I swear the temperature has dropped ten degrees from yesterday. When Michelle opens the door, the wind rips the screen door from her hand and it bangsopen.

“Wow. Looks like we’re in for a doozy of a storm,” she says and then takes one look at my face and freezes. “Okay. That’s all I needed to see. Get in this house and spill it.” Her hair flutters around her face, caught in the wind. “On second thought, do you care if we sit on the porch? With the weather, everyone is inside for the day and I think we’ll have a bit more privacy outhere.”

“I don’t mind at all. I love watching storms. They make me feel small.” And given how much is happening right now, I could use a good dose of being put in my place by mother nature.

We take a seat in two Adirondack chairs. I’m too nervous to sit so comfortably, so I perch on the edge of mine while Michelle leans back and draws her knees up close to her body. “What has you looking so frazzled?” sheasks.

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“Why don’t you just start talking and we’ll see where it takesus.”

I stare out at the gathering clouds and blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “Ty asked me to move to Hawaii withhim.”

Michelle’s eyes go wide. “Excuseme?”

I tell her about the last few days, explaining how neither one of us is ready to be without the other and how he promised me he’d come up with a solution. “And that was his solution.” I watch the trees bending in the wind. “And the crazy thing is that I didn’t immediately turn himdown.”

“What did yousay?”

“I asked him if he would give up the Marines in order to come here and live withme.”

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