Page 10 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“I’d love that. And to see your workplace.”

“Speaking of work, everything okay in California?”

Summer pressed her lips together and looked over at the fire. “Mmm hmm,” she said without looking me in the eye.

“Solskinn, you don’t ever need to withhold the truth from me. Whatever it is, you can always tell me.”

She sighed deeply and sipped on her wine, while staring at the crackling flames. “Dad said there were some problems back home but nothing he couldn’t handle from here with the team we have in place.”

“Oh, what kind of problems?”

“Some activists picketing in front of the road to our farm.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

She ran her hand through her golden hair. “No, it doesn’t, but it happens every year or two. There’s still a major stigma about the recreational use of cannabis, even though it’s been legal for years in California. Usually, it’s just a small group of religious right-wingers that believe we’re growing the devil’s drugs. Eventually they burn out after a few days of screaming their views, receiving no attention from the media or us, and then everything goes back to normal.”

“And this time is different?”

She bit into her bottom lip. “Apparently a couple of them jumped the fences at night and trashed one of our smaller outside gardens by pouring some kind of chemical over the plants. We lost over two hundred plants before they were caught.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that going to be a steep hit to the business financially?”

Summer shrugged one shoulder.

“Do you not know?”

“Honestly, Jack, I don’t really care right now.”

That had me abruptly sitting upright and paying close attention. So much so, I set my glass of wine on the coffee table and grabbed hers and placed it next to the other one. Then I clasped both of her hands in mine.

“Summer, what do you mean you don’t care? This sounds like a major problem that needs your attention as the owner. Or at the very least, your father’s.”

She shook her head. “I know I should care. I really should. But after what happened with Ellen and my new role as a guardian…as amotherto TJ…I find I’m just not as interested in Humble Buds as I was before all of this.”

Fear, as nasty and ugly as a pus-filled wound rippled through me. “Summer, you cannot start giving up things that matter to you because our circumstances have changed.”

“I can’t?” She tipped her head to the side. “Honey, I already have. I spoke to my father at length over the past week. The things I find important have shifted. My job now is to protect, nurture, and love TJ and you.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to give up your dream,” I blurted, uncertainty making the hair on my forearms rise.

“I’m not giving up my dream. I just realized my dream has evolved into something new. Now when I picture myself, I don’t see myself grinding away day in and day out on the farm. Of course I’ll spend time there and work part-time, but until he’s in school, I see myself with TJ. Showing him the world. Making a home for us the way my parents did. You see, my mother and father didn’t give up anything when they had us. They did change though. Mom lost interest in the things that took her away from me and Autumn. Instead, she spent her time teaching us and building memories. She contributed to the family the way she and my dad agreed upon. He’d make the money; she’d keep the house and home running.”

“Summer, I need you to understand that, as my wife, you will have all the help you could ever need. We can hire a nanny, a cook, a housekeeper. Whatever is necessary in order for us to have our careers and our family.”

“I know that, Jack. I do. I can afford all of those things myself, but I don’t want them.” She lifted her hand and cupped my scruffy cheek. “And I will find a healthy balance between work and family, but you and TJ need me present right now.I’m not going to have a stranger raise him. He needs us more than anything, and I’m happy to be here. What I will need, is your expertise in hiring a CEO. One that can take Humble Buds where it should go, while realizing that my dad and I are the brains behind the company’s success. We handle the plants and will never give up that portion of it. I can do the work I love, with TJ by my side or with him hanging out with Grandma while I knock out a few hours here and there. It’s literally her dream to watch her grandkids while her daughters build their lives. And I imagine, if we’re here in Norway, we’ll have plenty of backup with the Johansens too.”

This woman was a living dream come true. I don’t know what I did to deserve her, but she’s everything I could have ever wanted. Still, this is a big decision, one that shouldn’t be made lightly.

“I want you to keep thinking about it. I can step down from Johansen Brewing too. Between the two of us, we have enough money to live multiple lifetimes. Neither of us needs to work, but we’re both committed to these companies because it’s part of who we are.”

“And it’s our legacy to TJ and our future children.”

Future children.

At the talk of having more kids with Summer, my heartbeat thrummed like a base drum against my chest. Imagining her rounded in pregnancy, TJ clinging to her leg, not only filled me to bursting with love, but also lust. Plowing into Summer’s gorgeous body, impregnating her…

“Fuck,” I stood abruptly and adjusted my hardening shaft.

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