Page 74 of The Sweet Spot

“I guess so,” I said.

He ate while I chopped onions and then garlic. He startled me when he said, “So about these kids, is that something you want sooner rather than later?”

He seemed almost afraid to ask the question, which made me afraid to answer it. Was I walking into something? “I’ve always envisioned a few kids. I would be totally flexible about getting married, though. I think in this day and age, no one has to be married to be a family. How about you?”

I was just as cautious with my question back, also afraid of what he would say.

“If you asked me six months ago, I would say no way. I didn’t see myself married or having kids, mostly because I was afraid of being my father. It’s just in the last few years that I’ve made changes, and I sure have made a lot of changes since September.”

I was blushing again. Ugh! “Don’t give me credit. You did it all by yourself.”

“My point is that, yeah, now I can see myself settling down and having kids.”

“Maybe one day that will happen for us,” I said casually. I was focused on our conversation but also on trying not to make my eyes water from the damn onions.

“Would you like that?”

I stopped chopping. “With you?”

“Is there someone else I don’t know about?”

For crying out loud, I was blushing again. And my eyes were watering.

“No. And, of course, I’ve thought about that with you.”

“I’ve thought about it with you too. A lot.”

I gasped. “You have?” I asked, feeling my heart about to explode.

“These last couple of days with my sister opened my eyesto a lot, and I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I feel like we’re a perfect fit. Brooke said yin and yang. How often does something like that happen?”

“I don’t know,” I said, wiping happy onion tears from my eyes. “I’ve never had it happen to me.”

“Me neither. Until now.”

“So what do we do?”

“Get married?”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Brandon

Every team had a mid-season break, and for mine, I took Wolseley to Cabo for five days. When we weren’t in bed, we were on the beach or trying the local authentic cuisine, which sometimes meant driving out farther than I would have liked, but I’d do anything for her. On the last day of our trip, I arranged for a private dinner in one of the best restaurants in the area. We watched the sunset together on the beach, and that’s when I asked her to formally marry me. Jeremy had given me the name of a jeweler in Vancouver that he’d gone to for Jill’s ring. Deciding I couldn’t make this decision alone, Jill and a heavily pregnant Tangi helped me pick the perfect ring. I wanted it to be unique and something Wolseley would cherish, so I settled on a ruby encrusted with diamonds. Rubies were Wolseley’s favorite.

“Of course, I’ll marry you,” she said. “But there is an issue.”

“An issue?”

She had me baffled, but by the expression on her face, she looked pretty serious, as if something was weighing on her. Did she have a husband she’d never mentioned?

“I had a conversation with Jan a few months ago about liability. I gave her some hypotheticals, and one of those happened to be the possibility of getting married and how my situation with the restaurant may affect any future husband.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“As a nearly bankrupt person like myself at the time, she didn’t think anyone would go after me. But let’s say I happened to marry a very sexy hockey player with the most amazing blue eyes who wasn’t at all bankrupt. Are you following along?”

I sipped some of my red wine. “Yes. Go on.”

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