Page 31 of Spicy Nick

“Well, that all sounds good.”

“Yeah, well, I thought so too. It’s just that, once it was a done deal, I guess I started to panic a little. I started worrying about beingtoocommitted here,tootied down. About where I would go and what I would do if it all went sideways. At least that’s what Edge said.”

“Edge the angel?”

“Yeah, but I’m cured of that now. I hated every minute of his stupid freebie, but it worked. I know now that my being herehasmade a difference. I know this is where I belong. And I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting.”

“Hey. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not! I hate knowing that I upset you. It’s just… I’ve been feeling overwhelmed, you know? But it’ll be okay. It’ll get better. I promise.”

I nod. I’ve got my feet back under me again—even if my emotions feel like they’ve just done another one-eighty-degree turn at high speed. I take hold of her hand and squeeze it tight. “I know. It will be okay. And I think I can help. I think I have a solution for how we can deal with the overwhelm.”

She eyes me warily. “Okay.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, too, in these last few days. And I think the best way for us to handle this is for me to take early retirement.”

Scout’s eyes widen, her eyebrows shift up her forehead. “Okay?” And great. Now she’s doing it, too. I swear, next year I’m getting us matching thesauruses for Christmas. “That’s not whatI was expecting you to say. But, okay. Sure. If that’s what you want…”

“It really is. Assuming you don’t mind being the primary breadwinner—or really, the only breadwinner, for a while?”

“I…don’t. Mind, I mean.”

“Because that way I could do the whole stay-at-home dad thing. You know? I’d spend time with the kids, deal with things around the house, keep track of everyone’s schedules—all that stuff. And that would free you up to spend more time traveling if you wanted to.” Except she didn’t want to, or wasn’t going to, or…shit. “Or, you know, not traveling. Just whatever else you want to do with your time. Spend more of it on your work. Or just…nothing. Just not be overwhelmed.”

“That sounds really good, but… I mean, look, of course I don’t mind. In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole ‘breadwinner’ concept, as well. And what I’ve realized is that neither of us is that.”

“That is not true,” I have to point out—she brings in more than I do. No question. “You win a lot of the bread, Scout. Most of it, in fact.”

But once again, she disagrees. “No, actually. I don’t.”

“Scout…”

“I’m serious, Nick. I’m not saying I don’t make good money with my art. But most of the money that funds our lifestyle comes from my inheritance, from my father’s estate, and my stepmother’s. It’s really their money, when you think about it. Just like this was originally their house.”

“Right. It was theirs. Now, it’s yours. I didn’t know either of them very well, but I’m pretty sure they’d agree with me.”

“Why? What makes it mine? Is it just because my name’s on all the paperwork?”

“That is generally how that kind of thing works, isn’t it?”

“All right. Well…I think you’ve just proved my point.”

I’m confused again. “Which is?”

“That if I want to use my money in a way that makes us happy—in a way that makesallof us happy. And in a way that would allow us all to live our best lives, then that’s what we should do. Agreed?”

I smile at her. “Look, it’s late. And we still have a lot of work to do. We can argue about this another time, can’t we?”

“I don’twantto argue about it,” Scout says. “Now or later. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It’s why I’m suggesting we sell the house.”

“The…house? You meanthishouse?” My mouth drops open. A sound like burning rubber fills my brain as my spirits U-turn abruptly, yet again. What the actual fuck? “Ourhouse?” All of a sudden it occurs to me that I may have been very, very tone-deaf on the subject of Christmas gifts. Which sucks, actually. Although not half as much as the thought oflosing our homedoes. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?” she demands. “I just explained it, didn’t I?”

“Is that what that was? An explanation? Seriously?”

“Why are you doing this?” she snaps. “Are you trying to be difficult?”

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