Page 64 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

My eyes lifted to hers. “You’re quitting?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Her head tilted to the side, and a small smile appeared on her perfect lips. “I think we both know that we can’t work together, and the truth is I’m not qualified for this job.”

She was right. I’d planned on demoting her. So why was I upset that she was leaving? Maybe because I hadn’t known that Ashley was Carrie.

“I appreciate Stella’s faith in me and everything I’ve learned, but I’m not exactly sure why she hired me,” she explained. “She mentioned several times that she sees a lot of herself in me, so Ithinkthat she might have been living out the opportunities she wished she’d been given at my age.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to teach art again and take a little time with my family.”

She turned back to leave again, and with each step she took toward the door, panic rose inside of me.

As her hand reached for the knob, I blurted out, “Marry me.”

She froze in place, and so did I.

Slowly, she turned to face me. When she did, there was a look of shock on her face that I suspected mirrored my own.

“What?” she breathed.

Was I going to repeat myself? No. Surely not. I must be having a nervous breakdown. It had to be a midlife crisis or maybe jet lag.

I opened my mouth to say that I didn’t mean what I’d said, that it was a bad joke or something, but when I spoke, the same words came out. “Marry me.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Apparently, I was.

“Why not?”

Yep, I had doubled down.

I wasn’t sure if I’d gotten so in the habit of arguing with Ashley Thompson that it was a knee-jerk reaction that I was actually going to make a case for my insane idea. Or if this was just the way I behaved around Carrie, which was totally out of character. Maybe it was a combo of the two. I guess I would find out as the conversation continued because, at this point, her guess was as good as mine.

“You don’t want to marry me,” she stated.

“Why not?” I repeated.

I wasn’t sure if I did either, but that wasn’t the point right now.

“You don’t evenlikeme.”

“I do like you.”

“I’m not talking about Carrie. I’m talking aboutme, Ashley.”

“I do like you, Ashley.”

That seemed to surprise her, but it was true. In fact, now that I thought about it, some of the things I loved about Carrie were the same things I liked about Ashley. I never knew what Ashley or Carrie were going to say. Both women surprised me.

“You don’tloveme.”

“That’s not the only reason people get married.”

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