Page 58 of Waiting for Tuesday

We took a shower afterward, where he opened every bottle of soap in my shower and tested them on my skin. He told me it was for product knowledge, but I knew this was just part of him. He was like a little boy concocting a potion, and I thoroughly enjoyedbeing part of his experiment. After he washed every nook and cranny, he carried me back to bed and made love to me one last time.

I lay there now, my head on his chest, listening to him breathing.

“Are you going to go home tonight?” I asked. It was already midnight, and the question had been aching in my chest for over an hour.

He lifted his head, shifting slightly so he could look at me better. “Do you want me to?”

I swallowed, my heart suddenly picking up speed. “I was just wondering about Ginger.”

His forehead creased slightly, and he shook his head. “She’s with my sister.” But he didn’t look away. “Do you want me to stay, Tuesday?”

It was such a simple question, but one that was so hard for me to answer, because it was admitting that I wanted this, telling him I wanted him, saying it out loud for the first time. Something I’d said a million different ways in the last week and a half, but I’d never actually verbalized. “Yes,” I whispered. “I want that very much.”

“Do you want me?” His question surprised me. So did his vulnerability I’d never seen him like this before.

I bit my lip and shifted my eyes downward. “Again?”

He lifted my chin, his face serious as he shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

I cupped the sides of his face, feeling tears fill the back of my throat, but knowing he deserved my honesty. I trusted him. Trusted him with my heart, even though it was so hard to give. I nodded. “Very much.” My voice held all the emotions I felt inside.

He smiled then and traced my lips with his finger. “Me too.”

I lowered my head back to his chest and hugged him so hard. He hugged me back, and we fell asleep, completely nude, nothing between us but a future I couldn’t wait to begin.

Chapter TWENTY-FOUR

Tuesday

* * *

Aweek later, sitting on the stool behind the register, I passed the sales ad across to Becky. She snatched it out of my hand, turning it twice before resting her back on the counter. She smiled so wide I could see all of her perfectly white teeth practically sparkle with pride.

“Damn this looks good.” She flipped through each page, reading each description, even though she knew them by heart. She’d helped me write every one.

She was even here when Jake’s wife, Katie, sent someone to take product photos. But still, Becky looked over each page as if she was seeing it all for the first time. She turned around with tears brimming her eyes and pulled in a breath. “I’m so happy for you.”

I nodded, feeling extra emotional too. The ad wouldn’t go live until next Tuesday, yet we were both already crying. Tuesday was my lucky day, the day I was born, the day I met John, and it would be the day I opened my shop to the world. But Becky wasn’t just talking about the ad or the store. She was talking about John too; she was happy about all of it.

John came out from the back room, and Becky and I both straightened and wiped at our eyes.

He glanced between Becky and me as he came closer. “Everything okay?”

Becky held the paper out to him and sniffed loudly. “Oh you know, looking at an ad for an awesome store that just happens to open next Tuesday.”

He grinned slightly, took the paper from her hand, and flipped it over. I could tell he was happy, but there was something hard there, too. The store opening was a beginning in so many ways, but it was also an end. And end of the relationship as we both knew it. We both felt it, and it was something that was heavy on my mind.

As he flipped through the pages, examining each breathtaking photo, I could tell it was heavy on his mind, too.

Over the past three weeks, we’d spent almost every moment together. Even when he was deep in work in the back room, I knew he was there, but now we only had four more days of this. John already had another job lined up to start on Monday. All the way across town.

We’d stay together of course, but it would be different. It scared me a little because things were still new, exciting, and even though I trusted him completely, I still feared it wouldn’t be enough.

Becky excused herself, moving to the back room to make a phone call, and John handed me the paper. “You should frame that. Add it to your wall.”

I grinned a little because in such a short amount of time, he knew me so well. “I just might.”

He looked over his shoulder to make sure we were alone. “I was wondering,”—he took a deep breath and faced me again—“what are you doing this Saturday?”

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