Page 24 of The Next Of Us
I didn’t need his words to understand the conflict in his eyes.Anguish flashed in those hazel depths that usually sparkled with laughter.
“Aaron,” I whispered.“What is it?”
Dropping onto his back, he crossed his arms over his face.“I’m not sure I want to do this job anymore.”
He wanted to leave his job?“But you’ve always loved your work—” I cut myself off.“It doesn’t matter.If you’re that unhappy, you need to make a change.”
“There are too many people counting on me.”
“Aaron, you have to put us first—”
“I am!”
I blinked.Aaron rarely raised his voice.
“Don’t you think I am?Thalia is still working on her doctorate, Brandon is only halfway through his bachelor’s degree, the roof needs replaced, the furnace is about to go, and I haven’t even mentioned car payments and the fact that Max is counting on me so he can retire!”
The very thing that made Aaron Aaron, was the one thing that held him back.“You can’t make decisions for us based on Max and your mom.”
“They’ve done so much for us.We can’t discount that.”
I nodded.“They have.Do you really think they’d want you doing something that is detrimental to your mental health and our marriage?”
He inhaled deeply.“It’s not that simple.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“Can we table this for now?I want to take you out.That’s why I woke you up.”He peeked at me from under his arm.“Can we just have another uncomplicated day of us?”
I nodded slowly.“We do have to talk about this.”
Rubbing his hand roughly over his face, he replied, “We will.Just not today.”
Two hours later, after getting ready and setting out, I began to laugh as Aaron took the exit to Mistlevale.“We’re going to Mistlevale?It’s halfway home!”
He grinned at me.“I know!But whether we drive an hour there and back from home or from the cabin, what does it matter?It’s a perfect day.We can’t waste it.And we haven’t gone in ages.”
“You’re a crazy man,” I accused with a smile.
“You can buy your Christmas ornaments,” he countered smugly.
Delight snapped my spine upright in my seat.
Every year I bought every single adult in our circle a new ornament for their Christmas tree.It was too much to buy everyone a present, but ornaments were easy.And oh, so pretty.I had my eye on a new one for my mother-in-law that was sure to make her cry.
I smiled to myself.
It wasn’t hard.Her heart was as big as Aaron’s.
Walking hand-in-hand through the Christmas-themed village tasted so much sweeter after the months spent in silence.
We popped into Ayana’s, the restaurant Aaron took me to on our tenth wedding anniversary when he gave me the ring he’d wished he could have afforded when we got engaged.For the longest time, I couldn’t wear it.How could I replace the ring he gave me when we were new?Finally, he had it expanded slightly to fit my other hand.After that, I never took it off.
I glanced down at it as we sat down.
“How hard I worked to squirrel money away for that and you wouldn’t even wear it,” he teased.
I laughed.“I would have worn it if it didn’t mean taking off this one.”I wiggled my ring finger, adorned with the tiny diamond he first gave me.
