Page 43 of The Next Of Us
“You could ask?”I offered doggedly.
He turned toward me and flipped me onto my side facing away from him.With his arm tight around my waist, he pulled me tight into the curve of his body.“Sleep, baby.We’ll figure it out.”
He drifted off almost immediately, his soft, steady snores that would have normally lulled me to sleep setting the backdrop to my musings.
His way forward seemed clear, almost too clear.Mine, not so much.
I could not shake the feeling that we had only a small window of opportunity, a sliver of time, a minute crack in the universe, to make the kind of changes he wanted.The kind of changes we both wanted.
Tomorrow.Tomorrow I would come up with some options.
17
Forgiveness
Nadine
Sliding into an empty spot along the main street, I parked the car and got out.I hadn’t left the house for two days and I was going slightly stir crazy.
The winter sun lit up everything in sight and there wasn’t a hint of wind.It was one of those days you could almost smell on a postcard.Clean, crisp, and new.
I was ready for something new.Aaron was right.I needed a dream of my own.
I don’t want to waste time chasing after a dream that will take more of me than I’m willing to give.
What exactly was I willing to give?There were restaurants in town, I could go back if I wanted.But I didn’t.Long nights and weekends away from Aaron were the last thing I wanted.I’d raised my kids.I deserved a reward.And I’d decided that reward would be getting back to the us we used to be.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have something sweet just for me.
I weaved in and out of the streets, stopping at The Beanery to enjoy a coffee and one of their famous chocolate croissants.They may not have been famous for all of Sage Ridge, but they were practically a staple at Max and Wren’s.She told me he picked up a box for her every Friday.
Circling back to the car, I passed Artitude, Wren’s art studio.The pretty window beckoned me inside, but she wasn’t there.Wren was almost forty years old, only five years younger than I was now, when she pursued her art.It wasn’t too late for me to begin again.
I still loved cooking, but in recent years I’d honed my skills in Artisan breads and savoury pastries, muffins and unleavened loaves, focaccia and flat bread pizza.I could almost smell the yeasty goodness.Mm.I’d have to stop at Beach Buns before heading home to pick up cheese buns.
Now Beach Buns actually was famous in Sage Ridge for their cheese buns and the chili they made in the winter months.Alone, they were delicious.Together?Spectacular.
Aaron loved that stuff.Hopefully it would lift his mood.
After only a week back at work, Aaron was back where he started before we went to Moose Lake.The change in his demeanour shocked me.I’d been so wrapped up in my own suffering, I’d failed to notice his.I’d been hesitant to embrace the changes he sought for us before, now I was full steam ahead.
I wanted my husband back.
At the sign on Beach Buns’ door, my plans came to a screeching halt.
Aaron
One day back at work felt like a week, one week felt like a year.I lost every bit of progress I’d scraped together up at Moose Lake and had already slipped back into an emotional coma.
Walking into the office without the weight of Lynda’s stare pregnant with a sick, desperate, hope loosened the knot in my stomach but did little to relieve the tightness in my chest.
Vera announcing her upcoming retirement in six months ensured, if I stayed, that I would have an entirely new staff.
The man I used to be loved meeting new people.This shadow version of myself wanted to hide.
After interviewing several candidates, Max had narrowed it down to three possibilities.Next week we planned to meet with each of them together.I had the final say seeing as I would be the one working with them.
How could I tell Max I no longer wanted to be here after everything he’d done for me?
