Page 88 of The I Do Over

“Knox, your business is very important to you and it’s growing like wild! You and the guys have been planning this for years and everything’s falling into place! You can’t just leave it!” And with that, she rolled out of the bed and put her robe on before storming out of the room.

Oh, for the love of it…

Hauling himself out of the bed, he pulled his boxer briefs on and went after her and found her with the refrigerator door open, pulling out ice cream toppings.

Without a word, he took the items from her hands and made her a sundae. Maybe the food would distract her enough so he could reason with her.

They sat down at the kitchen table after Knox made a bowl of ice cream for himself. “When I originally brought up the subject of us moving in together, I made that all about me. I didn’t bother asking if you wanted to move to Raleigh. I just assumed you would. And judging by the way you responded, I now realize that it wasn’t something you wanted to do.”

“You took me by surprise,” she said before licking her spoon clean. “I didn’t even realize you were thinking of that so soon. I wasn’t opposed to it; I just wasn’t expecting us to have that conversation yet.”

He nodded and took a spoonful of mint chocolate chip ice cream. “Well, I’m going to be honest with you, Mads, I’m not doing the long-distance thing anymore. I didn’t like it before and I sure as hell don’t want that now that we’re having a baby.”

“It wouldn’t be long-distance,” she countered sweetly. “You did just ask me to marry you, so…”

“You know what I mean. Weddings take time to plan, and I don’t want to keep going the way we were. I don’t want to miss out on anything with your pregnancy. Plus…we need to be here in Virginia for your mom.”

Her hand stilled halfway to her mouth. “Um…what?”

“Yeah. I know we need to be close to your mother. I can’t ask you to move away from her.”

Maddie’s expression softened. “Raleigh isn’t that much further.”

“You’re about 90 minutes from her now. Raleigh adds another hour to that. It’s too far away,” he said, realizing how he was really just figuring this all out right this minute.

She was silent for several moments, except for the yummy noises she was making while finishing her dessert. Once she was done, she pushed her bowl aside and looked up at him.

“Counter-offer.”

“Excuse me?”

She nodded. “Counter-offer. You’ve given me your proposal for what you’d like for us to do, and while it’s perfectly fine, I have some ideas of my own.”

“O-kay…” Although he wasn’t sure why she wasn’t readily agreeing with him. His plan made the most sense with the least disruption to her life. How could she possibly have a problem with it?

Resting her arms on the table, she gave him a serene smile. “First of all, I appreciate how much you’ve thought about this and all the concessions you’re willing to make for us.”

“It really didn’t…”

Holding up her hand to stop him, she went on. “However, I believe our original plans were to move to North Carolina, and we both agreed that we wanted the future that we had planned all those years ago.”

“Mads, come on. We don’t have to be so literal about it.”

“It’s not about being literal; it’s about being honest.” Reaching over, she took one of his hands in hers. “I have a life in Chesapeake, but it’s not one that I love. On the weekends when I came to you in Raleigh, it felt right…like that was where I was supposed to be.”

“But…what about your clinic?”

She let out a long breath. “Well…obviously I don’t have it all worked out just yet, but…I’ve had a lot of offers for it over the years and always turned them down. I enjoyed staying small and not turning into some big corporate chain. I think Jenna and Heather have always been a little frustrated with my refusal to expand, but…I have a feeling if I offered it to them, they’d jump at the chance.”

“I…I don’t even know what to say to that.” Honestly, he was completely blown away. When she had semi turned him down when he proposed having her move in with him, Knox just figured it was because of her business. “Would you want to open your own clinic in Raleigh?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. Considering we’re having a baby, now might not be the right time for that. I’d be more than happy joining an existing clinic and then, maybe a year or two down the line, we could look into me going out on my own.”

He nodded and couldn’t believe they were discussing this—finally!

“And as for my mom,” she went on, “I think it might be nice to move her to Raleigh too. Maybe we can find a place with a guest house or find a house with an in-law suite.” She sighed. “Although I think it might be easier with a baby on the way if she were close by but not sharing the house.” Her expression turned sad. “Oh God. Does that make me a bad daughter?”

Knox gave her hand a gentle tug and before he knew it, she was crawling into his lap.

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