Page 57 of Love Rescheduled

I contemplated that question. “We should probably keep the relationship sessions going. Do you think you could help Josh visualize wiping the sink after he uses it?”

“I’m sure I can help him visualize it, but whether he does it is another story,” he quipped.

“Ugh,” I groaned. Toothpaste and saliva in the sink made my stomach roil a bit. “If Josh and I ever buy a house together, we are getting separate bathrooms.” Though I had a feeling he would still use mine.

“Great solution,” Alec complimented me. “Speaking of which, how are we feeling about getting married?” He cleared his throat.

At first I bit my lip, but then it dawned on me. “You’re being Josh’s spy.”

“What, girl? No,” he stumbled on his words.

“You’re totally lying. Doesn’t this go against some honor code for coaches?”

Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day, and I kept wondering what Josh had in store. He had been tight-lipped about it but adamant he wasn’t giving me the ring until I told him I wanted it. It’s not that I didn’t want it. I was just cautious.

I knew one thing we were doing, and that was my podcast with Tara and Jolene. It was a special Valentine’s Day edition. My best friends had begged me to let Josh be part of it, knowing full well what that was going to do for the show’s popularity. I had agreed but warned them we still weren’t going to use my name or photo. But Alec was making me wonder if Josh had more in store. Was Josh going to propose? There was no question I would say yes. Did it scare me? Absolutely. Was I going to make a slide deck about how to properly clean a bathroom for his reference? Definitely. I was sure his response would be to hire professional cleaners. We were going to drive each other crazy for eternity. I looked forward to it. I’d done life without Josh, and I wasn’t willing to again.

“Girl, you know I would never play you like that.” His smile said differently.

“Uh-huh.”

He laughed.

Laney, Josh’s mom, walked in. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something?”

“Hey, Mrs. K.,” Alec called out.

“Oh, Alec.” Laney came in and sat next to me. She was the cutest woman. Petite and delicate, with long dyed-blonde hair. And she always smelled like sugar cookies. In fact, I think she was baking some now for Valentine’s Day. “I was just telling Josh we need to invite you for Easter.”

Of course Laney was already friends with Alec. I believe Josh inherited his superpower from his mom. She and Josh’s dad, Kent, certainly made me feel very welcome. Very much like a daughter.

Case in point. Laney took my hand in her own, holding it like a mother would, or more like should.

I inched closer to her. There was something about her that made me feel safe.

She squeezed my hand.

“I would love to visit,” Alec responded.

I had never once thought about meeting Alec in person. What a shame. I needed to be better about things like that.

“Marvelous,” Laney exclaimed. “I better let you two get back to business.”

“That’s okay.” I smirked at Alec, denying him the ability to pass any information on to Josh. “I think we’re done for today.”

“Girl, I love you, but that’s cold. All off the record,” Alec teased. “I’m still charging you for the full hour.” That he was serious about.

“I would expect no less. Goodbye.” I waved before clicking out of my screen.

“I hope I didn’t make you cut your session short,” Laney worried.

“Not at all,” I assured her, more curious than ever about what Josh had planned for tomorrow.

Her eyes lit up. “Good. I was hoping we could have a little girl time before Josh and Kent get home.”

It was moments like this where I had to ask myself what was most important to my well-being. Keeping to my schedule or loving the people around me? I was ahead of schedule with the book I was editing. And I was finding the more I allowed people in and stopped trying to control every aspect of my life, the happier I became. Who knew? Don’t get me wrong: I would make up the missed work somehow. That was just how I rolled. But I was discovering life didn’t always need to be a series of items on a checklist. My therapist was helping me see I was using those things to hide from the pain. Now I was trying to work through it despite the pain the journey had caused.

“What did you have in mind?”

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