I picked up a knife. “She has other plans this weekend. I don’t think she would like Newton Hills anyway.”
I felt a prickly stab under my ribs. I knew his life was in New York and it had been for years, but I loved where we grew up. I loved our high school and the friends back home.
“Is it beneath her? Is that what you’re trying to say?” I was hurt.
“No, Evie. She has a business event for us this weekend.”
“But that’s not how you said it. Why wouldn’t she like where we were raised? Are you embarrassed by it? Is it the town? Our state? The South?”
“I’m not—” He exhaled. “It has nothing to do with Newton Hills. It has to do with her. She’s not like you. She doesn’t like pillows and blankets. Or puppies. Or babies.”
My eyes widened. “What does she like?”
“Money.”
I considered his response. It wasn’t hard to believe with what little I knew about Sasha.
“That’s sad then. Money can’t make you happy.”
“It makes her happy. And people like my parents.”
“What about you?” I prodded. “Do you still think it’s all about money? I realize that’s a big part of how this happened.” I was going to live in our truth, not pretend we had fallen in love in a traditional way. Jeremy married me for money. Plain and simple.
“I want that baseball team. That hasn’t changed, but it’s not because of the money. I need the money to have the team. Don’t misunderstand. I fucking love money. I like buying expensive things. I like having first class seats. I like renting a villa for my wife on her honeymoon. I liked having the cash to buy you the biggest fucking diamond I could put on your finger. Money opens doors. But I’m not going to forget the pain it caused me. It ruined the people my parents could have been. It dictated every part of their lives. I’m not going to make that same mistake.”
I wanted to reach across the table and kiss him, but I held my roll and continued to nibble it while he spoke.
“We’re going to do this a different way, Evie. I swear, we’re going to be happy with money.”
“And if it suddenly disappeared?”
His eyes darted to mine. “That won’t happen.”
I knew better than to press him. I wanted to enjoy our dinner. I wanted to fall asleep with Jer’s arms around me, not lying back to back over a dumb fight. I was a new wife, but I was learning how to pick my battles.
“No, it won’t.”
I reached for the wine. “What do you think about movie night, tonight? I think it’s a marriage requirement that we need a show to binge or at least a list of Oscar movies to watch.”
“Pillows and now binging? What are you trying to do to me?”
“You get first choice?”
He chuckled. “I’m going to make you watch every single Jane Austen movie ever made.”
“Seriously?”
“No. We are watching the latest Jack Hudson movie.”
I groaned. “Ok. And then Jane Austen?” I was hopeful. “Think how proud Mrs. Wratchet would be of us.”
“We aren’t in AP English anymore, babe.”
We walked to the couch with our glasses. I suddenly didn’t care what movie we watched. All I knew was that with Jeremy’s strong body aligned with mine, surrounded by a new set of cozy pillows and blankets, nothing else could make me happier in the world.
8
Jeremy