“Is it me that you really need, or the idea of having a little trophy wife?” I regretted the words the second they fell from my lips.
Taylor pulled me against him and whispered, “I love you, Alice. My entire life didn’t make any sense until you appeared.”
He leaned back to look at my eyes, ignoring the fact that Gretchen was listening intently. “I love every single thing about you, even though I don’t know nearly enough. I do want you as my partner, in every possible way. I’d love to take you to Italy to study those artists you love. And Paris. And wherever else you want.”
“You’d come with me? What about your work?”
He shook his head. “I’ll put everything on hold. Or I’ll put one of the other guys in charge of security scheduling. I only care about you.”
My shoulders began to quiver. Then my bottom lip. “Nobody has ever gone out of their way to do anything for me. It’s strange.”
Suddenly I was in his lap, as he held my head against his shoulder, rocking me gently as the sobs rattled straight through me.
“I’ll always be open with you about everything,” he said, stroking my hair. “And you can help me figure out the right thing to do about that real estate project.”
“I don’t want to get in your way.”
“Alice, you are my way now,” he said. “You’re the only one that matters. I know you have to feel this between us.”
Nodding, Gretchen pressed a tissue into my hand so that I could dab my eyes. “Thank you.”
“I can tell you two truly love each other,” she said gently. “We all get tangled up sometimes, trying to do the right thing, and trying to keep stress away from our partner. The more we can bring the walls down and be completely open, the better.”
Nodding, I twisted to breathe into Taylor’s ear, “No more trying to get around the rules of your grandfather’s estate?”
“Absolutely,” he said.
Gretchen smiled, looking pleased as punch. “You two are going to be just fine. I’m going to give you some brochures with homework assignments.”
Taylor gave her a flat look, then raised his eyebrow to me. “You’ll do your homework and you’ll like it,” I smiled, dabbing away the la
st of the tears.
“Don’t worry,” Gretchen said with a smile, “Most of the exercises are fun, like cooking for each other, sharing positive childhood stories, and finding new ways to say ‘I love you’ without using words.”
Taylor’s warm hand caressed my side. “Does taking my beautiful wife home and giving her a bubble bath count as homework?”
14
_____
Taylor
Alice was quiet on the way home, but I reached out to hold her hand as often as possible. When we got back to my house, we kicked off our shoes and went straight to the living room couch.
Holding her hands between us, I asked, “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Are we all right?” I asked, watching her eyes carefully.
My heart nearly stopped until her tiny smile took over. “I think so.”
My loud sigh of relief made her smile more widely.
“I still don’t like that the terms of your grandfather’s Will specifically stated to create educational programming, and you and your cousins have tried to find a way around it,” she said slowly. “It’s like you’re bending the rules. Cheating.”
Nodding, I picked up my laptop from the coffee table. “Let’s go through it together then.”