I recalled the day I’d sat down with Maxx and Stefano.
“I need time away.”
“How much?” Maxx asked.
“I’ll be coming and going for the next year—at least.”
His eyebrows shot up. “A year?”
“I’m going with Kelly on each of her assignments. I want to be with her. To see the world with her. None of them will be longer than a few weeks. But there could be others.”
Maxx rubbed his chin.
“I have an idea,” I said.
“I’m all ears.”
“Chase could do the job. He knows the business. The contacts. The protocols, as well as I do. Make him assistant manager. When I’m here, great. When I’m gone, he steps in.”
“He has no management experience,” Stefano pointed out.
“Neither did I. I learned. So will he.”
Charly strolled in and perched on Maxx’s lap. He slipped an arm around her waist, tucking her close. “I think Brett is right. He’s learned so much from all of you. We can hire another gofer,” she offered.
“I wasn’t aware you were invited to this meeting,” I said dryly, knowing that was BS. Charly always was involved, even if we tried to meet in secret. She always knew.
She only smiled. Then she shifted. “Holy moly, big man. Stop poking that at me.”
Maxx chuckled and reached into his pocket. “This time, it is a wrench, Red. Sorry to disappoint.”
“Hmmph. I’m losing my touch.”
“Okay, back to the issue at hand,” I muttered. “Take your foreplay elsewhere later.”
Charly laughed and Maxx grunted.
“We’ll figure out my salary and all the particulars.”
Charly laughed. “You all get a month holiday a year. I put that in the partner agreement. You, Brett, have never taken a day. None of you has used all your time. So we can start with you using that time, and then we’ll discuss salary.”
“Great.”
“What about the house?” Stefano asked.
“Chase is looking for a new roommate. He was going to advertise, I think.”
“Wow. New job, new roommate—things are changing for our boy.”
“Yep.”
“You too.” Charly smiled. “I’ve never known Kelly to be so peaceful and happy.”
I winked. “Then my job is done.”
“What are you smiling at?” Kelly asked, her voice still thick with sleep.
“Thinking about the last year. All the things we’ve seen.” I pressed a kiss to her head. “About going home and reconnecting to our life there.”
She snuggled closer. “Yeah. I’m looking forward to going home.”
I loved hearing her refer to Littleburn and our cottage as home. It made my heart beat a little faster.
“Do you think they’ll be mad?”
I picked up her hand, kissing the thick band that matched the one on my own finger. “That we got married here? No. Charly will pretend to be pissed, then inform us she’s having a party, which we will graciously agree to, and all will be well.”
“It was so perfect,” Kelly whispered. “Just us and the sand and waves.”
I chuckled. “The justice of the peace and the two witnesses helped.”
“They were background noise. All I saw was you.”
I lowered my head and kissed her. “All I ever see is you. No matter what surrounds us, you always stand out to me, my beautiful wife.”
She pushed up on my chest, making the hammock swing. “I love you.”
I brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. She’d let it grow, and I loved how it looked hanging to her shoulders, a sleek, dark ribbon of silk.
“I love you, Kelly Conner.”
“Do you want babies now?”
I looked at her, surprised. “I thought we agreed another couple years of travel, then we’d discuss it.”
We had agreed we wanted children, but we wanted to explore first. I had been surprised Kelly was interested in being a mom, but she’d admitted seeing Charly and Gabby with their kids made her realize she wanted a child. And she loved watching me with the kids, imagining they were ours. I was thrilled but also happy to wait a while. I wanted her to myself for a bit, then we could expand our family.
Was she ready now?
“I just want you to know if you decided you were ready, I would adjust my plans.”
“I want us both to be ready. To go on to that part of our journey with no regrets.”
“I would never feel regret having your baby.”
“Soon,” I promised. “We’ll discuss it next year.”
She slid her hands up my torso. “Okay. Next year.” She nibbled on my neck, flicking her tongue out to tease my skin. “We could still practice.”
I was out of the hammock with her in my arms in ten seconds.
“Yeah, we can, Shutterbug. Practice makes perfect.”
She hummed into my neck.
“We already are, Brett. We already are.”
And she was right.