I pecked her on the lips and placed my briefcase on the kitchen table. I had a lot of work to complete tonight, but now that I was home, all I wanted to do was go to bed.
“Rough day?” she asked.
I rubbed my eyes. “Rougher than I can remember for a long time.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure tomorrow will be better.”
“I damn well hope so,” I said.
Jess frowned. “I made a casserole for dinner. Do you want me to heat it up for you?”
I checked my watch. “If you wouldn’t mind. I know it’s late though.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sort of the reason you’re stressed out now.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “I should have done more work when I was over there. Allison significantly underestimated how much was going on while I was gone.”
“Do you think you can catch up this week?” she asked.
“Probably not; I have this week’s work to do as well. I’m going to be pulling a lot of hours this week. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” she said. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a glass container. She moved around the kitchen as it were her own.
I sat down on one of the bar stools and watched her take a plate from the cabinet and place a chunk of the casserole onto it.
“Gina really missed you today,” she said.
“I feel guilty enough, Jess. I don’t need to hear that.”
“I’m just telling you what your daughter said,” I noted a hint of annoyance in her voice. Her attitude wasn’t helping my mood. I knew Gina missed me, but what the hell was I supposed to do about that? I had to work. Someone around here did.
“It will take her a few days to adjust to the new schedule,” Jess said. “Sometimes vacations, especially ones halfway across the country, need a little time. That’s all I was saying.”
“I know,” I said. “Today is the first day in a long line of days of adjustment for me.”
Jess broke up the chunk of casserole with a fork while she spoke. “Well, it’s a good thing you have a lot of money. If it gets too stressful, you can always sell the business and retire comfortably. I know Gina would love having you around more. Or you could take a demotion and be a salesman if you get bored with retirement.”
What? “Retirement? Jess, I’ve worked too hard to retire this early.”
Her eyes met mine. “You’ve made more in a short amount of time than most make their whole lives.”
“And I intend to keep making t
hat money until a proper retirement age.” I stood up. What did she know about my past? Not much. When we were alone, I monopolized the time to get to know her. And I guarded my past. Maybe if she knew about the struggle I’d had growing up, then she would get off my back about working. Wendy had done the same thing at times, even though she knew me back then. What was it with women always trying to fix me? I wasn’t broke. “I grew up in poverty, Jess. Like sometimes I didn’t eat for an entire day. I lived in a one bedroom apartment and slept on the floor. I’ve worked my ass off my whole life to never go back to that point again.”
“Noah,” Jess said. “I didn’t know.”
“And that’s my fault, but you should see where I’m coming from.”
“But you have money now,” she said. “You can do anything with it.”
“Like retire before I’m forty? She needs to look up to a strong parental figure. Not some guy who sits on his bank account and golfs all day.”
“I wasn’t saying that,” Jess said. “She knows you’re anything but lazy. Or a golfer.”
I knew she was trying to make light of the situation, but my mood wasn’t broken by her words.
“I’m more than that,” I said. “I’ve worked too hard to let it all go now. I’m in my prime, and I intend on going until I can’t go anymore.”