“Are we going to the barn?” I asked.
She didn’t say anything and picked up the pace a bit.
“What’s the rush, pumpkin? Where in the hell are you trying to go?”
She squeezed my hand and said, “The barn, damn it, but I just heard something running off! Hurry and walk faster!”
I reached down and swept her off her feet, carrying her the rest of the way to the barn. Gunner had built it right after his house was done and they only kept a few horses out there. It was probably the nicest barn I’d ever seen. The upper loft was finished out and a few times me, Gunner, Jeff and Josh had gone up there and just sat for hours shooting the shit. Fuck. I want to move out here and be closer to our friends.
The moment we walked into the barn and I saw the light coming from upstairs I knew something was up. I looked at Amanda and winked.
“You had this planned all along?” I asked her as I slowly set her down.
She nodded her head and bit down on her lower lip and started chewing on it. Clear sign she’s nervous about something. She slowly started walking backwards and over to the stairs. She didn’t want to…here? In Gunner’s barn?
I let out a small chuckle and started to follow her before I stopped. “Amanda…are you really wanting to have sex in Gunner’s barn? Baby, I love this new side of you and all, but…” I turned back and looked at the opening to the barn.
When I turned back around she was halfway up the stairs. Then I heard her let out a gasp and I took off up the stairs after her.
“What? What’s wrong…what did you—” I stopped dead in my tracks. “Oh wow,” I whispered. The loft was covered in white lights. Everywhere you looked were lights. The small round table that was up here was covered in a beautiful white tablecloth and there was a huge bouquet of white roses. As I followed Amanda, I noticed there was a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries and another tray that had fruit and cheese on it. Next to the table was a bottle of sparkling water and I had to laugh. I think I was the only one out of our friends who no longer drank. The two glasses on the table said “Congratulations” on them.
Holy hell. How did Amanda find out about my promotion?
Amanda put her hands up to her mouth and started crying. Why is she crying about my promotion? I thought she’d be happy. Shit.
I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her and asked, “Why are you crying?”
She slowly nodded her head and said, “They made it so special. They did this for us. ” Then she began sobbing. I turned her around and pulled her chin up and looked into her eyes.
“Who made it so special?”
She wiped her nose in a not-so-romantic way and laughed. “Ari, Heather, Ellie and Jen. They planned all this for us. ”
I shook my head. “How did they find out?”
She looked at me with a shocked expression. “What? How did they find out what?”
“That I got promoted at work?” I said. Amanda looked even more confused.
“You got promoted at work?” she asked, her mouth dropping open and her eyes lighting up.
I nodded my head. “Yep. I’m now going to be working mostly from home—
except for when I have to go in for meetings where they need me there. ”
She slammed her hands over her mouth and started jumping up and down. “Oh. My. God! You’re going to be home with Meg and me? All the time?”
I nodded my head and she immediately fell into my arms and began crying harder.
“Thank you God. Oh…my…oh thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered in between sobs.
Now I was the one who was confused. I thought she knew about the promotion. I pulled her away from me and said, “Wait. I thought you knew about the promotion. ”
She shook her head quickly. “No! How would I know about it? I didn’t think they were announcing it until after the first of the year. Oh, Brad. This is such wonderful news!” She went to hug me again but I stopped her.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Wait, pumpkin…if you didn’t know about the promotion, what is this all about?” I looked at the crystal glasses. “I mean the glasses say “Congratulations” on them. What else are we celebrating?”
She bit down on her lip and began chewing on it again. I pulled it out and said, “Manda, stop chewing your lip off. ”