The Engagement Arrangement (Boots and Bouquets #2) - Jaci Burton Page 0,87
sandwich when he got home.”
He nodded as he swallowed, then said, “Makes sense.”
She lifted her head. “Say you’re married to . . . someone. What would your expectations be about the whole cooking thing?”
“Never thought about it, honestly. I guess if she likes to cook, great. But I don’t mind doing the cooking if she’s not into it.”
“Huh.” She took a bite and chewed while staring out over the water.
“What would your expectations be?” he asked.
She pulled her gaze from the water. “Same as yours. I’m not big on one person being responsible for certain roles. Like the guy having to mow the lawn and take out the trash, and the woman having to do the cooking and cleaning.”
“Nah, that’s bullshit. If you live together, you share everything. Though I do enjoy mowing. I’d hate for my wife to take that task away from me.”
She laughed. “Is that right?”
“Yeah. I like being outside.”
“So do I.”
“Okay. I’ll mow. You get to be in charge of the garden.”
He waited for her to laugh again, but she looked away to stare out at the water, as if she was pondering something monumental.
Or maybe she was just trying to wake up. It was still early.
He hadn’t meant to plan out their future like that, to assume they’d have that life where he mowed and she gardened.
Or maybe he had. Maybe he was testing the waters to see how she’d react.
And now he knew. But he filed it away, because they were out on the water, it was a beautiful, cool fall morning and it wasn’t the time for deep discussion.
After they finished eating, Finn got out the fishing poles and strung up their lines. They sat back and watched the sun come up over the hills while Murphy barked at the birds circling overhead.
“How do you feel about a working mother?” Brenna asked.
He shifted his gaze over to her. “What?”
“Say you get married, and you and your wife have a child, and she wants to go back to work after she has the baby. How do you feel about that?”
“I’d feel fine about it. Did you assume I’d want my wife to quit her job and become a full-time mother?”
“I assumed nothing. I was just asking a question.”
Since the topic had never come up, it was worth pondering. “I guess if she wanted to stay home and raise the kids, we’d discuss it. Otherwise, why should she give up her career? I’m not giving up mine.”
“But what about the child? Who’s going to care for it? Have you thought about that?”
“Actually, no, I haven’t thought about it at all since I don’t currently have a kid.”
She glared at him as if he’d abandoned a child he didn’t yet have, but she let the subject drop while they continued to fish.
Twenty minutes later, she asked, “What if your wife makes more money than you do?”
He grinned. “Wouldn’t that be fucking awesome? There’s nothing better than success, is there?”
“And then what? You’ll quit your job, sit on your ass and drink whiskey all day while she works?”
He leaned back to study her. “Where did I say I’d quit my job? I just said my as-yet-nonexistent-wife making more money than me would be great. That I’d be proud of her. Not that I’d sponge off her.”
“Hmm.”
“Did you read some article or something?”
“What?”
“Some article about the shittiest kinds of men.”
“No, I didn’t read an article. I’m just making conversation.”
Yeah, conversation that felt accusatory, like it was directed at him and some terrible misdeeds he hadn’t yet done. Or wouldn’t ever do, for that matter.
Suddenly his pole had a bite, so he got distracted reeling it in, a nice-sized bass that Brenna helped him net and slide into the cooler.
“Good catch,” she said.
“Thanks.”
He set his pole back in the water, and it wasn’t thirty minutes later that Brenna had a nibble. He let her go at it since she’d been fishing with her dad since she was little and knew what she was doing. Plus, he enjoyed watching her cuss and then laugh as the fish fought her, and Finn knew if she needed help she’d have asked for it.
She didn’t need it. She pulled in a bass of her own that was just a touch smaller than the one he’d caught.
He tucked it into the cooler.
“You really did a nice job reeling that one in.”
She lowered her sunglasses and gave him a look. “Was there any doubt I could? Because I’m a woman you thought maybe I couldn’t