Happily This Christmas (Happily Inc #6) - Susan Mallery Page 0,12
that I don’t love her and Bailey, it’s just, I can’t be her entertainment every second I’m not working. She’s complaining we’re not going to have any family with us for Thanksgiving. It will just be the three of us.” He looked away. “Maybe marrying her was a mistake. It’s too much.”
Garrick took in the information, trying to decide how to handle the situation. With some men, it helped to berate them into seeing sense. Others needed to be led to the truth.
“You and Angie moved here from where?” he asked.
“New Mexico.”
“That’s a long way from home. Does she have a big family there?”
Phillips nodded. “A couple of sisters, her folks, all her friends. She was a nurse there, but with Bailey and all, she hasn’t had time to get her license here.”
Garrick leaned back in his chair, his posture relaxed. “You moved your wife away from her family, her home and her job to a town where she doesn’t know anyone. She’s caring for your daughter twenty-four hours a day, and when you get home, she wants to have a conversation with you and have you take part in raising the child that is half yours. At the same time, you have a new career that is interesting and meets all your social needs. You’re going and doing all day long, so much so that when you pull into the driveway, you just want to be left alone. Do I have that right, Phillips?”
The officer flushed. “It’s not like that.”
“Isn’t it? Tell me what I got wrong.”
“She wanted to come here, too. It wasn’t my decision.”
“And why is that? To further her own career?”
Phillips looked away. “To help me with mine.”
“Do you love her?”
Phillips pulled his head back to stare at Garrick. “What?”
“Do you still love your wife?”
“Of course I do. It’s just—”
Garrick held up a hand. “No. Whatever you’re going to say, don’t. It’ll only make you look bad.” He leaned close. “Here’s the thing. You’re an idiot. You’re married to a smart woman who had a great career. She gave that up for you. She moved to a strange place where she has absolutely no support system, for you. The way I see it, the woman gave up pretty much all she had and here you are, complaining like a little boy.”
“I’m not complaining.”
Garrick let the words hang there for a second before speaking.
“Don’t move out like some indecisive whiner. Man up or let her go.”
Phillips’s eyes widened. “Let her go? You mean divorce her?”
“Why not? It would solve all your problems. She could move back home and be with people who actually love her. You won’t have to deal with your wife and kid. Didn’t you just tell me getting married was a mistake? So undo it. Sure, your daughter will grow up without you, but hey, that’s the price of freedom, right? Besides, if Angie is all you say she is, she won’t be single long. Bailey will have a new dad, and you won’t have to worry about her at all.”
Phillips balled his hands into fists. “Sir, I don’t want a divorce. I don’t want her leaving. Why would you say that?”
“I think the bigger question is why aren’t you on your knees every damn day saying a prayer of gratitude that you have a woman willing to do what she did for you? A woman raising your kid, taking care of everything while you live out your dream job. She wants to talk, then you talk. She wants you to take care of your daughter, you say thank you for the privilege of spending time with the most amazing human being you’ve had the good fortune to have in your life. Give Angie flowers, hire a babysitter and take her out to dinner. Talk to some of the guys you work with and find out who would like to have you three with them for Thanksgiving. I’d say invite them to your place, but that’s just more work for your wife. Take time off work so Angie can do what she needs to do to be licensed in California. Make this right, Phillips, or I will start to think you’re not the man I thought you were.”
Garrick waited, not sure if he’d gone too far or not. He knew that a few of his HR professors wouldn’t approve of his style, but he was okay with that. He had a feeling Phillips didn’t want a divorce—he just needed to see what he was