behavior when we get home.”
Home. He’ll make it up to me when we get home. I liked the sound of that for a lot of reasons.
Chapter 30
* * *
Ireland
The next week was absolute bliss. Grant and I stayed holed up in his condo for a day and a half—spending Sunday christening every surface we could. Then Monday morning he had to go to a meeting out of town, and a gigantic bouquet of flowers was delivered to the office. They took up half of my desk. Tuesday he met the plumbing contractor at my house so I could work late. Wednesday we ate lunch in his office and locked the door for a quickie. Thursday and Friday, we slept at my place.
On Saturday morning, he went into the office while I waited at my apartment for Mia to come over. She’d come back from her honeymoon earlier in the week and officially moved into Christian’s place, but she still had a ton of boxes at our apartment. We were going to take them over to Goodwill today after getting some lunch.
I practically sprinted to her when she walked in. It was probably the longest I’d gone without seeing her since we were kids.
“Honey, I’m home!” she yelled.
We embraced for the longest time, and when I pulled back, I shook my head. “Look at you. You’re so tan and relaxed. And you look so…married.” I smiled.
“I missed you. Kauai was amazing. But it would have been better if you were there, too. You would’ve loved the helicopter ride. Christian lost his lunch in a barf bag during the tour.”
I laughed. “I’m sure that would have gone over well with your new husband. I’m taking two pieces of luggage and Ireland with me.”
“We need to go back—a couples’ vacation. Maybe Maui next time.”
“That sounds great. Last weekend I asked Grant when the last time he went on vacation was, and he said eight years ago.”
“Really? Why?”
I shrugged. “He’s a workaholic, and he didn’t have anyone in his life to force the issue, I guess.”
Mia went into the refrigerator, pulled out the orange juice, and looked at the container. “Pulp? Is this mine from weeks ago and expired? You don’t like pulp.”
“Grant likes pulp.”
She smiled. “So I take it you two have been spending a lot of time together while I was gone, if you’re stocking the fridge for him.”
I sat down at the kitchen table. “Yeah. We have been. It’s been pretty great, actually.”
“The last time I saw you two together, at brunch the day after my wedding, I wasn’t sure I’d come back to a happy couple, him not wanting kids and all.”
Mia took two glasses out of the cabinet and filled them with juice before going to where we kept the liquor and grabbing a bottle of vodka. She poured a shot into each glass and stuck her finger in to stir before sliding one across the table to me. “You can suffer through pulp for me.”
I preferred no pulp, but I’d drink it if that was the only choice available. Though that wasn’t the issue. I slid the glass back toward her. “You drink both. I’ll drive.”
“Neither of us is driving. Christian dropped me off on his way to the gym. He’s going to come back when he’s done and load the boxes into his car.” She smiled. “He told me to enjoy my day with you, and he’d take care of the donations and go food shopping.”
I shook my head. “I have no idea how you fooled that nice man into marrying you. But you done good, lady.”
Since neither of us had to drive, why not indulge? I lifted the glass of orange juice and held it up to clink with my friend. “To good guys for a change.”
Mia downed half the glass and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “So give me all the dirt. How did things go after brunch? I take it you convinced him having children was not the end of the world?”
I frowned. “Actually, I didn’t. He hasn’t changed his position. I’m not sure he ever will. And, honestly, he has reasons for not wanting children that I understand…well, mostly.”
“So what happens if you two get serious? You just give up your dream of having a family?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m not ready to make the decision to stop seeing him. But I’m also not ready to make the decision to not have a family. So I’ve