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My mouth opens with a response, but snaps shut, because I truly didn’t know.
She understands anyway, translating my silence. “I don’t know if I can do this, Tate.”
I frown. “It’ll be a month, maybe six weeks max. Howard says this is a crucial time for my career if I want to gain any permanent traction and get my name out there. With my single dropping next month, we don’t want to lose momentum. I’ll be home before you know it.”
“Not the next month. The distance, our lives under the spotlight. Putting our dreams on hold for two years.” Her hair falls from its bun as she shakes her head, curtaining her face. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
Panic claws at my throat. “What are you saying?”
A single, lonely tear tracks down her cheek. She catches it before it falls, but she isn’t quick enough to stop the river that follows. “I need time and space to think about whether I can do this long term. You say two years now, but what if they demand more from you?”
I have to steady myself on the handle of my suitcase. “Space? I’m about to be gone for six months. How much more do you want?”
“I don’t want the press following us around and intruding on our personal life. I have clients who I meet up with for lunch. They expect privacy.” She can’t even look at me. That’s how I know her next words will be fatal. “I think it’s best if you stay away from town during all of this. Not just the tour but for the next two years. Until you decide what you want.”
The suitcase crashes to the floor as I rush to her. I cup her face, forcing her bloodshot gaze to meet mine. “You. I want you. Do not do this.”
Her teeth bite into her bottom lip to stop it from wobbling. “You might want me, but you also want a new future I don’t see myself fitting into. We both have a lot to think about it, and while we do, we should keep contact to a minimum. Only in emergencies.”
This is more than an emergency, this is a fucking crisis.
“I won’t agree. I’m…I’m not going two years without speaking to you—seeing you.” Her tears soak my palms. “I’m doing this for us. Can’t you see that?”
I hate the broken rasp of her voice. “I didn’t ask for this. I was happy.”
Was. I release her. “And now you’re not?”
True to her nature, she doesn’t pull her punches. “No. I’m not. I can’t wait around in this house alone until you can find the time for me.” Her voice rises a fraction. “The last few weeks have been hard enough as it is, and it’s only going to get worse. We don’t talk, we fight, and I realize now our paths aren’t as aligned as they once were.”
“People do long distance all the time.”
“Yes. But we’re not all people.”
Her words crash through me.
“So you’re giving up on us?” I throw my hands out.
She recoils. “What’s the alternative?”
“To not give up. To wait for me.” I can’t handle this. Can’t believe my eyes and ears. Panic quickly twists into denial, then bitter acceptance. “But you’ve always called the shots in our marriage, and I’m in the business of giving you what you want, so why stop now?”
I turn, collecting my things with shaking movements. There’s a knock on the door, and I swing it open to find the driver on the other side.
“Mr. Brooks? I’m here to take you to the airport,” he says.
“I’m ready to go. Do you mind taking these for me? I won’t be a second?” I hand him my belongings.
“Of course, sir.”
Standing in the doorway, I’m split in two. One foot in the house, with Talia, the other outside, one step closer to a bright, shining future, with endless opportunities for the two of us.
But she doesn’t want that.
Does she even want me?
“Is this it?”
Despite my harsh words, my heart screams at me to beg her to change her mind. To reconsider this insane idea.
