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“I’d like that. I’ll start looking into warm weather vacations this evening. Tricia starts here today, so I’m going to head over there to give her the keys before I leave this morning.”
She nodded, grabbing a bowl and filling it with cereal and milk. “I’m glad that’ll be taken care of. It should make life a little easier.” She had an appointment with Aunt Lydia that day, and she wasn’t looking forward to having to come down on her about her diet. And she had a feeling everything she said would get back to her mother.
“Do you have a full day of work today?” he asked.
She nodded. “I do. Back-to-back appointments, which is good and bad. I like that I’m helping people, and the money will be nice, but I kind of want to take a nap between patients.”
He chuckled. “Are you going to change your name?” he asked.
“I think I want to keep my name to use professionally, but I’ll use your name for real life, if that makes sense.”
He nodded. “You’ve worked hard to get where you are. Your name is part of it.”
“It is.” She looked at him. “Do you mind?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. I don’t think women should have to change their name if they don’t want to anyway.”
After breakfast, they both headed out the door, her to her office and him to his own. “My car is still at Mom’s,” she said, frowning. “Can you give me a lift to work? I can get Rachel to take me to get my car at lunchtime.”
He nodded. “I can. Let me run over and talk to Tricia, and then I’ll be right back.”
Instead of waiting, she walked over with him. Tricia was dressed and ready to go, so she was happy to see them. “We just put our house on the market yesterday,” Shelby told Tricia. “There may be people coming to see the house.”
Tricia nodded. “I’ll bake some cookies so it’ll smell more welcoming.”
“Just make sure you leave a few for us,” Nate said with a grin.
Tricia laughed. “I’m making them in your house, which makes them yours.”
“I like the way you think,” he said, handing her a key.
“Good, then we’ll get along great. Where will you move?”
“Oh, we found a house in the old part of town. I’m really excited to start working on it.”
Tricia smiled. “Sounds like you’re going to have fun with it then. I’ll make supper and leave it in a warm oven for you.”
As they walked back to the car, Shelby said, “I hope she’ll continue to clean for us once we move. She’s so sweet, and I feel like we can really trust her.”
He drove her the short distance to work, and before she left his truck, she slid across the seat for one last kiss before their jobs separated them for the first time after they were married.
“Have a good day,” she said softly.
“I’ll see you this evening.”
“Wait!” she said.
“What?”
“Tricia has a key to our house, and I don’t yet.”
He laughed. “Maybe you’ll need to get in, huh?”
“I would certainly like to.”
He took an extra key from his keychain and handed it to her. “There. Should help.”
“See ya!” she said, her mouth aching to say she loved him, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. How did she tell a man she loved him when they’d been parted for so long? It would put her heart in danger, and she couldn’t risk that.
