Page 84 of Best Kept Vows

“You won’t believe what I got today,” I said without preamble.

“Tell me,” Sebastian said.

I changed the call to video and felt a shiver run through me when I saw he was in bed, bare chest and probably naked under the covers.

We’d been married a long time, and the days of havingbutterflies in our stomachs were gone—or at least I thought they were. This separation had created a break, and now I felt those butterflies flapping away.

I waved the envelope at him. “Ada and I have been invited to a Betsy Rhodes Salon.”

“Nice.” He grinned.

“And I will be a speaker.”

“That’s fantastic.”

“She…Betsy wrote to me saying…well, ordering that I should speak about going back to work after staying home and that…hear this”—I picked up the letter and read—"There are a lot of women who your journey will inspire.”

“She’s right, baby. I know I didn’t appreciate itandyou when you took your GMAT and got into business school, but it is pretty fuckin’ amazing what you did.”

He was sincere. I knew him well enough to know that. Emotions moistened my eyes.

“Hey, baby.” Sebastian sat up. “What happened?”

“You think I did something amazing,” I managed to say as tears overflowed.

A broken inhale slipped past his lips. “Baby, I’m so sorry I…you should be used to me telling you how wonderful you are. You shouldn’t be crying because I do it so fuckin’ seldom that…. I’ve been such an asshole.”

“Stop!” I cried out, wiping my tears. “I just…I just feel good that you’re proud of me. These are good tears. Happy ones. Don’t make this a negative. We have plenty of those already.”

We talked some more, and he said he’d help me practicemy speech for the salon. When my eyes began to droop, he told me he loved me and wished me goodnight.

Right then, as I put my phone away, I knew that I wanted to bewithSebastian.

I wanted to spend more time with him.

Sleep with him.

Live with him…again.

Butmaybe not in that big house. It was not sustainable, not with my job.

I wouldn’t have time to run that damn house, and we didn’t need four bedrooms when the kids came home a few times a year to stay.

On impulse, I texted Sebastian:I miss you.

He responded:I miss you, too, baby.

Me:Goodnight.

Sebastian:I love you. Goodnight, baby.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face, a quiet sense of peace settling over me—for the first time since I’d left, I truly believed our marriage would make it, thatwewould make it.

CHAPTER 28

Sebastian

Istood at the head of the conference table, looking at the people who had fought by my side for the past three years—some by my father’s, longer.