Page 78 of Novel Problems

“But I also don’t want to minimize your concerns. Especially when we work together, it makes sense that you’d want to have some parts of your life that are separate from me.” George’s eyes twinkled. “You know, the book club is always looking for new blood. We could schedule your shifts to make sure you’re available. Or according to some flyers that were dropped off downstairs this morning, there’s a regular kayaking meet-up on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings you could attend.”

I snorted. “Ha ha! But point taken.” I furrowed mybrow, thinking about possible options. “I’m pretty sure I saw a flyer for a hiking group, which might be more my scene—and more conducive to conversation than kayaking.”

George grinned. “That sounds perfect. And thanks for sharing that, by the way.”

“Do you have anything like that that would be helpful for me to know about?”

George paused for a moment. “Yeah. I think my hang-up is about a different type of relationship imbalance: where one person’s career or interests constantly take priority over the other’s, or where there is a significant power disparity. And I’m pretty sure that all tracks back to my parents and Alexis.”

“Oh, that’s good to know,” I said, wondering if George had any concerns like that about our relationship.

“Yeah. Mom was Dad’s secretary—that’s how they met—and since their marriage wasn’t very happy, I always wondered whether the fact that she was dependent on him for her livelihood might have stopped her from leaving him. And with Alexis, our relationship was unequal on quite a few levels, which caused me some grief at the time.”

“That must have been difficult. Can you please let me know if you ever feel like something like that is affecting our relationship? When I’m working toward a deadline, I might sometimes hole up in my study, but my relationships trump work.” My parents had always put work first, and I wasn’t about to follow in their footsteps.

I wriggled forward so our noses were almost touching and kissed George softly on the lips.

George returned the kiss and then smiled. “Great, so my nightmare that you committed to a twelve-month international book tour without talking to me about it first is unlikelyto come true?”

I laughed. “I’d say more than unlikely. Impossible. I can’t think of anything worse. I’m not going anywhere—except, perhaps, to the city every now and again, and to Chicago to visit Barb a couple times a year.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” George pulled me in for another kiss. “I’m not going anywhere either.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

GEORGE

“How was the rest of the afternoon?” I sat on the couch, massaging Hannah’s feet as Mom took yet another fortunately timed shower. I was beginning to think she was purposefully timing them so Hannah and I could have some alone time, because I could have sworn she usually showered in the morning, and typically only once a day.

“Good!” Hannah grinned. “I scored myself an invite to the book club next week.”

I looked up sharply from Hannah’s feet. “Really?”

Hannah laughed. “Yes. I know you suggested it as a joke, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. It’ll be nice to talk about books from a reader's perspective. And just because they’re all a lot older than me doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. I mean, you get on really well with your mom, and she’s in her sixties. And Barb is in her eighties, and she’s one of my closest friends.”

“Well, in that case, I love it,” I said.

“Here, let’s swap. You were on your feet all day. At least I had the morning off.” Hannah pulled her feet off my lap and gestured for me to put mine on hers.Hannah had again insisted that Mom and I stop working after the lunch rush, so we’d driven to the open-air sculpture park and spent the afternoon walking around it.

“How did it go?” I worried for a moment that Hannah wouldn’t know what I meant, but she knew immediately what I was referring to.

“The therapy session was really good. I’ve already booked another three for the next few weeks.”

“That’s great, babe.” I stifled a moan as Hannah massaged the heel of my left foot, sending warm tingles up my leg.

I felt so proud of the progress she was making. And our conversation last night felt cathartic. We’d both confessed our major relationship insecurities and met each other with support and understanding. Any doubts I’d had about Hannah in the past few days had completely evaporated. She’d cut her trip short to make sure I was okay and was clearly invested in her life in Sapphire Springs. I couldn’t see her abandoning me to court publicity and fame as Mom had implied.

Which reminded me. While Mom and Hannah had been getting along well, they hadn’t had a chance to get to properly know each other yet. I still sensed Mom had some reservations about Hannah, but I was convinced that if they spent some time together, just the two of them, they’d hit it off, and any worries Mom had would fade away.

“Hey, are you still up for a bonding baking session with Mom? I thought tonight could be a good opportunity since the cake I have planned is fairly simple—my blueberry-lemon cake. But no pressure if you’re not. I know there’s been a lot going on in the past few days.”

Hannah smiled at me as she focused her attention onmy arch, sending off another wave of pleasurable sensations. “Yes, of course.”

“Excellent,” I said. Now all I needed was to get Mom onboard.

After Mom was out of the shower and we’d finished dinner, I enacted my scheme.

“I really need to take Max on a walk tonight. Would you two mind getting started on the cake of the day while I’m out?” I fought the urge to wink at Hannah.

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