Page 49 of The Hero + Vegas = No Regrets

“I’m so sorry, Worth. How is your mom now?”

“Good,” he says simply. “She moved to North Carolina as soon as Avril turned eighteen.”

“You still see her?”

“Yeah. But we’re not close. Her light went out when my dad died. She wasn’t the same woman after his death, and part of me will always resent that, I think. She gave up so completely. I know depression isn’t something people can control without help, but it felt like she didn’t even try.”

“Sounds like you didn’t have much of a childhood,” I say quietly.

He smooths his thumb over the back of my hand. It’s all the confirmation I’m going to get that I’ve hit the nail on the head.

“Your sisters clearly adore you.”

“And hate me in equal measure.”

“What do you think about Avril dropping out of Columbia? Do you approve?”

“I’m not sure my approval matters. If I don’t, and I put pressure on her to stay, she’s just going to fail her courses. If I approve… I asked her to write me a business plan for what she’s going to do if she drops out.”

“A business plan you’ll approve?”

He chuckles. “Maybe. I just want her to have a plan. To have something to get up in the morning for. I don’t want her to drift.”

It hits me right in my chest that Worth and his sisters lived with the understanding that they weren’t enough to get theirmotherup in the morning. I can’t imagine how painful that must have been. How painful it probably still is, to this day. “You’re such a good role model, Worth. I have a feeling she’s going to surprise you.”

He turns to me. “It’s possible. The road ahead is full of bends and curves. I didn’t expect I’d be sitting next to my wife en route to our first date, but here we are. Which reminds me, we need to figure out when we can have our second date. Are you free tomorrow?”

There he is, that driven, intense man, never far from the surface.

“I don’t have enough clothes for us to date every night.”

“Enough clothes?”

“Yeah, like, for going out. I don’t go out six nights a week.”

He narrows his eyes like he’s considering his response. “And you don’t want me to pay for a new wardrobe.”

I laugh. It’s not a question, but it’s nice he knows I’d never accept that. “Absolutely not.”

“We could have a sweatpants date? You haven’t been to my place. Come over. I can have a chef prepare dinner and pretend I cooked.”

I laugh again. “I’d like that.”

“Are you going to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving?”

My blood turns to ice at the thought. “I was supposed to,” I say.

“But?” he asks.

“I don’t know if I’m going to go now.”

“My sisters and I usually go to Tavern on the Green. If you’re in New York, I’d love for you to join us.”

“Thank you. Thanksgiving is complicated,” I say. “It’s also my dad’s birthday. I need to figure out what I’m doing and where I’ll be.” I start to feel itchy. I don’t want to miss out on being with my family for the holiday, but at the same time, my family isn’t my family anymore. Everything’s changed. And the fact that Dad will be there? Mom probably thought keeping up with tradition would be normal in some twisted way, but the opposite is true. And what about Dad’s other kids? Shouldn’t he be with them?

“I’m pretty good at running through pros and cons.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” I say. I’m not ready to tell Worth everything going on back in Cincinnati. I don’t want him to think I’m bringing him problems to solve. I don’t want to be a burden. He’s my lover. My very new husband. I want to enjoy that for a while. But I do start mentally composing a text telling Mom I won’t be home for Thanksgiving.

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