Page 49 of Sunset Tides
“No, Lil. Don’t start with this. You’re there by choice. When I go on work trips, it’s so I can get promoted and we can buy a house one day.”
Lucy shut her eyes. He made plenty of money. He could buy a house tomorrow if he wanted. That was just another one of his recurring arguments. He insisted they needed some million-dollar monstrosity to be happy. “I won’t settle for less,” he’d say, and normally Lillian would hold her tongue.
But today… “You’re making a choice, too. To spend more time at work and less time with both of our families, and with each other.”
“Yeah, but it’s all for you,” he insisted.
It was like talking to a wall. “It’s not for me, because I don’t care about the money!” she snapped. “I don’t need to live in a mansion or have an expensive car. So don’t say it’s for me when it’s not for me.”
“Okay. So, what?” he said, voice rising. “Do you expect me to have some regular nine-to-five job where I make, like, ninety thousand dollars a year?”
Lillian didn’t know how to respond to that. That was double what she made, and him having a nine-to-five schedule would be great. Incredible, even!
He worked so much and traveled so often that he’d missed weddings, her birthday (more than once), anniversaries, and countless nights in. She could count on one hand the number of times he’d met Lucy and Rose.
She cleared her throat. “Um, yeah, that sounds perfect. Sign up for that, please.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
They went back and forth for another half hour, making no progress. Lillian grew tired of keeping her voice low to whisper fight with him, so she finally relented, saying she’d think about coming back to Texas when he returned from his next business trip.
All of her whispering was in vain, however, because she was so fired up that as soon as she got off the phone, she marched right into the living room and told Lucy about the entire conversation.
It was a mistake, but one she couldn’t stop herself from making.
Lucy listened intently, and when Lillian was done venting, the questions started.
Lucy couldn’t get past the ninety thousand dollar line. “What is that supposed to mean? Does he think that’s a bad salary?How much does this guy make?” She paused. “What does he think ofyoursalary?”
Lillian rolled her eyes. “He calls anything less than six figures ‘peanut money.’ ”
“Peanut money!” Lucy burst into a laugh, doubling over and holding her stomach. “That’s too much.”
Lillian, feeling validated, went on. “He says I’m lucky I’m not career-focused like him, so I don’t have to worry about these things.”
Lucy’s mouth popped open. “That’s outright condescending. You’re great at your job, and it’s important. I think you’re underpaid, but a lot of important jobs are underpaid.”
Mason didn’t see it that way. He’d never said as much, but she could tell. In his eyes, people who pursued careers for anything but money were foolish. Suckers, even.
She told herself it was a balance – she could do good in the world and he could focus on finances. Yet somehow, it felt like it wasn’t working.
She forced a smile. “Thanks. It’s dumb. Just a dumb fight we have all the time.”
“It’s not dumb,” Lucy said. “It’s not about money or traveling. It’s about him not listening. He’s telling you what’s important to you, instead of hearing what is actually important to you.”
Lillian’s stomach sank. “Huh. I’ve never thought of it that way.”
“Not that I’m a relationship expert by any means.” Lucy flopped onto the couch. “But he’s kidding himself if he thinks you care about him making all this money.”
“Yeah.” Lillian sat down next to her. “I don’t know why he’s so stubborn about it.”
Lucy nodded but said nothing.
Lillian spoke again. “He really thinks his work is important, so I don’t want to take that away from him. It’s just…now he’sseeing how tough it is for me to be alone all the time. Maybe he’ll make an effort to travel less.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
That was enough talking about herself. How boring she was being. “What about you?”
