“That means you can come for a visit, right?” Mrs. Smith said.
“Mom, leave her alone. Do you want Riley to be single forever?” Casey leaned into the shot and wagged his finger at his mother.
“With all this business I’ve only gotten to meet Erin once. I’d just like to spend a little time with her is all.” Mrs. Smith huffed.
Erin had spent a whole week with Riley up on the family farm, and more than a little time searching for ideas in the hay loft. Not all of which with her future in mind.
“I know things have been crazy.” Erin took Riley’s phone from him, so she didn’t have to crane her neck. “I need to meet these deadlines, which is going to take about a week. I was thinking when I’m done I’d come up there. Riley will probably be working, so it would just be me, if that’s okay?”
“That would be perfect.” Mrs. Smith clapped her hands while Casey and Riley groaned
“Okay, we have to go now, mom.” Riley took the phone back and made the goodbyes while Casey unlocked the truck and they piled in.
“You really think you can finish those books in time?” Riley asked.
“Now that the pressure is off, yeah.” Erin blew out a breath and leaned her head against Riley’s shoulder.
The translation gig had landed in her lap. Not only was she translating text books into Arabic, but Kurdish as well. With the pace of the team Erin was working with, there would be a whole new curriculum available to schools in the next six months. It might not be what she got to do for the rest of her life, but right now it was perfect. She was looking forward to her trip to Erbil next summer when she’d be part of the academic team assisting in bringing teachers up to speed.
It was a bright future.
THREE DAYS LATER, SEATTLE, Washington.
Riley listened to Erin shifting things in the closet. This part never failed to make him nervous. They’d been doing this routine for two months and every time the same questions plagued him.
Would Erin like his apartment? Would she be comfortable? Was it too small? Was he missing anything? What about when they were apart?
It seemed like every settling in period came with new questions. This time he wondered, how long? How long would Erin put up with the transitory nature of their relationship? A week at his place. Two weeks in Florida. A week up north. A trip to Texas. They were always on the go. He knew how much that could wear on a person.
Zain had mentioned moving up the timetable for the new line of business, but that was still a few years off. Riley liked what he did. But if it didn’t work for Erin, could he give it up? Would she ask him to? If she did, what would he say?
“You need more hangers,” Erin called out.
“I’ll put that on the list.” He pulled out his phone.
The countdown clock glared back at him.
Two more days of peace before he was back to work. He’d always looked forward to work. Now he worried about how long this happiness with her would last. How many countdowns until she resented his job and being apart? And that didn’t touch on the tenseness that existed between him and Grant now. He still refused to talk about the vote or anything about the Erbil job, but it continued to affect their working relationship in a way Riley hated.
“That’s as much as I’m dealing with.” Erin stepped out of the closet and shut the door.
She crossed to the bed and flopped down, using his stomach for a pillow.
“What’s that face for?” She jabbed his arm.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, please.” She poked him again.
“Stop that.” He wrapped his arms around her and rolled, dragging her up the bed to lay next to him.
Erin planted a big kiss on his mouth and twined her arms around his neck.
He’d quit if she asked him to.
He knew in that moment that if his job made her unhappy, ten year plan be damned, he’d find something else.
“Tell me,” she whispered.
“I love you so much I can’t bear to think I might have to leave you in two days.”
Erin sputtered a laugh at the over the top statement.
“What’s really bothering you?” she asked, undeterred by his stab at humor.
Did he want to open the door to problems? Or try to ignore them?
“Riley...”
“I just... Are you happy? With this?”
“This? What do you mean?”
“The constant traveling, the change of scenery, me being gone for weeks at a time?”
“Have you stopped to think that I need you to leave so I can get work done? Hm?” She propped her chin in her hand and arched a brow.
“No...”
“I love you, Riley. But you’re an awfully large distraction.”
He stared at her, that unwavering smile of hers beaming back.
She wasn’t lying to him or telling him something he wanted to hear.
“And the traveling?” he asked.
“Look, I’ve spent the years since I was enlisted living in a country with no family and only a few friends. Will traveling around get old after a while? Yes, but right now I am enjoying getting to see family. I especially like getting to leave and coming somewhere quiet where your mother is not sneaking in at the crack of dawn to bring us breakfast.”
“Oh, God...” He covered his face with his hand.
“I’m happy, Riley. Accept it.” She scooted closer and wrapped her arm around his waist.
“If you aren’t, you’ll tell me?”
“Of course. You think I’d keep an opinion to myself?”
“No, actually.” He chuckled, all the tension unwinding.
“I’m not a typical girl. I don’t know how to put up with someone twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I love you, but I still need for you to be out of my hair every now and then. This
