Zelda looked like the cat who ate the cream as she handed the cardboard tube to Kate. “See for yourself.”
Kate removed the plastic cap and turned the tube on its end. A roll of papers fell out. They were blueprints.
“Unroll them and look.” Zelda appeared barely able to contain her happiness. “Isn’t it a beautiful design? Now, of course, we want your input. Don’t we, Aidan? After all, you’re the one who will be running the spa at the Forsyth Galloway Inn. We want to sit down with you before we start building it.”
The spa at the Forsyth Galloway Inn? What?
Kate felt all the blood drain from her face. She rolled the papers up and took a deep breath trying to diffuse the fury that was rattling her nerves. “I can’t run your spa, mom. I have my own business. My own clientele.” She slanted a look at Aidan. “Aidan knows how important it is for me to keep that business. We’ve talked about it.”
“Aidan and I thought that with the baby on the way, you would not want to be on your feet so much,” Zelda said. “And, of course, you’ll need to take time off when the baby comes. This way you can have a staff who can help take the load off you and free up your time.”
So this was what it was like to be ambushed. Obviously, Aidan hadn’t listened to a single word she’d said.
If not for Chloe, Kate would’ve left the dinner party and let Aidan find his way home alone. But she didn’t leave. She simply did her best to avoid talking to him at the party and was mostly silent as they walked to the car.
What she realized was that she could’ve left without him and picked up Chloe early, but something made her stay.
Wasn’t that what marriage was all about? You could be seething on the inside, but to the rest of the world, everything was fine. It was all fine. One big facade. Of course, she wasn’t going to get into it at the party with her mother about how disappointed she was that Zelda and Aidan were trying to railroad her into giving up what little freedom she had with her business. She had made it clear that she did not want to take on the responsibility at the inn.
Aidan steered the car into a space along Forsyth Park.
“What are you doing?” Kate asked.
“We need to talk about this before we pick up Chloe.”
Dori’s house was just around the corner. “I don’t know if we should get into this right now. We can’t be too late picking her up. And really, what’s there to say, Aidan? Except that I don’t know what part of ‘I want to keep my job’ you didn’t understand. If it wasn’t clear, I meant I don’t want to work at the spa. I don’t want to own my own salon. I want to keep my client base and keep at least one part of my life normal. I feel like you and my mother are trying to railroad me into something that you want.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. It wasn’t what I intended.”
“You’re kidding, right? Then why did that even happen tonight?”
“Why? Because your mother is a client. She asked me to draw up plans for the final phase. She did not ask me to kidnap you and force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
He sounded irritated. The barbed words hung in the air between them.
“Kate, I can’t shake the feeling that this—what we’re doing right now—isn’t solely about the spa, is it?” he said. “Because you know it is your call whether or not you want to work there. I’m not railroading you into anything. Especially not into a life with Chloe and me. But I do have to say that I can’t take these mercurial ups and downs. I cannot walk on eggshells wondering if the next thing I do is going to make you feel fenced in or railroaded or otherwise forced into a situation you don’t want. What do you want, Kate?”
“I don’t know what I want.” Her words were barely a whisper. “I know I don’t want to hurt you or Chloe. I don’t want to feel like I’m being fenced in or ambushed or forced into something that should be so good. It shouldn’t be this difficult. I know that. But I can’t seem to get my head together and that’s not fair to you. I know that’s not fair to you. But I don’t know what to do about it.”
Aidan stared straight ahead, weighing his words, silently testing out what he would say before he said it. Because once the words were out, he couldn’t take them back. But really there was no other way.
“You need to take some time and figure out what you want,” Aidan said. “You need to figure out if you’re staying or going because if you want us to be a family, things can’t always be about you.”
She inhaled sharply. “You’re right. It can’t be that way and I’ve made it that way and I’m sorry. I wish I could make myself feel differently. But it isn’t fair to you. I’ll do my best to sort out my head and get myself together.”
The glow from one of the streetlights perfectly illuminated Kate’s face. He saw something flash in her eyes. “How do you feel about our arrangement, Aidan? We’ve been so focused on how I feel, that you haven’t said much about how this is affecting you.”
“I told you. I want this marriage to work.”
“I know. You’ve said that several times. But why, Aidan? Why do you want this marriage? Because it certainly isn’t the easiest path you could have chosen. I’m not the easiest person to live with and sometimes I think you deserve...more.”
Her voice broke on the last word.
“As far as I’m concerned, divorce isn’t an option.
