“You want to be a botanist.”
“Yes.” Cherry looks at me earnestly. “But Nate, I’d never tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. I can do my own thing on the side. I can still be with you and not be involved in the business. I can stick my fingers in my ears and hum when I need to.”
“No.” I take her face in my hands. “I don’t want you to have to do that.”
“What’s the alternative?”
I think about it for a minute, formulating a plan in my head.
“Where would you like to go to school?”
“Well, lots of universities have botany programs,” she says, “but I can’t really afford to go just anywhere.”
“Money is no object.” I stare into her eyes. “Are you going to object to your husband paying for your degree with his ill-gotten booty?”
Cherry laughs.
“Tell me,” I say insistently, “where would you go if money and location were no object?”
“It’s not just money,” Cherry says. “Even if I let you pay for tuition, I’m going to have a baby to take care of as well.”
“Hello?” I tap on my chest. “Just what do you think I am, a caveman? I’ll take care of the baby so you can go to school.”
“How are you going to do that and run your business?”
“Forget that. Tell me where you’d want to go to school.”
“I don’t know. Ohio State and Purdue have great botany programs.”
“Purdue is in Indiana, right?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry to be so blunt, but are your grades good enough to get in?”
“I think so.”
“Apply. If you get in, we’ll move to Indiana.”
“How are you going to run your family businesses from Indiana?”
“I’m not,” I say. “I want to take you and our baby out of Ohio completely, and I’ll be the dutiful house-husband while you get your degree.”
“But, your family…”
“I’m leaving the family business. Nora will have to run it, if she’s willing. If not her, then Antony. Twos and Threes can have it for all I care. I’m taking my cut—which is more than enough to raise our children and their children—and getting out.”
“Are you serious?”
“Completely.” I smile, but Cherry looks away, her jaw tight. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d like that news.”
“I don’t want you to abandon your family because of me.”
“I’m not. I’m leaving the family business—not the family—and I’m doing it for myself, our baby, and you. Those are three very compelling reasons in my book. Even without you and the baby, I’m starting to see all of this insanity I’ve endured for the past few months as a blessing.”
“A blessing?”
“I’m not cut out for this life, Cherry. I don’t think I ever was. Ever since you left, I’ve been imagining what it would be like to be somewhere else—away from Cascade Falls and all the nonsense that goes with it—and the more I think about it, the more I don’t want to be here. I want to live where no one knows my name or my family history. I want do to something that matters to me, not to everyone else, and I can’t think of anything I’d like to do more than raise our children.”
“Children? Do you think I’ve having twins?”
“I think I’d like to have a lot of kids with you.”
“Do I get a say in this?”
“Yeah, I suppose you do. Please tell me you want at least two or three.”
“I am not ready to talk about this!” Cherry laughs and shakes her head. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around having one.”
“I’m trying to figure out how to talk you into five.” I grin at her as I take her hand and lead her to the bedroom. “Now, let me show you how I can make that worth your while.”
Chapter 24—Unexpected Resolution
Cherry and I spend the rest of the day and night with each other, talking about the baby and our future plans. In the morning, Cherry makes an appointment with a local OB/GYN and also calls the Accident library to quit her job. When she gets off the phone, there are tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“I hate leaving so unexpectedly.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Basically, the truth—I’m pregnant and I moved out of town. I’m sure everyone knows by now.”
“You don’t ever have to go back there if you don’t want to.”
“Maybe. We’ll see. Now that we’ve…well, sorted things out, I’m not quite so freaked out about everything.”
“I think we have a few things left to sort out.”
“If you drop one more bombshell, I will break, Nataniele.” Cherry narrows her eyes at me. “No more.”
“I agree with you there.” I pull her close to me. “I can’t imagine what else could possibly come up. I wish Kate had come clean in the beginning.”
“Why didn’t she? She knew who I was the first night I came over, but she said nothing.”
“Fear, I think. Probably some shock, too. Given the family dynamics, I think she learned to keep her mouth shut unless asked directly. I get the idea she was afraid of how I would react.”
“You weren’t quite rational at that time.”
“No,” I reply softly, “I wasn’t.”
“I’m very proud of you,” Cherry says before she kisses me gently.
“For what?”
“For seeing that you needed help and getting it.”
“I don’t think I could have done it without you.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” she says. “I wasn’t even here.”
“But the idea that if I worked hard enough, I might get you back…that’s what kept me going.”
I wrap my arms around her, and Cherry leans her head against my shoulder. For a moment, we just stand there, and I don’t want to ever let
