Valorous(84)

“Are we still talking burgers?”

“Of course we are. What else would we be talking about?”

Flynn lights the gas fireplace, and, still decked out in formal attire, we enjoy a picnic on the living room floor.

“I gotta say, this burger is amazing.”

“Told ya,” he replies, his mouth full. He dips fries in ketchup and holds them up to feed me, slipping a couple to Fluff, too.

Burgers and fries have never tasted better than they do tonight. I reach over to wipe a dab of ketchup off his lip. “Is this what happy feels like?”

“Sweetheart,” he says gruffly, clearly moved by my question, “this is what ecstatic feels like.”





“I have to go into the office today,” Flynn says in the morning, “even though I’d much rather be with you.”

“It’s okay. I’m going to sleep some more and then get organized with some foundation stuff, not to mention a ton of laundry that needs to be done and packed to go back to your place. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. Don’t worry about me.”

“I will worry about you. I’ll always worry about you.” He sits next to me on the bed. He’s freshly showered and shaven and is dressed in a formfitting black T-shirt and faded jeans that hug him in all the right places. As always, he makes my mouth water just looking at him. “This’ll be the first time we’ve spent apart since we got married.”

“We can’t spend every waking minute together. What about when you’re filming in some exotic location?”

“You’ll be there with me.”

“What if I get my job back?”

His brows knit with what appears to be consternation, but he quickly shakes it off and bends to kiss me. “We’ll figure it out, sweetheart. I gotta go before Hayden has me killed.” After one more kiss, this one longer and more involved, he groans and pulls himself away. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. There’re security people right outside. If you want to go anywhere, just check in with them. They also have the code to get back in here.”

“I’ll be fine. Go to work, dear.”

“We’re going on a f*cking honeymoon,” he says as he leaves the room. “A long-ass f*cking honeymoon. As soon as we possibly can.”

“I thought we’ve been on our honeymoon?”

“No way does hanging around here count. We’re going somewhere awesome.”

“This has been pretty awesome as far as I’m concerned.”

“I can do better than this.”

He leaves me with a big silly smile on my face as I snuggle under the covers, hoping to go back to sleep after having been up half the night making love to my insatiable husband. I’m on my way to dozing off when my phone rings.

I grab it off the bedside table and see Leah’s name on the screen. “Hey,” I say, curbing a yawn. “What’s up?” It’s eight here, so eleven there. “Why aren’t you in class?”

“I am in class,” she whispers. “I’m hiding in the supply closet, but I’ve got the door cracked so I can watch the monsters.”

“Why are you in the supply closet?”

“I have news. Sue told me this morning that the board wants to reinstate you, but Mrs. Heffernan refused. She said it was either you or her. According to Sue, they chose you.”

I sit straight up in bed. “Are you kidding me? They picked me over her?”

“Before you take that as a huge compliment, you should know that Flynn’s lawyers were playing hardball with them. They were looking at a huge lawsuit if they didn’t reinstate you. But Sue said they all felt that it was wrong for Mrs. Heffernan to let you go for the reasons she did, especially when the parents were so pleased with the job you were doing.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to say.”

“Apparently, you’re going to hear from the board chair later today. I wanted to give you a heads-up, but don’t tell them I told you.”

“I never would. Don’t worry.”

“What’ll you do, Nat? Do you want to come back?”

If she asked me that on the day I was fired, I would have said of course I want to go back. But now… now everything is different. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Flynn and figure out our plans.”

“Well, no matter what you decide, they’re doing the right thing offering you your job back. People here have been in an uproar over the whole incident. The way she treated you was wrong, Natalie. Everyone thinks so.”