31. Dream Pie

Two weeks later, Knox was waiting for Sage to come to his house.

He missed her like crazy, but she'd only been gone for three days. Though he hadn't seen her in five.

She left her place on Monday morning, went to work and then on Tuesday she flew to Rome with Poppy. Her flight back landed two hours ago and she was going to run home and get some clothes to spend the weekend with him.

When he found out she was going away, he'd been so happy for her.

Her excitement was contagious and he knew this was what she'd always wanted.

He remembered when they were in school together that she talked about traveling the world and meeting important people. Getting them to notice and want to work with her.

Sure, those were words from a kid who didn't know how the world worked.

But now that she went to Rome and got a slice of this dream pie, would she want more of it?

No. He wasn't going to let himself think that way.

It was her life and her career and he'd never stand in her way. Even if he did miss the hell out of her.

It had nothing to do with whether she'd be traveling and everything to do with the fact that he had no part in the fashion world and never would want it.

Didn't he see those problems with his parents? That his mother always complained that his father never wanted to do anything she did?

That they didn't have anything in common. His father didn't pay attention to his mother.

Nope, not going there either.

No comparison and he hated that it even popped into his head.

He opened the oven door and checked on the chicken he was cooking. There were potatoes in the water that he was going to turn on soon. He wanted to have dinner on the table for her. Or at least started.

To him a relationship was shared responsibilities and he was going to show her that.

No more being selfish and thinking of himself.

When he saw the headlights pull into his driveway, he went to the mudroom and into the garage to hit the button for the door for her to pull into the garage. He should give her an opener, but he never thought much of it.

Well, he did think of it, but he didn't want her to feel pressured either.

"Hey there," she said. "Oh, it smells good. Are you cooking dinner?"

"I am," he said, pulling her into his arms for a hug and a kiss.

"What's that for?" she asked, hugging him even tighter.

"I missed you," he said. "I know we talked or texted daily."

"But it's not the same as this," she said. "I know. I felt it too."

"How did it go?" he asked. "Dinner is almost done. I'll take the chicken out and let it sit and the potatoes shouldn't be much longer either. I've got a bag of mixed vegetables I'm going to just toss in the microwave."

"Sounds like a great meal to me. You didn't need to cook, but I appreciate it. I enjoy going out to eat like the next person but not when it's every meal for days. I'm glad to be home."

"How was the flight?"

"Not horrible. We hit some turbulence flying in and were glad to land. Poppy joked that the baby might have gotten whiplash from her moving in the seat so much."

"Not anything I want to experience," he said.

"You don't like to fly?" she asked.

She took her jacket off and hung it up, then slipped her boots off too.

"I can do it and don't mind, but it's not something I do often."

"Me neither. I'm like you when it comes to it. If I was going on vacation or something that would be different."

"So you don't think you have to do this again? Travel for work?"

"No clue," she said. "I doubt it. It was fun, but it was a crazy few days. We spent all day with Mateo and it was great. Poppy has a ton of ideas. She went there with them and then she drew them up and used the fabric samples they showed her. They gave her a bunch to bring back which will help her. Everyone picks on Poppy for being a little bit of an airhead, but she's not. She knows what she is doing and is great at it."

"I'm not sure I'd think she was an airhead. She just enjoys and embraces life more than most."

"That is a good description. I had such a great time with her and Kate. Kate flew in on the day of the meeting from somewhere else. She wasn't that far away. I think it's going to work out great. I was as excited for them as for me. I know that is horrible and probably selfish sounding."

"No," he said. "It's not. You should be proud of yourself. You got them there."

"Kate did," she said.

"Stop," he said. "You did because you know Kate and you asked her."

"I know," she said. "I'm trying to remind myself of those things too. I feel I'm getting there."

"Good," he said. "You've worked hard to get where you are. Don't make light of it."

"Can I tell you something?" she asked. "Ooh, wine. Yes, please. You're the best boyfriend ever."

He laughed and opened the bottle of wine that he'd pulled out of the fridge to show her and then handed over the glass.

"Go on and tell me what you wanted to."

"A few weeks ago my mother started to act weird when I said I was going on this trip."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because my last boyfriend always wanted me with him when he wanted it. I didn't mind it. He traveled a lot so we didn't have a lot of time together. But when he wasn't traveling, he didn't like me with my friends."

"Okay," he said. "No one should control that much of your life."

"Exactly. And my mother asked how you would feel about me going on this trip."

He frowned. "What would it matter how I felt?"

"See," she said. "That isn't the answer I wanted to hear."

Now what did he do wrong? "What answer did you want?"

"Well, it is the answer I wanted to hear but not the face. I'm not sure the expression you were going for, but it was forced. I can tell. To me, this is my job and anyone I'm with should understand that I might need to work late or travel now and again."

"I do understand that," he said. "It's no different than me owning my business. I work long late days too. I don't want to be with someone that gets annoyed over that."

"See, that is what I wanted to hear. The look on your face showed confusion and it made me wonder if you thought I worried you'd think you have no right to have an opinion. Or that I didn't care about your feelings. I don't want that."

His head went back and forth. "I missed you. I'm not going to lie. But being gone for a few days made me realize how much I miss you. I understand your job as much as you understand my job."

She started to laugh. "Your job lets me turn the lights on."

He smiled and walked over to check the potatoes and drain them. "In a matter of speaking. But what I understand of it is it is your job. You have responsibilities and you love what you do. The same as me. If we can't accept and understand that about each other then there is a problem."

He'd never want to tell her what she could do for her job.

"Exactly," she said. "And I said those things to my mother and I can't tell you how thrilled I am that you feel the same way. That is why I love you so much. You understand me. Or we understand each other without saying a word."

"We do," he said. And since she brought up her ex he wanted to see if he could get some more with it. "So your ex didn't like you not being with him. Was he controlling too? I know you said that he'd always make comments about doing what you wanted."

She sighed and took a healthy gulp of her wine. "He wanted me to make the decisions so that I was happy. I get it, but when someone does that, they are hiding more. That's worse. He wasn't controlling like you think, but he was deceptive."

"You know I want to know more about that," he said.

"We worked for the same company. I told you that. He wasn't my boss or anything, but he was in a management position. Many said I got my promotion because of him."

He knew this. He wanted something more though. "Do you believe that?"

"I don't know what to believe anymore. What hurt the worst was he just left. He didn't support me or stand up for me when rumors started. Then out of the blue, he breaks up with me and moves out of town."

"What?" he asked.

He was trying to get over the fact the guy didn't stand up for Sage but then to break it off and leave. There had to be more to that.

But it was making sense now why her family was so protective of Sage too.

"I don't like to talk about it because it's embarrassing. It caught me off guard. Everything. All of it. He ended things and he moved. End of story. It was just more fuel for those at work."

He still felt like there was more going on, but he wouldn't push because her face was flushed and he could tell she was embarrassed, as she'd said.

"Fuck him then," he said. "His loss is totally my gain."

"It is," she said, smiling softly. "I would have never left if he didn't do that. We wouldn't have lasted. I know that. But I think or wonder if I would have stayed where I was and just pushed through."

"How do you know that? That you wouldn't have lasted?" he asked.

"I...just did," she said. "But he didn't have to do what he did. It was like a double shot of embarrassment. I was getting hit from every angle and I hate to say I couldn't take it anymore. I always thought I was a strong person, but I ran."

"You didn't run," he said. "But if you feel as if you did, then think of it as running to me."

"Thanks for that, Knox. I guess we got off track. I'm only bringing this up because we are talking about me traveling. Henry was this slick guy."

"I'm so far removed from that," he said, cringing.

"You are. It's a good thing. It's what I need and want in my life. I'm not meant to be this fancy girl even if I had all these dreams of things like that as a kid. We are who we are. And when Poppy and I met with Mateo days ago, I realized that. I can be who I am and be with who I love and be just as successful as the next person. It's about happiness and what I feel with you is the happiest I've ever been. I'm with a guy I love and trust and know he has my back. Those are the important things in life."

"They are," he murmured. Even if he was feeling like shit he still had a big secret too.