4. Sinclair

Jayne's love of food was surpassed by at least two things. Me, I hoped and assumed, and breakfast in general. I realized breakfast could be considered a subset of food, so perhaps I was getting into semantics, but it was what it was.

She was happy, therefore, I was happy.

Matt, on the other hand, looked thoroughly bothered. Whatever was going on with his work had to be something serious.

He sighed. "No, that's not correct … I told them that would happen if they didn't— Yes, I did tell them that." He stared off into the distance. "I know." Another deep sigh. "I will. Get it booked. They're paying my expenses, I can tell you that. We're putting it on their next invoice. I have friends in town, and this is a real inconvenience." Another brief pause. "Thank you. I'll watch for your text. All right."

"Everything all right?" I asked.

"No." He put the phone down, frowning. "I'm really sorry about this, but I have to fly to Chicago today to fix something that shouldn't have happened, but people don't listen." He picked up his fork again. "It's a quick trip. I'll be home tomorrow night. I'll leave you the keys to my house and my car; you're welcome to use both. When I get back, we'll pick up where we left off."

Jayne looked concerned. "Do you want us to watch Slim for you?"

"No, you don't need to worry about that. I'll get Charlie to come in."

"Charlie?" Jayne said.

"That's the Charlotte I told you about. She goes by Charlie," Matt explained. "Anyway, Slim is asthmatic, and she's trained on how to give him his inhaler. Has to be done twice a day, morning and night. It's not a big deal to learn, but it's one less thing for you guys to worry about."

"Poor baby," Jayne said.

"It's nothing, really. He hasn't had an attack since he started on the inhaler years ago."

I nodded. "That's good. Even so, you must worry about him when you're gone."

"I do, but having Charlie look after him brings me a lot of peace of mind." Matt exhaled heavily, picking up his fork and looking at me. "I need to find some work-life balance. I know that. I've been trying to, believe it or not. I don't seem to be succeeding, though, do I?"

"You'll get there," I said. But I wasn't so sure. Seemed like work was getting the best of him. I wasn't going to make him feel bad about it, though. He'd built his business from the ground up. He had employees to think about now. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine until you get back. I promise."

Matt nodded, but he still didn't look happy. "It's a crappy thing to do after you guys just got here. Especially after I said I'd show you around."

Jayne, who'd already finished half of each of her entrees, smiled. "Sightseeing is great, but you're underestimating how much I also enjoy napping. Sin's right. Don't worry about us. Go do what you need to, and when you get back, we'll have all kinds of fun."

A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Matt's mouth. "You guys are taking this pretty well."

"I'm full of carbs and sugar," Jayne said. "Nothing could bring me down right now."

Matt laughed. "How about when I get back, we hit this place for breakfast again? If you want."

"Now you're talking," Jayne said.

I nodded and decided to change the subject to give Matt a reprieve. "Do you ever golf at Audubon Park anymore?"

Matt smiled. "I haven't in ages because I've been so busy. You still golf?"

"Not in forever, but I'd be up for a game. If I can rent some clubs."

Jayne shot me a look. "You golf? And you used to play chess? I feel like I don't even know who you are."

That got me laughing. "Matt and I used to sneak onto the course and play as many holes as we could get away with. We were awful, but it was fun."

"Let's do it," Matt said. "When I get back. Jayne, you want to come? You could ride along in the cart."

She shook her head. "Don't golf carts only hold two people? I'd be fine staying home and reading. You guys should have a little fun by yourselves. I'm okay with that. Nothing wrong with a guys' day out."

Matt went back to eating. "You got a good one, Sinclair."

I put my arm around Jayne and kissed the side of her head. "Yes, I did."

We finished up, Matt paid the bill—something he insisted on—then we went back to the SUV. On the drive home, he got a text with his travel info.

"I'll need to leave in two hours," he said. "But I'll give you the keys and show you how to turn the alarm off and on."

"Okay." I couldn't really see us needing to go into his house for anything, but if it made him happy to make it available, I wasn't going to argue.

Jayne leaned forward from the backseat. "Does one of your guest bathrooms have a tub? I would love to take a nice long soak."

Matt nodded. "Yep. Both of the guest bathrooms upstairs have tubs, but the blue bathroom has a big soaker. There are plenty of towels in the linen closet, and I think there's some bubble bath left over from when my sister last visited. Have at it."

"Thanks." Jayne leaned back.

I guess we'd be needing that alarm code after all. "How is Julie?"

"She's great. Lives in Houston. Married with two little girls." He smiled. "Well, my nieces aren't so little anymore. I love them. They're such good kids. I don't get to see them often enough, but I make sure they have presents for Christmas and every birthday. I've got money set aside for their college, too. One's graduating from high school this year, if you can believe that."

"Wow." I sat back, thinking about that. "We are old."

"Yeah, we are," Matt said, chuckling. "We should take a picture and send it to Julie. She'd get a kick out of that."

"Julie is your sister?" Jayne asked.

"My older sister," Matt answered. "I have a younger brother, too. Sin had such a crush on Julie when we were in high school."

I laughed. "I'd like to deny that, except it was true." I glanced at Jayne. "She was something else back in the day. Smart, pretty, and not the slightest bit interested in her brother's friend."

Jayne looked smug. "Her loss was my gain."

I winked at my beautiful wife, full of appreciation for the utter happiness she'd brought to my life. "Trust me, I know you're the one for me."

Matt pulled into the driveway and stopped just ahead of the RV. "I'll let you guys out here. I'm going to put the car in the garage, but I'll text you the codes for the front door and the garage, and the car keys will be on the counter. I'll let you know when I'm back."

Jayne leaned up. "Have a safe trip. We won't have too much fun without you. Thanks for breakfast again."

"You're welcome."

I clapped him on the shoulder. "Yes, thank you. See you when you get back."

We got out, leaving him to do what he needed to.

Back in the RV, Jayne shook her head. "He works a lot, huh?"

"He has to. It's his business. He has a lot of employees depending on him."

She turned in to me, putting her arms around my neck. "I'm glad you don't have a job like that. The doughnuts took you away from me enough as it was. I love that we get to be together all the time."

"So do I." I kissed her. "Our life is more than anything I could have dreamed of. And when our son gets here, it's going to get even better."

"It's also going to get a lot busier." She went to the fridge for a Dr Pepper. "I know we'll have help when we're in the North Pole, but once we get back on the road, it's going to be just us. And babies are a lot of work."

She sat at the table, barely fitting against the tabletop. I took the seat across from her. "Are you having doubts about life in the RV? Because if you want to give this up and stay in the North Pole, I will totally understand."

"I know you will, and I appreciate that, but I've really gotten to like this life. I love traveling with you and the cats and seeing the country. I think it would be a great way for a kid to grow up, too. Travel expands the mind. And a boy who's going to be king someday needs a big mind. One that's had a lot of experiences."

I nodded. "I agree with that. What if we stayed in the North Pole for a year or two then?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I just know things are going to change and I guess … I'm feeling sort of melancholy about it. Don't get me wrong. I am so excited to meet Jack Jr. I mean that. I am thrilled that we're about to be a family of three. But…"

"But there's something really special about it being just the two of us, isn't there?" I understood exactly what she was feeling because I'd been feeling it myself.

"Yeah," Jayne said softly. "There is. And I feel a little guilty for having those thoughts."

"Don't." I took her hand. "I mean it. There's nothing to feel guilty about. If there is, then we can be guilty together."

She smiled gently. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You want to know something else?"

"What?" She sipped her drink.

"I'm a smidge jealous of Jack Jr., and he hasn't even been born yet."

She made a face. "How can you be jealous of a baby?"

"Because I know he's going to be the focus of your attention and I'm going to get less of you. Which is nothing against you. He should get more of you. He should be your focus. He'll be mine, too, of course. But it's part of what I'm feeling."

She squeezed my hand. "You will always be the love of my life. Just like Jack Jr. will be, but no one will ever take over the space in my heart that you occupy. That's the great thing about the heart. It has an endless supply of room."

"I love you."

"I love you." She grinned and took her hand back to screw the cap onto the bottle again. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap."

I smirked. "That seems about right. You've been up several hours already."

She narrowed her eyes at me while barely suppressing a smile. "Settle down or I'll fill this mobile tin can with snow."

She could do it, too. I held up my hands in surrender. "I will be right here, quietly reading, if you need anything."

"Maybe when I get up, we could do a little sightseeing on our own? Nothing big. Maybe go walk around in the French Quarter? Something like that?"

I nodded. "That would be great. We could walk up to St. Charles and catch the streetcar to Canal. The Quarter is basically right there. Maybe we could find a place to listen to some music."

"Oh, I'd love that. Let's do that." She headed for the bedroom but stopped at the door to look back at me. "And maybe get some beignets?"

"Absolutely." Whatever Jayne wanted, I would make sure she got. There was nothing better than making her happy.