Chapter 40 Spencer Nash

She's Full of Surprises

Two and a Half Weeks After the Wedding

I stare in shock around the barn.

I legitimately thought I was coming here to have sex with my wife on my thirtieth birthday, and instead, the most important people in my life are standing here yelling Surprise!

I clutch my chest as the shock plows into me. My mom. My dad. All three of my brothers and both of my sisters-in-law.

Of all the things I thought might happen today…this wasn't it.

I've been facing the reality that I'm not just a year older but an entire decade older all day. I've been trying to sort through the feelings accompanying that. Many of my acquaintances who are thirty have been married for years now and have a kid or two, and that's not on my radar.

"Happy birthday," Grace says, a huge grin lighting up her face.

"You did this?" I ask.

She nods a little, and I just shake my head as I move toward her and lean down to kiss her. "I can't believe you not only arranged it but kept it a secret. "

"I'm full of surprises," she says with a smirk.

If that isn't the understatement of the year.

Steve and Maggie are here, too, along with a handful of teammates I was close to in Minnesota. I make the rounds and greet everyone, and I can't help but be immensely impressed by the transformation inside this barn.

I thought she'd planned to use the charity event she's been planning as the kickoff to opening the new event space at the vineyard, but this small, intimate party is perfect here.

Complete with the lights strung along the pitched ceiling exactly as I imagined it when I mentioned that to her the night we fucked right over there on that barrel.

I glance at Asher. Sex on a barrel in a barn is probably more up his alley.

Grace asks if I'd like a drink, and I nod. "Whatever you're having." I nod toward her half-empty glass of red, and I know whatever it is, it's a Newlywed, and I'll love it.

Just like I love her.

It's getting stronger and stronger by the day, and as much as I'm excited to start another season with a new team…I'm dreading the moment I'm going to have to leave her.

We've grown close over the last few weeks, in part because of the amount of time we've been blessed with. That's inevitably going to change when we're away from each other for large portions of time. We're going to shift to long-distance, and given the inception of our marriage, I can't help but wonder what it's going to do to us.

I hope it brings us closer. I fear it'll push us apart.

I guess that's sort of what turning thirty is all about. New fears, new pressures, new anxieties. It's all about how I choose to deal with them.

Asher calls me an old man. Lincoln teases me even though he's approaching forty. Grayson says he doesn't feel a day over twenty-five.

My mom chats up Grace at the bar as she grabs me a glass of wine, and I notice Amelia is absent from this party. I'm curious what my family would've thought of her, though I know for sure they wouldn't love her the way they love Grace .

It's just the right fit.

She brings that glass of red and a wrapped box. "Open your present," she demands after she hands me both.

I set my glass on the table beside me after I take a sip. "You threw me this party, Gracie. You didn't have to get me anything."

"Open it," she goads.

"We didn't sing and eat cake yet," I protest.

"I'm too excited for you to see what I got you for all that."

I chuckle, curious enough to buck tradition to see what it is. And when I open it, I find a scrapbook inside with a printed page inserted in the front.

Spencer's 30 Adventures for His 30th Year.

My brows crinkle together as I open to the first page.

Cooking Lessons for Two at Crow San Diego . Beneath the words, I find two tickets to the lessons she's referring to.

I flip to the next page. A Hike in the Mountains. Run a 5K. Go Camping. Go on a Road Trip. Build a Sandcastle. Have a Picnic. Learn a New Skill. Lego Master Builder Competition. Ride a Roller Coaster. Unplug for a Day. Volunteer. Plant a Garden.

I glance through the pictures she chose to represent each new thing, which is always on the right side of the page, and the left side of the page is blank for us to add in our photos from whenever we complete each task.

"Grace, this is so thoughtful," I say as I continue flipping through each new thing.

And with every flip of the page, I can't help but think about how I want to do these things with her.

I'd love to head back toward Vegas and hike with just her. I'd love to keep running with her and eventually get to the point where we can run a 5K together. Camping? A road trip? Hell yeah. And the idea of a Lego competition against her is an actual turn-on.

She's grinning when I look up at her. "I can't wait to do each thing in there together."

I reach for her and hook my palm around her neck, pulling her closer to me. "Neither can I. "

It's blissful as we both revel in these feelings. We laugh the night away with my family. We munch on flatbread, and we drink too much wine, and when the evening draws to a close and our final guests leave, I take my wife back to the bungalow that feels like home now and thank her in the only way I know how.

Naked.

And then she gives me another birthday treat.

Head.

This might just be the best birthday ever.

Which is why I feel awful that her birthday three days later turns out to be a total disaster.