Page 103 of Cava with My Colleague

I stare at the folder like it might bite me. “When?” I ask stupidly, like this hasn’t been the plan all along, like somehow, it’ll change.

“The Madrid office closes for the summer break anyway, so there’s no reason to keep you here.” She pauses. “And they need you in Austin by the first of August at the latest.”

Two weeks. I knew that was what I had, but I was still hoping . . .

“Jade, I’m so sorry. If there was any way to keep you here, I would. But my hands are tied.”

I nod numbly. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course. Take a few days. But—” She pauses. “The Austin position won’t stay open forever. If you don’t take it, they’ll need to hire someone else.”

“I understand.”

I leave her office in a daze. Carlos is in the hallway, waiting. He takes one look at my face and his expression falls.

“What happened?”

“There’s no position. Madrid is contracting. They want me back in Austin.”

“When?”

“Before the August closure.”

He pulls me into his arms right there in the hallway, and I let him. I let myself fall apart just a little bit against his chest while the reality sinks in.

I had hoped so much that this would be our ideal solution, keeping my job and getting all the time I want with Carlos. Building a life that worked for both of us.

Now what?

At the end of the day, when we get home to Carlos’s apartment, I collapse on the couch. Izan immediately sniffs me in concern, sensing my distress in that way dogs do.

Carlos brings me tea and sits on my other side.

“Talk to me,” he says.

“There’s nothing to say. The position in Madrid doesn’t exist. I have to go back to Austin.”

“So we go to Austin.”

“No, I mean—” I sit up, look at him. “Carlos, your family is here. Your job is here.”

He scrubs his hand over his face, then steeples his fingers against his chin, thinking. The tension stretches until I have to break the silence.

“We can figure some⁠—”

He holds up his hand. “I’ll retire.”

I’m surprised, for a moment, pleasure surging through my veins that he would upend his simple life for me, but then I remember the other, bigger problem.

“But your family⁠—”

“I’ll see them. And they can visit. And we can visit them. Jade, we’ll figure it out. You’d have your job, and I’ll have you. I’ve been thinking about it vaguely for years—I’m fifty-six, I’ve had high-paying jobs for three decades. I have savings, investments, Fernando and Diana don’t need my financial support anymore. My little apartment is well within my means.”

I shake my head. “It’s not fair. You’d give up your career and you’d have to give up living in Madrid? Near Fernando and Diana and Carmen? You’re giving up time with your granddaughter.”

“For you? Yes.”

The certainty in his voice makes my chest ache. “Carlos⁠—”