Page 29 of Forever and Always

I stalked over to stand in front of her.

“There’s a very easy way to make it work,” I said. “I have a plan. I’m going to move to Denver, just like Christopher did for Steph.”

Her eyes widened. “You have a law practice here Andrew. You’re the only lawyer in town. You can’t give that up. People need you to be in Lawson.”

“Most of my work can be done remotely,” I said. “I figured I’d live in Denver three weeks out of the month and come back the fourth. If it’s a quiet time at your work, you could come with me and telework, like Steph does when she comes to Lawson. We might need to find a larger house in Denver though. I’m not sure that your place is big enough for both of us to have a home office. I found a couple real estate listings that look promising.”

Katy looked annoyed. “You’ve planned out our whole future without even talking to me?”

“It wasn’t too hard to make a plan given that we’ve both seen something that works.”

“Just because something was right for Steph and Christopher doesn’t mean it’s the best plan for us,” she said stubbornly.

“Sure it would. I have it all figured out.”

“Is this what a relationship with you would be like then?” Katy’s voice turned colder than I’d ever heard it. “You make all the decisions, and I’m just supposed to go along with them, no questions asked? Did you even think to talk to me about what ideas I have, or what I want?”

Oh crap. She had a point. I was being overbearing. Time to retreat.

“I didn’t make any decisions Katy. I just did some research and came up with a proposal for us to consider.”

When she didn’t say anything more I added, “I’m sorry. I think I didn’t really present it as a proposal.”

Because I hadn’t even considered that I needed to. Or that there would be other options. I was such an asshole.

I continued, “I know this is a lot for you and I can see you freaking out. But we can make this work. I know we can.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked.

I took her hand and placed it over my heart. “I feel it here.”

She still looked conflicted. “Look Andrew, I’ve really liked spending this time with you…”

My heart sank. Was she about to blow me off?

“But going from being a near stranger to a houseguest to having you talking about moving to Denver for me all in less than a month, it’s too fast.” She gave me an earnest look. “I have whiplash. I need you to slow down. Give me time to catch up and come to decisions at my own pace. Can you do that?”

Her request was totally reasonable. Even though I’d been in love with her for eighteen months, I’d only really gotten to know her over the last three weeks. If someone else told me they were moving and making major life changes for someone after being together for three weeks, I’d think they were insane. While it was true that Katy was skittish, she was right to be cautious, especially when I was being so impetuous. I’d let my excitement get in the way of common sense.

“Okay. We can take our time.”

Katy looked relieved. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Let’s eat dinner and figure out what a long-distance relationship looks like, something that will work for both of us.”