Page 73 of From the Embers
Nobody understood, yet within days, Eason and I were labeled backstabbing and taboo.
It was a whole big thing and Eason had lost his mind, but I’d put my foot down when he’d tried to come home early. People would forever talk and make assumptions, but at the end of the day, the only things that mattered were that Eason and I knew who we were, how we had fallen in love, and where the future was leading us.
What hurt him the most was that one day the kids were going to read that bullshit, but if we did our jobs right, by the time that day rolled around, they would never have to question the truth.
“No, I’m ready to abandon the celebrity life to come home to you,” Eason rumbled. “God, I wish you were here, Bree. And the kids. It’s only been a few weeks, but I swear Luna looks like she’s going to be asking to borrow the car soon.”
“I think it’s Asher you need to worry about. He’s got this girl in his class and he keeps telling me she’s so pretty it makes his stomach hurt.”
He barked a laugh. “Oh man, that’s serious. Though I’m slightly injured he hasn’t said anything to me about her.”
“I’m sure he’s just waiting for you to get home. Speaking of… Any clue when that will be?”
He let out a low growl. “All right, what do you want first? Good news or bad news?”
My stomach sank. The only good news I wanted was for him to come walking through that door, and I assumed that, whatever the bad news was, it wasn’t going to be conducive to me getting that. “Let’s get the bad news out of the way.”
“Since I signed with Downside Up, Levee hooked me up with her producer. He’s incredible. Completely gets my vision. We worked on one hook today that I’d been stuck on and he had it knocked out in less than two minutes.”
I twisted my lips. “And how is that a bad thing?”
“He wants me back in the studio to rework parts of what Levee and I had done. And he’s right. It had too much of her fingerprints and not enough of mine. It’s gonna be another two weeks at least. Maybe closer to a month if I can get the studio time. I’ve been writing like crazy and have more than enough material for a full-length album. I just need a little help getting the tracks down.”
Yes, a month sounded like an eternity with the way I missed him. But he was also missing me and the kids something fierce, so he didn’t need me piling guilt on top of it. “Eason, it’s not bad news. You have a record deal with a major label who is spending time and money to put you with one of the best producers. We knew the distance was going to be hard, but these are not bad problems to have.”
He shifted the phone from one hand to another, raking his free hand through the top of his hair. “I know. I know. I just feel bad leaving you there with the kids. You’ll have to go back to work eventually. Maybe we should talk about hiring a nanny. I can pay for someone full time. I know me being here is putting you in a bind and I’m sorry you’re having to pick up all the slack.”
“Would you stop already? I’m not in a bind. I’m doing what needs to be done for our family. The same way you did when I was working eighty hours a week during the IRS audit. Stop feeling guilty for being successful. If you want the truth, I’ve kinda been thinking about not going back to work.”
His eyebrows drew together, and he sat forward. “Wait, wait, wait. What? Is this because of me?”
I dropped my head back. “No, it’s because of me. I’ve been doing some thinking. I hate missing the kids grow up. We only have so many years with them, and pretty soon they’ll all be in school and too cool to hang out with their old mom. I could maybe go back to work then. My heart just isn’t in it anymore. I worked my ass off to build that company. Maybe it’s time I turned over the reins to someone else and followed my own dreams.”
His face got soft, and he leaned into the camera. “Bree, I’m not actually there right now. But I’m here for you. If this is what you want, don’t ever go back to Prism. I can take over the bills. I kinda failed Jessica on that front, but it’s different this time. I’m not going to get dropped. I can take care of us now. All of us. I swear I can.”
