He frowned. “With what money? You don’t work.”
“I’m going to use some of the money you give me every month.”
“That’syourmoney.”
“Iknow.”
“So if you know, what are you talking about? That money is for you to do whatever you want with. We have an agreement. I take care of the house and the bills and what you need for the kids.”
“I know. But…” She looked away.
Terrence tilted up her chin. “But when you decided to do this, we were angry at each other, and you thought you couldn’t come to me.”
“It didn’t feel right, Terrence.”
“I don’t care how itfeels. I told you I’d always take care of you, and I meant it. I want to. I want to because I love you, and I don’t want you to need anything at all. That doesn’t change because we’re fighting. Whatever you need, I got you.”
“You can’t take care of me forever.”
“Says who?”
She let out a pained sigh. “One day you’ll get married and your new wife is not going to be okay with you supporting me.”
“I’ll continue doing whatever I please, and this hypothetical woman will just have to deal.”
He tucked the proposal under his arm. “I’ll take care of this.”
“What if I remarry?”
He halted on the way out. Silence filled the kitchen. Charisse stared at his broad back, waiting for him to turn around, but he didn’t.
Finally, he said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
He continued to the front of the house, and she followed. There was so much more she wanted to say but didn’t know how.
“Terrence,” she whispered.
He turned around and looked at her for a moment with sadness in his eyes. “I know.”
Her heart broke a little.
He closed the gap between them in the dark hallway and clasped the side of her neck. “I know we’re not back together, and I know I still have a lot of work to do. I don’t take you for granted, and I’ll keep putting in the work to prove that I’ve changed, and you can trust me again. But… even if you don’t give us another chance, I want you to know that I love you, and when I say I’ll take care of you, I mean it. So let me have that, okay? It’s the one thing I ever did right with us, so… Let me do this.”
His eyes begged her to give in, and she nodded. “Okay,” she said softly.
“Which design do you like best?” he asked just as softly.
“It doesn’t matter—”
“Which design do you like best?”
“The third one.” It was the most expensive but included everything she wanted.
“Then that’s the one you’ll have.”
He gently kissed her lips and held his mouth pressed to hers for a long moment. Then he rested his forehead against hers. “I love you. No matter what happens between us, even if you never take me back, I love you. That will never change.”
He stepped away and left quietly out the door.
