“Intellectually, I agree. But emotionally, it’s a damn hard pill to swallow.”
“I know.” He shook his head. “Epictetus says that the chief task in this life is to discern what’s up to us and what isn’t.”
“While I appreciate a timely quote from the Stoics, you have to know that I’ve never been willing to leave things to other people.”
“Not every conflict needs your participation.”
“Believe I’m well aware of the despite what you saw today.” She sighed loudly. “And it’s not lost on me that I often attach my value to how many people I can help and bring my wrenches and hammers to other people’s problems without them even asking me.”
“Damn, Tancy.”
“I know. You would think all this self-knowledge would be much more helpful than it is.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “This isn’t going to be solved tonight.”
“But you want to solve it?”
“Yes.” She looked up. “Why do you look so surprised?”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d take this as a sign that we should break up. The DC thing would be easier if you didn’t have to worry about entanglements or appeasing your overprotective boyfriend’s feelings.”
“How did you come up with that scenario?” She narrowed her gaze. “Unless it’s your way of ending things.”
“I just told you that I can’t breathe without you. Does that sound like the beginning of a breakup speech?”
“No. I suppose it doesn’t.”
Hearing his phone ping with a text alert, she watched him grab it and read the message. “Everything okay?”
“The caretaker for the farm had to take off. He has a family emergency and will be gone for several days.” He rubbed his head. “And he didn’t have time to feed the animals, which means they will miss a meal if I don’t go out tonight.”
She set her glass down and stood. “You better pack a bag and get on the road.”
“It’s the last thing I want to do, but you’re right.”
“Go and enjoy the quiet of the farm, and we’ll talk when you get back.”
He held up his phone. “I plan on keeping in touch.”
“I’m going to be in court tomorrow, so let’s talk tomorrow night.”
“Alright.” He enveloped her in a tight hug. “But don’t get any ideas. This is just a bump, not a twist we can’t navigate.”
“Okay,” she replied quietly, stepping away. “Thank you for taking care of the bad guy today.”
“Always.” He kissed her head and then headed for the door.
“Drive safe.”
“I’ll text you when I get there.”
“Perfect.” Once he closed the door, she took a long breath and was weirdly thankful for the break. She processed things best alone and needed a little uninterrupted time to get centered.
Returning to the living room, she picked up her glass and wondered if her fatal flaw would make a long-term relationship impossible.
The following morning, Tancy cracked one eye open and heard the floorboards creek. Exhausted from a night of fitful sleep, she debated if it made sense to get up and investigate. She’d had a reasonably good run and didn’t know if crawling out of her warm nest of blankets was worth -it. “Take the TV but leave the ceramic animals.”
“No one wants those homely creatures.”
Nathan stood in her bedroom doorway, and she frowned. “At least you’re in one piece.”