31. Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Tanner
O ver the next few weeks, Richard keeps his word, and we get started on the paperwork that will make me the CEO of Sterling Properties. It means I’m working more than I want to, my sixty-hour work weeks turning into almost eighty. Which means the personal project I’d been working on gets pushed to the side. I talk to Wyatt about it, and he tells me it’s fine and we’ll get back to it early in the new year.
Christmas approaches quickly and I go out shopping with my brother, finding presents for all our nieces and nephews who are still young enough. When we’re done, we’re walking around the mall and Wyatt asks, “What are you getting Vic for Christmas?”
I sigh. “I have no idea. She got my present like three weeks ago.”
Wyatt snorts. “That sounds like her. She probably finished her Christmas shopping before December first. Who did she get for Secret Santa? Did she ask for help?”
“No. She won’t tell me. And you’re right. She even got something for Spencer and Lis’ baby and Adalie and Nate’s baby, neither of which will be born until after Christmas. She’s been done for the last week.”
We get coffees at Starbucks and sit down with them. I don’t get to just hang out with my brother often. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want in my life and less time working is starting to rank higher on that list.
“Help me figure out what to get for Vic,” I plead. “You’ve been married forever.”
Wyatt snorts. “It hasn’t been forever. What about jewellery? Women love jewellery.”
I shake my head. “She never wears any. Except her wedding rings and maybe some earrings once in a while.”
“New earrings then?”
“Jewellery doesn’t feel right.”
He drinks some of his coffee, looking thoughtful. “What other things does she like?”
“Reading and going to the Aquarium.”
“Good. What parts of the Aquarium does she like?”
“The seals and the jellyfish. And there’s this one turtle. It’s a pig-nosed turtle.” I smile, thinking about it. “Every time we pass it, she waves to him like they’re old friends.”
“Huh. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would wave at a turtle.”
“She is exactly the kind of person who would wave at a turtle. She just doesn’t show that side of herself to many people.”
My phone buzzes and I pick it up, seeing that Richard has sent me a text message. I groan as I set my phone back down without reading it.
“Bad news?” Wyatt asks.
I take off my glasses to rub my nose. “It’s Richard. He wants something again. This fucking job is taking over my life.”
“And yet, you want to own it.”
“I never said that.”
He quirks an eyebrow at me. “You married the man’s daughter so you could own the company.”
“Not because I wanted it for myself. I wanted it so she could have it.” I put my glasses back on and slide a hand down my beard. As I told Vic at Halloween, it only took a couple weeks to grow it back to how I usually wear it. Richard remarked that I should continue shaving, but I ignored him.
“When are you going to tell her already?” Wyatt asks.
I take a sip of my coffee, playing dumb. “Tell who what?”
He leans forward and lowers his voice, though no one we know is in the mall. “Tell your wife that you’re in love with her.”
I shake my head. “It’s too soon. Richard is going to sign the company over in January. Sometime after that, I’ll tell her.”
Wyatt leans back, rolling his eyes in a way that reminds me of Vic. “You’re an idiot. Let’s go. We still need something for Jaxon.”
We finish shopping, arguing about who got who for Secret Santa. I’m curious about who got Vic’s name, but if it’s Wyatt, he’s not telling.
I’m still thinking of our conversation when I get home a few hours later with almost all my Christmas shopping done. I’m wrapping the last couple presents when I run out of paper and Vic gets home from a yoga class with Adalie.
“Do you have any wrapping paper?” I ask her.
“What’s wrong with that?” she asks, sitting on the couch and pointing to a roll of paper set off to the side.
“I can’t use that.”
“Is it too small?”
“No, that’s special wrapping paper.”
I stand, setting the presents I’ve wrapped under the tree with Vic’s presents. When I turn back to her, she’s waiting for me to elaborate, eyebrows raised. I sit next to her and take her hands in mine. “Vic, I have a confession I need to make.”
She blinks. “Okay.”
“Remember that story I told you about the mysterious gift for Skylar?”
She bites her lip, clearly trying not to laugh. “Yes, Tanner. I remember that story.”
I sigh, regretfully. “I need to tell you, and it might come as a shock, but I am the one who gets Skylar that present. That paper is specifically for that.”
She gasps. “Tanner! Why didn’t you tell me? I would have understood.” She’s playing the part a little over the top and I love it.
“I couldn’t. Now you know my secret. I hope you can forgive me.”
She breaks into laughter then, kissing my cheek. “I suppose. I have more in the closet.”
She gets up to get the paper and I think back to the conversation I had with Wyatt at the mall about what to get her. I’ve been thinking about it all day, how she likes to go to the Aquarium and see all the fish swimming. How she waves to that silly little turtle.
I pick up my phone, still ignoring the text from Richard, and send one to someone else instead.
When he texts back later, I know what I’m getting my wife for Christmas.
When I wake on Christmas Day, I leave Vic in bed asleep and get up to make breakfast. We’d been at Derek and Ava’s last night for a Christmas dinner with her friends and had gotten in late, but I always rise at the same time, every day. After everything is prepared, I set up my laptop at the dining table and open my personal project for the first time in over a month. It’s actually pretty close to being finished and I’m hoping to talk to Wyatt about it later today.
By the time Vic gets out of bed, her hair a bit messy, and her pyjamas hanging off one shoulder, I’ve already finished what I wanted to do and put my laptop away.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” I say.
“Morning. What time were we supposed to be at your sister’s house?” She comes over and sits on my lap, her eyes half closed.
The event room in my parents’ building was already booked for today, so Harper is hosting Christmas this year. We’re supposed to bring pies again, specifically requested after Thanksgiving. Vic made them a few days ago with Ava, and a very pregnant Lis and Adalie. They had done a huge amount of baking at Lis and Spencer’s house while the men were told, firmly, to stay out of the kitchen. We watched a hockey game instead. Turns out, Nate is also a big hockey fan. We’d even talked about the beer league team he plays with, and he’d mentioned if I wanted to play, I could join them whenever.
“Around 3pm.”
“What have you been doing while I slept?” she asks, snuggling into my chest.
I wrap my arms around her and press a kiss to her hair. “I have breakfast ready to start and I did some more work on that project.”
We’ve talked about it a few times since Whistler. She never pushes me to share it with her before I’m ready.
“Is it getting close?” she asks.
“Sort of. I had to take a break with all the Sterling stuff going on. Richard asked me to come in on Monday to work on something.”
She rubs her cheek against my shoulder. “I hope you told him to fuck off, that we took the week between Christmas and New Year’s off.”
“I mentioned something along those lines. Not those words, exactly. Then I caved a little and told him I have my laptop, and I can look at what he wants, but I’m not going into the office.”
She bites my jaw. “You need to tell him no.”
“I’m supposed to take over his business, Vic. If I tell him no, he won’t hand it over. It’s been a fight to get him to the point we’re finally at.”
She sits up. “Enough business. Presents.”
She moves to stand, but I hold her tighter. “Kiss first.”
She grins, her head dipping until her lips are a breath away from mine. “You’re so needy.”
“Yes.”
She kisses me for a long time before hopping off my lap and going to the tree, grabbing a small box and handing it to me. I tear it open and find tickets to the hockey games.
“I figured instead of watching them on TV, we could go to some. That’s a half season pass, so it’s not all the games. There’s so many of them.”
I stare at the tickets in a sort of shock. I love watching hockey, but it had never occurred to me to buy myself tickets, let alone a bunch of them. Then I notice where we’re sitting.
“Vic. Are these box seats?”
“Yes. I called the owner and asked what he had available. He said these were some of the best seats in the house.”
“You… called the owner.”
“He’s a friend of my dad’s. Well. Business associate.”
I stare at my wife for a long time. Then I shake my head. “We do not live in the same world.”
She laughs. “We do now. You’ve lived in this world for a while, Tanner. You just haven’t done anything about it. He knew exactly who you were when I mentioned who the tickets were for. He was surprised to learn you’re a hockey fan.”
“The owner of an NHL hockey team knows who I am.”
She laughs and kisses me again. “He does. And he’s looking forward to meeting you. Now. Me next.”
I love how excited she is, though the idea of giving her this present is making me nervous. I find the box under the tree and hand it to her. It’s a bit larger than the one she’d given me, but more flat.
She grins at me. “Good girls get presents.”
I chuckle and kiss her. “Good girls get whatever they want.”
She rips open the paper to reveal a box. Pulling off the lid, she picks up the papers I’d printed and set inside. She reads them over, her brows drawn down as she figures out exactly what I’ve done.
“Are we… going to Hawaii?”
“Yes. I had Spencer and Derek help me. I remember you saying once that Hawaii was one of your favourite places you’ve been. Since I haven’t been anywhere, I thought it would be nice if we could go together, and you can show me all your favourite places. Plus, I know how much you like tropical fish, so I’ve already included a snorkeling excursion. Spencer helped me with the dates, and Derek helped me find the place. He said, when you were helping him and Ava plan their honeymoon, you’d mentioned really liking this one.”
Her eyes are sparkling, and she’s smiling at me like I’ve just given her the moon.
“You want to travel with me?” she asks.
I shrug. “Yeah. I have all these hang ups with spending money, which is why I haven’t really traveled before. That and because I’m kind of a workaholic. But I’ve been thinking of what I want my life to look like going forward and I don’t want to spend as much time working as I have been. I want to spend time with the people I care about. Traveling is important to you. It’s something you love to do. I’d like to be a part of that, if you want me to be.”
She drops the papers on the couch and flings her arms around my neck. “This is great. I wasn’t sure if you would want to travel. We’re going to have such a good time.”
I let out a breath, the nerves fading away.