All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy [125]
"That's why he suddenly canceled all his engagements." She paused, still curious. "Why did you stay in L.A. after that? Because that sounds like one conversation."
"The rest has nothing to do with Emily or the book."
"I want to hear it anyway."
"Fine. I've been thinking about leaving your father's firm. I want more autonomy, more freedom, and more money. Your dad wants me to work my way up slowly. I've never been a patient man, Laura, you know that. I've been offered a job in L.A., and I was interviewing with several of the partners yesterday and today."
Laura felt her jaw drop. "Are you serious?"
"I didn't tell you, because I haven't decided what I want to do yet."
"You haven't decided? This isn't your decision. It's our decision. I'm supposed to be your wife, your partner."
"Calm down," Drew said, looking around.
"No, I'm done with calm. This is my life you're talking about. If you're not happy working for my father, then you should leave. But you need to talk to me before you make decisions about uprooting our family and moving to L.A. Or weren't you planning to take us with you?"
Drew ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know anymore, Laura. Can you honestly say you're happy?"
She stared at him in dismay. "I think I could be happy—if we made some changes."
"Like what?" he demanded.
Normally, his abrupt manner would have intimidated her, but she seemed to have grown a spine sometime in the last week. "Like you come home for dinner at least three times a week. We spend quality time alone together." She waved her hand in the air. "I want you to be part of the family. I want you to listen to me when I talk to you instead of brushing me off."
"Is that it?"
"No. I want to know where our money is going. I saw deposits and withdrawals in our accounts that I don't understand. Do you have some sort of side business?"
"I did a little moonlighting for cash. Some private consulting," Drew admitted. "I sent the money to my father to cover his gambling debts. Someone was threatening to break his legs. I probably should have let that happen, but he is my father."
The shame in his eyes touched her. Deep down, she'd known that Drew's ambition and drive for money and security, the perfect home, the perfect family were the result of his early unsettled upbringing, but that had never been clearer than it was at this moment. "You should have told me, Drew. I don't want there to be secrets between us. Whatever your parents need, I'm behind you." She took a breath, realizing she had to show him that she also understood that this couldn't be a one-sided endeavor. "I know it's not all your fault, Drew. I've been hanging on to you like a drowning swimmer clinging to a buoy. I've been pulling you down with me. I want to be more of my own person. I don't know exactly what that means, but I know it will include getting back to my music, playing the flute, having girlfriends who understand and inspire me. And I'm going to stop worrying about whether or not you or my parents approve of every move I make."
"Where is all this coming from?" he asked, clearly surprised by her outspokenness. "What happened to you, Laura?"
"Emily happened. The book happened. I ran into Natalie and Madison, and I was reminded of who I once wanted to be. I remembered how great you and I used to be, how we used to balance each other out. But somewhere along the way, we fell into these roles that exist on some parallel plane. I don't want you to have your life and me to have my life; I want our lives to be intertwined. Do you want that, too? Because if you don't, if you really don't, then you need to tell me."
Drew didn't answer for what was the longest moment of her life. "When I met you, I knew you'd make the perfect wife. You'd be the kind of woman who would want to stay home with the kids, want to make a home, a family. And I wanted that, something solid and permanent, not like the home I grew up in. My father was never around. When he was around he was