Page 108 of Earned Husband

“So what about the condo?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “We’ll either sell it or her family can use it when they’re over here, which will be often outside of the few months a year Deja and I will be in Egypt.”

He let out a low whistle between his teeth, but then Deja called my name and blew me a kiss across the fairway, drawing the attention of half the golfers on the course. Despite the onlookers, I pretended to catch it and slide it into my pocket. Then I blew one right back at her, grinning from ear to ear.

Isaac let out a dramatic groan. “I hate seeing you two together. It’s sickening, but also, I like her for you, man. She’s good for you.”

I pretended I was about to shove him and he howled with laughter as Deja came speeding up. After ten minutes of racing around with her, they finally came back to pick me up and we headed home.

On the drive back to the townhouse, she had her nose pressed to the window, suddenly yelling, “Stop!”

I slammed on the brakes, startled, but pulled over next to a little roadside nursery. She turned to grin at me. “That tiny cactus looks so lonely.”

She raced inside to rescue her lonely little cactus, and we were barely on the road again when she sucked in a sudden gasp. “Oh, look at that. It’s gorgeous. I need to take a picture.”

Dutifully, I parked next to the old church, where one picture of the stained-glass windows turned into two dozen. Even I had to admit that those windows were beautiful enough to warrant the detour, though.

Eventually, we were back on our way, stopping only once more for dinner. We got cheap, Chinese takeout, and the cactus got given a place of pride right at the center of our kitchen island.I eyed it suspiciously, unsure if that was the safest place for it to be. “We reach across here all the time and that thing has needles.”

“You just don’t know him yet. He’ll behave.”

“He?” I asked as Isaac set the takeout down and started opening containers.

Naturally, my brother didn’t share my reservations. “I, for one, welcome Spike to the family.”

I groaned. “You named our cactus?”

“He looks like a Spike, don’t you think?”

Deja nodded approvingly. “Spike, it is.”

I sighed but accepted that after years of living alone, my houseplants were now going to start introducing themselves. Working together, the three of us spread cartons across the kitchen island instead of bothering with plates, and Deja sat cross-legged on one of the barstools, sliding my notebook closer to herself as she chewed her sweet and sour chicken.

After glancing at the first page, she looked up again and pointed her chopsticks at me. “Have you got your passport?”

“Yes. Why do you have my packing checklist?”

She made a tick next to the first item on the page and waggled her eyebrows. “I come from a family of micromanagers, remember? Travel adapters?”

“Check,” I sighed, smiling as I watched her tackle my list. “I’ve got a laptop charger too.”

Isaac glanced between the two of us before he grinned at me. “Look at that, you’re the one being audited for a change.”

When I sighed, he nearly inhaled a noodle laughing, but a knock from the front door had him standing up instead of continuing with his judgment. “I’ll get it.”

As he crossed the room, still chuckling, Deja circled an item on the list. “We’ll need to get you some lighter shirts.”

“I have shirts.”

“No, you have accountant shirts. I’m talking about normal, long-sleeved T-shirts.”

“Long-sleeved?” I frowned. “We’re going toEgypt.”

“Yes, and it’s going to be late fall when we get back there. We’ll be there for winter too.”

“Winter, but in Egypt,” I said slowly. “Okay, and the surrounding Mediterranean countries for our honeymoon, but still. It’s hardly winter over there.”

She smiled sweetly. “That’s why I said you neededlightlong-sleeves, but you’d be surprised. It can get pretty cold in some parts.”