I tossed the washcloth in the dirty laundry and stood up.

Aiden was at my side. “It’s passed?”

“For now.” I washed my hands and took a swig of mouthwash.

After I was done, I slogged to the bed with Aiden hovering behind me. My nightstand had a picture of Aiden and me with the Colorado mountains behind us. A bigger photo that included his entire family at Beck’s cabin in Aspen was mounted in the living room next to pictures of my niece and nephews. We now had as many pictures of people as we did of landscapes in our home.

Our beagle—crossed with who knows what—rescue puppy that Violet had insisted we name Bud jumped on the bed, his tail wagging. The kitten we’d adopted at the same time—named Petal, also suggested by Violet—swatted at Bud, then started grooming the puppy’s little ear.

I sank into bed with a sigh, loving that my days off involved my husband and our pets. Aiden had all the days off, but his evenings would soon be a different story.

“Randall call you yet?” My stepfather had been calling every day since Aiden had approached him about taking over the wrestling club.

Aiden chuckled. “I think I have a missed call. He’s going with me to talk to a builder. I want his insight on the design.”

The club would have its own space and year-round wrestling. Violet would have her uncle as a coach—Aiden would make sure of it. Both Violet and my nephews would get free lessons if they wanted. Jason had tried to object, but Aiden had said the family discount was nonnegotiable. Aiden planned to lease some space for other club programs. He had ideas for creating scholarship programs. We’d talked a lot about how we wanted to use the trust money.

We didn’t need it. I liked working at the library. That was how I wanted to contribute to the community. Aiden would be a stay-at-home dad and run some of our own nonprofits. I met with Lauren a couple of times a month for coffee. She gave me her thoughts for programs that might help the not-quite-retired crowd learn new skills to finish out those last years of work, or because they couldn’t afford to retire. Between Lauren and the library director, they’d identified technology as a huge pain point. Aiden and I had set up an annual donation to the library’s technology and career outreach programs.

I stretched out while Aiden grabbed a Tums for the low-level heartburn I couldn’t shake. Aiden lay next to me, his body as sinfully powerful as it’d always been. The only thing different was the expression he wore. His resting business face was softer, a little less arrogant without stress tightening his lips.