Year Ten | The Decision

Reader Note: The Contract is not a romance. It is Tucker Meyer’s origin story and a prequel serial to the spicy BWWM age-gap romance Together Exclusive Official by Stevie Alison.

Christine

The marquee out front states:

Springtime with the Doña Ana Songbirds

Shows April 30 thru May 6

Weeknights 7pm

Saturday & Sunday 2pm and 7pm

Backstage on Night One, I’m hyperventilating. For the first time, I am performing a solo part in a song during the event. I will be singing soprano for the selection “Only in Sleep” by Ēriks Ešenvalds.

I hate being in the spotlight. I’m an okay singer, but not the best. Besides, the lights are harsh, and surely, they’ll show every lump, roll, and imperfection on my body, despite wearing a tailored black dress.

As I shake my hands, I hear, “You’re gonna do amazing, Chrissy.”

Only one person calls me that.

I turn around, and Pete, dressed in all black like myself, stands there with a cute grin on his face. He steps forward and gently grips my arms.

“You’ll do great. I know you will. Our entire ensemble knows you will. Milla wouldn’t have given you the part if she didn’t think you were ready.”

Looking into his warm brown eyes, calm washes over me. “Alright, alright, Pete. I’m gonna listen to you, and I’m gonna kill it.”

We walk onstage and stand in our respective sections for the concert. When it’s time for my solo, I step out there in my knee-length, long-sleeved black outfit, and I do what Pete said I would do. After it’s over, a combination of relief and accomplishment overtake me.

Behind the curtain, my friends hug me...Leila, Sofia, Xiomara, and Pete.

“I told you, Chrissy...you nailed it,” he reassures me while embracing me.

It means a lot to hear him say that.

The entire group leaves the backstage area and walks into the crowd, where some choir members reunite with family and friends. As I make my way through the lobby, several concertgoers stop me, lauding my solo and telling me I did such a difficult piece justice.

“Let me walk you to your car,” Pete says.

The lot isn’t the most well lit, so I agree.

Once we get to my deep blue Lexus NX 350, I take out my key fob to open it up.

“Thanks, Pete,” I say before I climb into the driver’s seat.

“Of course. Just so you know, Chrissy...when I tell you that you were amazing out there, I mean it.”

“I appreciate that,” I say with a soft smile.

He closes my door and waves.

Returning the wave, I turn on my car and drive away.

***

Tucker

This evening, I’m on my laptop at the dining table, taking care of the finishing touches on the plans I have for Christine and me. My ideas are shaping up wonderfully. She’s going to love this.

As I finish booking the resort accommodations, the unit door creaks open. The click-clack of shoes crossing the polished wood flooring is unmistakable.

“Hi, doll...how was your concert?” I ask.

She walks up to me and kisses me on the cheek. “It was wonderful. We had a big crowd, and it went off without a hitch.”

“And your solo?”

She laughs. “I was freaked out about it, but my friends were there to support me. The solo turned out well, and I received a lot of praise for it.”

“I knew you’d kill it, Christine.”

She goes into the kitchen and grabs leftover fried chicken from the fridge, then joins me at the table, munching away.

Continuing, I say, “So, for our anniversary, I want you to take that week off from work.”

Christine swallows a bite before asking, “Why?”

“Well, it’s our ten-year milestone, so I was thinking we could do something fun.”

Smiling, she says, “Alright, Tucker...what’s the plan?”

“We’re gonna go on a drive, like we did years ago, and you’ll see where we’ll end up.”

“So...you will know our destination, but I won’t?”

“Exactly.”

She gets up and gives me a warm embrace and a kiss on the lips. “I love that, baby. It reminds of how we used to be. Let’s do it.”

Seeing my girl’s reaction makes me so happy inside.

***

Tucker

It’s late in the evening as we drive into Downtown Las Vegas. Christine’s ocean eyes grow wide as the bright lights of the classic casinos and attractions come into view.

“Wow, Tucker!” she marvels. “This brings back memories.”

As I concentrate on the traffic, still thick around eight PM, I say, “That’s the idea, doll.”

We then proceed to the Vegas Strip. After being stuck in more traffic, we make it to our destination for the night.

“Caesars Palace?” she utters as I pull up to the sprawling resort and park at the valet station.

“Yep...I was thinking this time, we’d upgrade from Circus Circus,” I quip.

As we get out, a bellhop takes our bags, and the uniformed valet leaves with the truck.

Christine gazes at the Roman-inspired ivory facade, the fountain, landscaping, and the many sculptures that make up the front entrance.

“This is amazing, baby!” she emotes, holding my arm and smiling.

“Anything for you, doll.”

We enter the sprawling, over-the-top resort, making our way to our hotel accommodations.

With a keycard, I open the door.

“Wow, this is quite stunning,” Christine marvels at the ornate premium suite.

I gaze into her mesmerizing eyes. “Yes, but not as stunning as the woman I married ten years ago.”

Leaning in, I kiss my wife, and she rests her arms on my shoulders. She kicks the door closed, and we make thorough use of the luxurious suite over the course of the evening.

Before the crack of dawn the next day, we lie in bed together. My arm encircles Christine, and for a moment, everything is right with the world.

I climb out of bed slowly so as not to wake her, and creep into the living space of the suite. Once I roll out my yoga mat, I start my morning flow. I’m glad I got us a pool-view room instead of one with a view of the Strip. Too many goddamn lights.

That’s the thing about Las Vegas…everything here is overload. The lights, the people, the attractions. Everything is over the top. I love novelty and neat experiences, but Vegas is way too much.

The last time we were here, we didn’t stay long. We checked into Circus Circus for one night, tried out penny slots for a bit since neither of us is big on gambling, found a chapel on the Strip, and got married by a Johnny Cash impersonator. Then, the next day, we road-tripped it back to Ohio. This time, I want to at least make the trip a bit more elaborate for her.

I’m hoping that by centering myself, and perhaps eating breakfast, I can deal. After all, this experience is for Christine. She deserves the world.

***

Christine

At Café Americano at Caesars Palace, Tucker and I sit at a table together. It’s ungodly early, and I’m sure we’re up right now for a reason. It better be good.

In front of me, I enjoy blueberry pancakes and link sausage, while he has a New York strip and hardboiled eggs. We both have coffee to drink.

“Don’t you ever get bored with that, big guy?” I ask, half-joking.

“What?” he asks.

“Steak and eggs for breakfast. You have that all the time at home. We’re in Vegas. Live a little.”

He rolls his eyes, then cuts into his steak. “Medium-rare. Perfect,” he grunts.

“I would hope that food would put you in a better mood.”

Slowly, he chews and swallows. “I’m fine, doll. Promise. Just waking up.”

“So, what’s on the itinerary?”

“Today, we’re going on a bus tour to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. Then tomorrow, we’ll spend the day on the Strip, checking out some attractions. The day after that, we’ll lay by the pool during the day and go to Fremont Street that night,” he says.

“Wow, that sounds fun,” I say. “I take it the bus tour picks up early?”

“Yeah. That’s why I got you up at a quarter ‘til five.”

I nod. We’ve been living in the Southwest for some time, but I have yet to see the Grand Canyon or Hoover Dam. That will be exciting.

After our meal, we go outside to wait for the tour bus. About ten minutes later, they arrive, and we hop on. Soon, there are several others, plus the tour guide, who is also the bus driver.

“Welcome to the Grand Canyon West tour!” the guide announces through a loudspeaker. “We will make a brief stop at the Hoover Dam, where you’re free to take pictures. Then, we will make a stop at the Joshua Tree Forest. After that, we will arrive at the Grand Canyon West Rim.”

Once we leave Las Vegas, the Mojave Desert flanks both sides of the highway. The tour guide points out native shrubs, plant life, and wildlife that we can see from the long windows on each side of the bus.

My eyes are glued to the outside as I sit by the window. To my right, Tucker is next to me, his hand on my thigh.

“Wouldn’t that be neat to explore?” he mentions to me.

This would totally be up his alley.

“That would be nice. Hot, but nice.”

He chuckles. “Totally you, doll.”

Later, after the Hoover Dam, we enter the Joshua Tree Forest. The desolation of the national park, with crooked Joshua trees dotting acres of reddish, dry landscape, is unlike any “forest” I’ve heard of. But it’s absolutely a sight.

At last, we arrive at the Grand Canyon. Rising mounds of red and tan rock as deep and as far as the eye can see. The vastness of the grand wonder is tough to put into words.

“Wow...” I say as we walk around. “This is so majestic, so big.”

“Pictures don’t do it justice,” Tucker adds.

While there, we learn about the Hualapai Tribe, the Native American tribe who own and operate the West Rim, including their culture and traditions. We also enjoy lunch at the Sky View Restaurant overlooking the Skywalk.

Tucker enjoys a bowl of Hualapai beef stew with frybread. “Doll, one of these days, we should rent a cabin here. That way, we can explore it a bit more than we have time for on the tour.”

“Of course you would say that,” I say after swallowing a bite of Hualapai beef taco, which is served on frybread.

“But think about it...if we stayed here, we could see the sunset and sunrise...can you imagine dusk and dawn at the Grand Canyon?”

Drinking root beer, I note, “Okay, you’ve got a point.”

***

The next day, we sleep in until eight in the morning. Then, we get breakfast. After that, we walk around Caesars Palace, which is a vast, sprawling resort in and of itself.

Tucker looks at me with a cheeky grin. “I want us to go on a short excursion.”

“You’re the planner,” I say.

He orders an Uber on his phone, and we wait in the designated spot to be picked up. The rideshare then comes, and we enter it. Fifteen minutes later, we get dropped off by the Mandalay Bay resort.

“Come with me,” my husband says, holding my hand.

We stroll for a bit. I think to myself how I’m glad to be wearing comfortable clothes and shoes. Before I know it, I recognize exactly where we’re going.

“I see what you’re doing, baby,” I say.

All he can do is laugh.

We come upon a wood-framed chapel, which looks much as it did ten years ago.

He pulls out his phone and shows me a photo. It’s of us in front of the chapel, in mid-kiss, on day one of our marriage.

“Let’s recreate that,” he says.

He asks a passer-by to take a picture of us. Standing at the entrance of the small building, he embraces me and gives me a passionate kiss, as he did a decade ago.

I love this man.

The kind stranger returns the phone, and Tucker gives it to me. I flip back and forth between the two photos — old and new.

Ten years between them.

We’ve gotten slightly greyer and a few lines are forming on our faces, but we’re just as in love.

His life has progressed, and so has mine, to where we can splurge in Las Vegas without feeling like we’re compromising our nest egg.

But that nest egg was supposed to be for a down payment on a house we haven’t bought, for a growing family that hasn’t materialized.

It would be understandable if we didn’t have these things due to financial setbacks, or health issues, or other problems outside of our control.

But every time I’d bring these plans up, it was always “later.”

New Mexico? Now.

Southwest Regional Manager? Now.

Self-employment? Now.

House? Later.

Children? Later.

Involvement in my life? Later.

I made a life of my own in New Mexico that I never intended to make. I’m happy I did it, but it’s a life without my husband in it.

He loves me. But he cares about the things he chooses to care about. His goals. His freedom. Doing the big thing every so often. But our future is encased in amber.

My father always says I have choices. The choices may not be optimal, but they’re still choices.

The truth is, without Tucker, a house, children, and a present partnered life may never happen.

But with Tucker, it’s been ten years of “later,” and a house, children, and a life of “we” in the here and now hasn’t materialized.

To think his priorities will change in the next ten is delusion.

As I stare at the picture of us a decade ago and the one of us now, I allow myself to feel for the first time.

The time I spent with the man I love.

The time that I placed my hopes and dreams into the hands of the same man who has not prioritized them.

I’m ready to be alive again.

I can’t make Tucker’s “later” become now.

But I can choose my now.

And at long last, I will.

***

Tucker

Our anniversary trip was an absolute blast. The crowds and the bright lights I could do without. But time spent with my love was well worth it.

Dusk is beautiful on the open road. I’m focused on traffic patterns, while Christine is awake. She is looking out of the passenger-side window, strangely quiet.

“Is something wrong, doll?” I ask.

After a moment, she says quietly, “No, baby. Nothing’s wrong. I'm great...just worn out. We had a hell of a time.”

“We certainly did.”

“Glad I gave myself a small buffer between the trip and returning to work. It’ll be nice to catch up on rest.”

As we return to Las Cruces, and to our real lives, I am amazed at what these first ten years have done with us, and excited for the next ten with the woman I love.

Want to see where Tucker Meyer’s story leads after The Contract? Read the spicy BWWM age-gap romance Together Exclusive Official, on Kindle Unlimited, DRM-free ebook, or print: