Mad About You

living with both him and Ginny, from seeing their love for each other. Except Ginny wanted a commitment. Why couldn't she just enjoy the time they spent together? He scrubbed his face with a rough cloth, then lathered up his beard.
    Marriage. He loved Ginny, but the thought of marriage still spooked him. He'd hoped they could live together for a while, give it a dry run before putting it in ink again. Holding a razor angled on his chin, Bailey frowned at his own image, then lowered his hand. And what kind of message would they be sending to Chad? He could hear him now. My folks are shacking up.
    While he shaved with the dull razor, he tried to sort things logically. He wanted to be with Chad, and he wanted to be with Ginny. Chad wanted to be with him, but he suspected deep down he wanted to be with Ginny too. Ginny wanted to be with Chad, and had hinted she wanted to be with him too, but only if he offered her a long-term commitment. Bailey sighed, wincing when he nicked himself on the chin. He had two choices—commit and have them both, or don't commit and lose Ginny, plus see Chad on a sometimes-only basis.
    He rinsed the razor, then wiped the fog from the small hanging mirror to look at himself. He studied his own eyes, searching them for a shred of doubt, a trace of hesitancy. None. Having a wife and a son was a huge responsibility... but he could handle it.
    He’d asked himself before what was it between Rita and Jerry that kept Jerry coming home at night… but it wasn’t anything Rita did or didn’t do—she just loved Jerry. Jerry came home every night because he knew loving his wife and child made him a better man. It was worth the tradeoff of being a carefree bachelor.
    And suddenly Bailey knew the same thing about himself. Being a husband to Ginny and a father to Chad were worth any sacrifice he had to make.
    He dragged a washcloth over his skin, enjoying the invigorating friction. He sighed in contentment, thinking through the day ahead of him.
    Fridays were normally a light workday, but he had three jobs to visit, two of which he suspected would be problematic, plus he had to get Lenny a name for his replacement. And he was hoping to get out to Shenoway to take a look at the footers the builder had promised would be set.
    His pulse quickened at the thought of breaking ground on his new home. A sprawling four-bedroom, three-bath ranch with a full basement—a slightly upscale version of the plan he and Ginny had originally chosen. Lots of room for a big family, he thought with satisfaction, his imagination galloping ahead. Then he shook his head, laughing to himself.
    First he'd have to convince Ginny to marry him again. Then they could think about growing their family.
    He turned off the water and emerged from the shower with a kernel of a plan. Chad would be with Edward and Peg for the evening, so Ginny would be free. Maybe she'd agree to go out with him. A bona fide date, complete with flowers and everything. But he'd have to come up with a charming invitation over the phone. He smiled... he'd think of something.
    With the phone call to look forward to, the morning's schedule seemed more tolerable. As expected, he encountered trouble at one of the jobs with a city inspector who didn't like the sprinkler system his crew had installed. Bailey kept his cool and handled the man deftly, reaching a compromise on the modifications.
    Before he left, every member of his crew stepped up to shake his hand and wish him luck with his new job. Bailey felt a few pangs of regret, knowing he'd miss some aspects of his old job, but his anticipation of joining the design team overrode any sentimentality.
    He laughingly assured his men he'd be back to check on their progress on his own time, just to make sure they didn't try to pull anything with the new crew chief. A group of them wanted to take him out for a drink after work, but he politely refused, saying, "If my plans work out, I'll be drinking with someone a lot prettier than you guys."
    When he broke for lunch, he called Ginny, as nervous as a sixteen-year-old.
    "Hello?" she asked softly.
    "Ginny, hi, it's Bailey."
    "I was hoping you’d call. "
    His pulse spiked. "You were? Is everything okay?"
    "Yes," she said quickly, then sighed. "No. Bailey, I'm sorry for the way I acted this morning. You're right, it would be foolish to make promises that couldn't be kept—I'd never want you to do that."
    Surprised, he swallowed. "Okay," he said simply, his mind