What will Spencer choose? Read on to find out.

Chapter 18: Change of Plans

Spencer sat there in shock. The background noises around her sounded muffled as her head began to spin. She pressed her hands flat against the table worried that she might faint. She reached for her glass of water and took a big gulp. After some time, Spencer regained her focus and the world seemed to be coming back to her.

"London." Said Spencer. "Y-you bought a house in London?"

"Yes," Wren was grinning. "Your father spoke to me before I left and was concerned about how we would be living. At first, I thought we'd get a home in the states, but while I was over in London, I realized how much I loved being there."

Spencer rested the palm of her hand on her face. "I can't believe you did that without even talking to me first. This is supposed to be our future. Here I am trying to hold out on making wedding plans so you could be here to make them with me and you're over there buying a house without talking to me!"

"Why are you upset?" Wren was visually stunned. "I thought this would make you happy. We have a house!"

"Yes, in London!" Spencer exclaimed. She groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"I didn't do this alone. I called your father, and he loaned me the money."

Spencer dropped her hands. "You got money from my father! My father knew about this!"

"Well, yes," said Wren. "He thought it was a great idea. He knows the first few years of marriage money can be tight, so I asked for his help."

"Oh my god." Spencer dragged her hands down her face.

"Also, your father and I agreed upon a date for our wedding."

"So, you and my father sat back and made plans about our future without me. What century are we living in?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," said Wren. "I really thought you'd be thrilled."

"What if I don't want to live in London? Did that thought ever occur to you at all? My friends are here. I have another year of law school to complete!"

"You said yourself you can take classes remotely."

"Some classes, I said some classes can be taken remotely. My other classes are in person lectures." Spencer groaned into her hands.

"You're overacting here."

"My god Wren! You do not just make plans without consulting the person you're about to share a future with! That is not how relationships work! That is not how a marriage should work!"

"Calm down, Spencer. You're making a scene."

Spencer tossed her napkin on the table. She began to stutter with her words, "I-I can't even talk about this right now. I need to… We need to leave."

Wren reached across the table for her hand. He tried to calm her with his touch, but it wasn't working. Spencer tried to settle down. She took several deep breaths. Her eyes were watering as tears threatened to spill out. Finally, she looked up to meet Wren's eyes. His eyes were soft brown. She used to find comfort in those eyes, but right now, she was finding it hard.

Spencer sniffled and said, "I need time to think about this."

"I don't see what there is to think about," said Wren. "You used to dream about getting out of Rosewood, remember?"

"That was before…" The words started to slip out, but Spencer stopped herself. Before I met Toby, she thought.

But she couldn't say that out loud. Her heart ached as she began to understand the true reason for her outburst. She doesn't want to leave Toby. Spencer put her hand over her mouth to cover a sobbing noise. She tried to play it off as a hiccup. She drank some more water to try to sell it.

"I uh... I need," Spencer's voice was calmer, but shaky. "I need time to think about it."

"Okay." That was the first time Spencer had ever heard Wren surrender. "Okay," Wren nodded and gave her hand a light squeeze. "You think it over, but I know you…we will be happy in London."

A week went by. Spencer was still stuck in her way. She does not want to move to London. She and Wren haven't really discussed it further. She did say some words to her father when she saw him next. Telling him that it was wrong for him and Wren to do this behind her back. Her father just said, "decisions needed to be made and it is a man's job to make those decisions so that he and his wife can live in peace." Instead of arguing with either of them more, Spencer had been avoiding them.

On Tuesday, Spencer decided to visit Toby. As promised, Toby called her when he got out of the hospital to give her an update. He said the ortho doctor had put his arm in a cast and that he would need to leave it on for two weeks. For those two weeks Toby will have to use one arm to do everything. After that, he'll have to attend physical therapy to help him regain control and strength. Toby will be out of work for at least a month. Toby's crew was able to finish the work on the barn without him there.

Spencer knocked on Toby's door. It took him a minute to answer. He stood there dressed in a pair of sweatpants, a dark blue tank top, and his left arm in a blue cast. His eyes brightened at the sight of her.

"Hey!" Toby smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you," said Spencer. "I brought gifts."

His face resembled a child's as he looked up and said, "what did you bring?"

Spencer gave a small smile as she revealed the container full of baked pastries. They looked a bit unusual to Toby. Some were glazed, others had sprinkles, and a couple were plain dark brown color.

"What is that?"

"Cronuts," she said, with a laugh. "Haven't you heard?" When Toby shook his head, that made her laugh more as she explained. "It's a part croissant part donut, and it's all trans-fat!"

Toby gave a small chuckle as he said, "that sounds disgusting."

Spencer smiled. Right there. Right, there was the reason she liked Toby so much. For his different personality. Toby invited her to come in. She set the cronuts on his kitchen counter. Spencer turned to face him again. Her eyes fell to his arm.

"How are you?"

Toby eyed his cast and said, "I'm doing fine. I don't feel any pain anymore. It just itches a little."

"I bet," said Spencer. "Once when I was eight, my sister and I were climbing trees. I fell out of a low branch, but it was still high enough that I broke my wrist. I had to have my whole forearm in a cast and the itching drove me crazy."

Toby smiled, listening to her. He loved learning new things about her. It amazed him how easy it seemed for both of them to just causally share personal stories with each other. Spencer continued.

"I think that was the first time I had ever seen my mother so worried. She sat up with me all night. I remember she spent three hours trying to learn how to braid my hair the way my nana used to do it." Spencer turned sheepish when she realized she was ranting. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay," Toby's smile widened. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to finish the work on the barn. I know it was mostly the stuff the guys can handle without me, but I still feel bad missing it."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," she insisted. "All that's important is you rest and heal so you can get back to the amazing work you do."

"Speaking of work…" Toby said. "I called Jason and left him a message over the weekend."

"And?" Spencer's eyes were hopeful. "Did you get the job?"

"At first, yes, but…"

Spencer's heart dropped, "but what?"

Toby continued, "he heard about my accident and was hesitant to hire me. He said he understood it would take time for me to heal, but he had already been waiting a long time to get this job done. He's going to look into hiring someone else for the job."

"What?" Spencer took a step closer to Toby. "How can he do that? I've seen Jason's house. He had no trouble before living in that crap shake for the last three years. He can wait a month for your arm to heal!"

"Spencer, it's okay," said Toby. "They'll be other jobs."

"Yes, but who knows if the next job will be here. You could get moved somewhere else. No, Jason should not have been so quick to turn you down. This has Wren written all over it."

"Wren?" Toby looked at her quizzically. "What does Wren have to do with it?"

Spencer sighed, "nothing… Well, something, maybe. Wren told me he planned to tell people around town not to hire you. He thinks… He thinks you staged the accident to get paid time off."

Toby's mouth gaped open. "What? You honestly don't believe that do you? I don't know how my accident happened, but I didn't do it on purpose. I would never…"

"I know." Spencer held both of his hands and looked him deep in the eyes. "I know you didn't."

Toby's eyes washed over with sadness, "if word like that does get around town, then yes you may be right. People won't want to hire me. Not in Rosewood. Probably not in neighboring towns."

"It won't happen," Spencer said. "I'm going to fix it. I will talk to Jason. I will tell whoever I need to that you're a good and honest worker, because that is the truth."

Toby searched her eyes. Through all this chaos, he could sense that there was something else troubling her. He felt it the second she showed up outside his door. There was a brief period of clarity when they shared a joke about cronuts and her eight-year-old story, but now the weight was back. It was dragging Spencer down hard. Toby wished for nothing more than to be able to help her with whatever it was that got her so down.

Spencer wanted to share the news about London with Toby, but for some reason, she felt that now just wasn't the time. She knew without any doubt at all the news would upset Toby. He already has so much on his plate to worry about with his arm and his future as a carpenter. He did not need Spencer's drama added on. Even if her news did concern him a little. Spencer knew what she would have to do to save Toby's job and to get Wren to stop bad mouthing Toby around town. She had no choice, and she knew it. Her heart crippled as she came to this conclusion: She will have to say yes to London.

Toby's career as a carpenter is put into jeopardy when Wren's word gets around town. How will Spencer fix this? Is she really going to say yes to moving to London? Please leave a review. (: