by Elena Aitken
“That’s enough, Jonah.” Evie reappeared from the backroom, holding a case in her hand. She shot Declan a shy glance, but still Mitch didn’t introduce them. “I think I might have what you need, Mitch.”
He followed her over to a little table and she opened the case to display at least a dozen beautiful antique rings.
“Wow. Evie.” He looked up at her in wonder. “These are all so…wow.”
“They’re all so gorgeous,” Declan said beside him. “How will you pick one?”
It was a good question, except for the fact that Mitch already knew exactly what ring he wanted to see on Jade’s finger. His hand went instinctually to a ring with a square cut diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds and a simple platinum band. It was perfect for her. Elegant, classic, and brilliant. “This one.” He lifted it from the box and held it in front of his eyes.
Yes.
It was the ring. There was no doubt.
“This is the one.”
“It’s beautiful,” Evie said. “It will look amazing on her.”
Mitch nodded. “How do you have all these? And why are they in the back? I mean, I was only taking a chance that you might have something, or know someone in town who did. I never thought you actually would have such amazing rings.”
Evie shook her head and blushed a little. “It sounds so silly, but I have a thing for jewelry, engagement rings specifically. I think it’s the romantic in me.” Mitch didn’t miss the way she looked up at Declan and her blush deepened. “Anyway, when I started up the store I really wanted to be able to offer something like this. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think Cedar Springs is one of the most romantic places on earth and judging by all the relationships that have sprung up around here lately, I don’t think I’m the only one.”
Mitch nodded in agreement.
“I’ll get a proper case built for them and hopefully all the new love in town will have a place where they can put a ring on it, as my son says.”
“I don’t say that,” Jonah protested. “The girls at school say that.” He dropped his head into his hand. “Moms just don’t understand anything,” he said to Declan. “Will you come play catch with me?”
Declan smiled and looked up at Mitch. Jonah was a compelling kid, that was for sure. And there was no doubt that Dec would love to go play catch with him, but Mitch knew he could count on him. “I’d love to,” Dec said to the boy. “But I promised my brother I’d help him out with some stuff tonight. Maybe we could play sometime soon, though?” Jonah nodded. He turned to focus on Jonah’s mother. “I’m Declan, by the way. I can see my brother is probably not going to introduce us.”
“Evie.” She held out her hand and Dec turned it and kissed the top of it. If anyone else did it, it might have seemed cliché. But Declan was a class act, and on him, it looked natural. Judging by Evie’s reaction, she agreed.
“Evie, we must have met when we were kids,” Declan said. She nodded, because there was no doubt their paths had crossed at some point. “But I’m glad to properly make your acquaintance.”
Mitch sighed. If the two of them wanted to be Cedar Springs’ latest love match, that was fine by him, but they’d have to wait because he had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in and he had no problem being selfish in this regard. “Now that you’ve officially met, don’t you have something very important to do for me?”
Declan laughed and said his good-byes, leaving Mitch to finish up his purchase.
Before Mitch left, he told Evie the rest of his plans and she demanded to be allowed to help. As the owner of a boutique and someone who clearly believed in love, Evie had some great ideas and Mitch more than welcomed them. By the time he left to carry out the rest of his plan, he was a little more excited but even more nervous with what he was about to do. But the nerves were good. He was going to need them to get through the night.
Chapter Sixteen
It was a new day. The sun was shining, she’d had almost twelve hours of solid sleep, and Jade was ready to face the day. And her life. She walked into Dream Puffs, as had become her morning routine, placed an order for a peppermint tea and a blueberry muffin and had settled into a table with her laptop, all with a smile on her face. If it was one thing Jade had learned early on, it was to fake it till you make it. Normally it was applied to her career, but in this instance it was going to work for her personal life as well.
She didn’t really have any other choice.
“Good morning.” Jade looked up from her muffin to see Deanna Gordon standing next to her table with a coffee in hand. “Do you mind if I sit?”
“Not at all.” She waved to the empty seat and Deanna settled in.
“I’m sure you have work to do,” Deanna apologized. “But I saw you here and I thought I should check in with you. It’s been a few days since you got the news and I know how something like that can be…well, I guess I don’t really know. But I’ve seen enough patients looking every bit as shocked as you were to have an idea of what it must feel like.” She smiled warmly.
She really was a likeable person and Jade pictured them being friends one day. The thought surprised her a little. She’d never really had friends. Not real ones anyway. But maybe in a town like Cedar Springs such a thing would finally be possible.
“Thank you,” Jade said. “I’m actually doing really well.” She stopped and shook her head. “No. That’s a lie.” There was no point hiding the truth. “I’ve actually really been struggling,” she answered honestly. “The last few days have been hard. I told everyone involved the news.”
“Mitch?”
Jade nodded, forgetting for a moment that in a small town, everyone knew everything about everyone, so she couldn’t hide anything anyway.
“And how did he take it?”
Jade forced herself to keep the smile on her face. “Well, I think he was more than a little taken off guard.”
Deanna reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sure he was. But don’t worry. I have a feeling everything will turn out just fine. Gwen may have let it slip that you were thinking of staying in town after the show was done shooting?”
Jade laughed and nodded. “I am. I think it seems like a great place to raise a child, and I have to be honest with you, I’ve never in a million years thought that I would want a family of any kind or this kind of life at all.”
“And now?”
“Now I think it’s exactly what I want.” She took a slow, thoughtful sip of her tea. “It’s kind of a funny feeling when everything you were ever raised to believe you wanted turns out to be the exact opposite of what you want. But I think I’ll do things a little differently.” She put her hand on her still flat stomach and made a silent promise to her unborn baby to let him or her make their own decisions.
“I think our parents do the very best they can with the information they have at the time.” Deanna’s smile was so kind, it almost made Jade cry. She’d done more crying in the last few days than in her entire life. “But I know you’re going to be a fantastic mother. And I’m excited for you to be staying.” Deanna sat up abruptly, her face lit up with excitement. “In fact, I know the perfect house for you. It’s on the lake and close enough to town to be around everything, but far enough away to have some privacy. It’s amazing. You have to see it.”
The switch in topic took Jade off guard. “I don’t know, Dea—”
“I will not take no for an answer.” She jumped up from her chair. “I’ll tell you what. Meet me back here at four. Please?”
The last thing she wanted to do was look at a house for sale. Jade was not in the market for a house in Cedar Springs. Not yet. She had way too many things to worry about; she didn’t need to worry about buying a house, too. But on the other hand, she did want to do her best to forge new friendships and Deanna was just trying to be friendly. She sighed and smiled.
“I’ll tell you what,” Jade said. “I’ll meet you later if maybe we can grab a bite to eat after.” It was a good compromise. Besides, sh
e needed to eat and if they could develop their friendship a little further in the process, that could only be a good thing.
“Absolutely.” Deanna gave her a big hug. “I’ll see you at four and I promise you will not be disappointed.” And just like that, she was gone.
Jade had to laugh. She’d never seen anyone so excited about showing her an empty house before. It was the least she could do to go look at it. Besides, she couldn’t rent forever and maybe putting down roots of her own would help take her mind off Mitch.
Everything was ready. Everything was perfect.
Mitch, his brothers, and their friends had worked through the night setting everything up and it was just…perfect.
He stood in the doorway, surveying their handiwork, and shook his head in wonder for at least the dozenth time that day. “It’s perfect,” he said to Cal and then laughed at himself. “I can’t seem to find any other word to use.”
“That’s because there is no other word,” Cal agreed. “It is perfect. She’s going to love it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because how could she not?”
Mitch nodded. Exactly. How could she not?
“It was pretty amazing of Milena to get the previous owner to let you in early,” Cal said. “How did she manage that?”
Mitch didn’t know how she’d managed it, but as soon as he got the idea to hold his surprise at the new house, what he hoped would be their house, he’d gone straight to Milena and she’d made it happen.
“I don’t really know,” he answered honestly. “But I owe her one. This was my plan A and to be totally honest, my only plan.”
“She’s pretty amazing.”
There was something in Cal’s voice that made Mitch turn and stare at him. He was pretty sure they weren’t talking about Jade anymore. Was his little brother smitten with the cute, curvy real estate agent? The distraction from his own issues was welcome as Mitch entertained the thought.
Cal had never been the ladies’ man type. Despite a career being surrounded by beautiful women all the time, he had always been a one-woman man. He’d only had a few serious girlfriends over the years, at least that the others knew about, but Mitch was pretty sure that was because there had only been those few. Largely that was due to the fact that his little brother was very picky when it came to women. So for him to be even a little bit interested in a woman was big news.
“Have you had a chance to talk more with Milena?” he asked his brother.
Cal shook his head. “Not much, no. There’s a lot going on right now. I want to make sure you get everything done before Jade shows up.” He turned back to Mitch and grinned. “There’ll be time later. I did ask her to stick around. I hope that’s okay.”
Mitch laughed. “Why not?”
When he first started thinking of asking Jade to marry him, it was going to be a small, intimate moment. Just the two of them. But Chelsea was right: it had to be big. And the more they brainstormed, the bigger the idea got.
The second Milena got him the keys to the house, Gwen and Chelsea—when she got off work—got busy cleaning and decorating. They’d worked through the night and it showed. The place was gorgeous. Fresh flowers filled every available space and candles and twinkling lights were prepared to be lit as soon as the sun faded from the sky. A trail of daisy petals led through the house to the large covered deck, which was where he’d be standing waiting for her the moment she arrived.
Mitch felt the ring in his pocket.
Everything was ready. He’d managed to rein in the women enough to keep the entire town from getting wind of his plans, but he was starting to get nervous that she wouldn’t show up. She had to show up. Everything else was ready.
Cold beads of sweat broke out on his brow and he couldn’t stand still a moment longer.
“Hey.” Cal’s arm stopped him from walking away. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
Vaguely, Mitch heard Cal call for Ian, and before he knew it, his brothers were leading him outside.
“You’re okay.” Ian pushed him down into a chair. The fresh breeze blowing off the lake cooled him, and he immediately felt better.
Mitch nodded. “I am.”
“Holy shit.” Cal leaned against the deck rail across from him. “I thought for sure you were going to pass out.”
“Here.” Dec appeared and shoved a glass of water in his hand. “Drink this.”
He did as he was told, only barely registering the fact that Declan was back from his errand and he had no idea if he’d been successful.
“Are you feeling better?” Ian asked.
Mitch nodded. “I am. I don’t know what came over me. One minute I was fine and then…”
“You realized you’re about to make the biggest decision of your life.”
He nodded again. “Yeah. But that’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What then?” Declan asked.
He took a deep breath and put words to his worry. “What if she says no?” Just saying the words out loud filled him with dread. What if she did say no?
They were all silent for a few minutes, which Mitch appreciated more than the empty words that would have only been telling him what he wanted to hear. Having his brothers’ companionship meant more than anything else could have.
“Thanks, guys,” Mitch said after his heart rate returned to normal and he was once again able to think clearly. “I appreciate you all being here more than you could know.”
“It is pretty cool,” Cal said. “All of us here together.”
“Kind of like old times,” Declan added.
“Only better this time.” Ian put his arms around his little brother’s and Mitch stood to join them. “It’s nice to be all together.”
“Well…” Mitch looked to Declan. “Are we all together?”
Declan nodded. He’d been successful in fetching their mother. “Mom’s resting at the house,” he confirmed. “I’m just about to go get her.”
“Mom’s here?” Ian’s eyes were wide. “You really are the magical brother, aren’t you?”
“Hardly.” Declan laughed. “But it was time. She’s ready to meet Chelsea. It’s just too bad Amber isn’t here.”
“Soon enough,” Cal said. “She needs to finish her internship first, or whatever it is she’s doing. Her focus is on her career and Amber is nothing if not focused.”
Mitch spent another minute soaking in his brothers’ companionship, before he broke free. “Okay, I’m ready to do this. I think I might go crazy if I have to wait another day without seeing her.”
“Just another few hours, brother.” Ian slapped him on his back. “Gwen called and confirmed Deanna will pick her up at four. They’ll be here twenty minutes after that and then it’s all you. Can you handle it?”
Mitch nodded. There was no doubt in his mind that the minute he saw her, he’d find the right words to tell her exactly how he felt.
Hopefully she’d feel the same way
Chapter Seventeen
By the time four o’clock rolled around, the last thing Jade wanted to do was meet Deanna to go look at a house. The only thing she really wanted to do was have a hot bath and another early night. Maybe she could live the next few months by working all day and crashing early so she didn’t have to deal with anything else. But she knew she couldn’t do that; besides, she did want to foster friendships, so Jade freshened up, put on one of her new sundresses and dutifully met Deanna in front of the bakery right on time.
“You look so cute.” Deanna pulled her in for a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “That’s a great dress!”
Jade smiled. “I got it at Evie’s new store. She’s a miracle worker, helping me pick out so many clothes that actually look good on me.”
“Hardly.” Deanna laughed. Together they walked down the street to where Deanna’s car was parked. “You’d look good in anything with that body. Seriously, girl. I’d die to wear something like that.”
“You’re gorgeous.
” Jade meant it. Deanna was curvy in all the right places. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Isn’t it true that we always want what we don’t have?” She laughed. “But that’s okay. Marcus likes all my curves, just fine.” She winked and they laughed. For a minute, it felt as though Jade did have a real girlfriend, and it felt good. She was glad she’d made the decision not to cancel.
“Well, for what it’s worth,” Jade said. “I don’t think this dress will fit in a few months.” She ran her hands over her stomach. It was still flat, of course, but there was definitely a thickening starting. It wouldn’t be long before she’d need new clothes again. “I wonder if Evie carries maternity clothes?”
“She should!” Deanna laughed. “This town is blowing up with pregnancies or people I anticipate to see in my office soon, if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows and laughed again. “Come on. I can’t wait to show you this house.” She looped her arm through Jade’s and together they all but skipped down the street to the car.
“I really don’t know if I need a house right now, Deanna.” They were driving out of town toward the house that Deanna was so positive she would like.
“Please.” She smiled brightly. “Call me Dee. All my friends do.”
Her words gave Jade a warm feeling inside. Friends.
With every day that passed, she was more and more certain that her mother had been wrong. Maybe about everything. Friends and family were important. She should want them. And now she would. Gwen and Deanna. Two friends. It was more than she’d ever had before. A twinge of regret hit her as Mitch’s face popped into her head. At least she’d have the friends part.
“Okay, Dee.” She forced herself to be in the moment. “But I really don’t think I need a house.”
“Of course you do. Your baby will need a nursery. A proper place to call home. Not just a rental house tucked on a busy road behind Main Street. You need a home, Jade. Every family needs a home.”
“Ha!” She couldn’t help herself. “I need a family first before I need a home.”