Jazz groaned when she opened her eyes. Her room was pitch black. “Hon, what are you doing here? What time is it?”
“It’s 12:01 on your birthday! Happy birthday, Jazzy J!”
“Happy half birthday,” she mumbled back, closing her eyes again. “Wake me closer to seven?”
“Nope!” Nathan reached both arms under her and pulled her out of bed.
“Nate, you’re being crazy. We’ll celebrate tomorrow. Let me sleep.”
“But today’s your birthday, and we’re going to need every single second to celebrate. Look!” He waved his phone at her to show her the time. 12:04. “We’ve wasted three minutes arguing when I could have been giving you the first kiss of the nineteenth year of your life.”
Jazz tried to wriggle free, but Nathan kept a firm hold on her, refusing to let her feet touch the ground.
He tsked. “I’ll put you down when you agree not to go back to bed.”
“Fine,” she grumbled.
“Now stop being cranky and let me kiss those beautiful lips.” Nathan set her on the ground, then tilted her back in a romantic, over-the-top, theatrical kiss. His mouth tasted minty fresh while Jazz was pretty sure hers smelled and tasted like a garbage heap.
“Let me get dressed quick,” she said, motioning for him to leave and give her some privacy.
“Wrong again,” Nathan said with a laugh, still holding onto her. “You’re perfect just as you are. Now let’s go.”
She glanced down at her lace camisole and flannel pajama pants. There was no way anyone would think this outfit was anything other than pajamas.
“Where are we going?” she moaned, still tired and now embarrassed, too.
“I’ll tell you when we get there,” he said, leading her down the stairs and into her mother’s kitchen.
“Okay, we’re here!” He stepped aside to reveal a beautifully set table filled from edge to edge with an exotic smorgasbord of desserts. It must have taken him ages to collect all the varied desserts and a small fortune, but—boy—did he ever know the way to her heart.
“Umm, yum.” Jazz smiled for the first time since Nathan had woken her. “You could have just told me about all the food, and then I wouldn’t have fought you so hard.”
“Take a seat, mademoiselle, because our first delicacy is from the romantic city of Paris.”
Jazz laughed at Nathan’s attempt to speak in a French accent and allowed him to pull out the chair for her. She’d never been the pampering type, but she could definitely get used to this, especially at the hands of Nathan. Somehow he always managed to make her swoon, laugh, and sigh all at the same time.
“Cafe au lait to help wake you up, and a most excellent crepe cake.” He pinched his fingers together and brought them to his lips with a loud smack. “Bon apetit, mon cheri!”
Jazz laughed around the rim of her tiny coffee cup. Nathan’s French was terrible, but she loved how committed he was to this performance. And she loved him.
She’d always adored Nathan, but things had been better between them since they’d signed up to work at the college paper. They’d developed the perfect balance of Nathan things, Jazz things, and their things. And now Nathan was surprising her once again with his commitment to loving her and the perfection of how well he knew her inside and out.
He hovered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other anxiously. “Save room, because we have a whole world of desserts to taste our way across.”
She stared up at him with gratitude and affection. “You know I love my sweets, but why all this? I would have been happy with a simple cake and candles.”
“Because I’m showing you what life will be like for us. You know, beyond next weekend.” His normal New York accent had returned, and she reveled in the sexy familiarity of it. First he hand-fed her desserts, and then he wanted to talk about their future together?
Best. Birthday. Ever.
“Ooh, what will our life be like? Breakfast in bed every morning? All the sweets I can eat?” She took a bite of the crepe cake and almost died when the crispy layers melted in her mouth.
“If that’s what you want,” Nathan said, shaking his head with way too much energy considering the time of night. That’s when she realized he probably hadn’t gone to bed the evening before. He’d stayed up, preparing the desserts for her special birthday surprise. Every time she thought she couldn’t possibly fit any more love for him in her heart, he proved her wrong with a sweet surprise like this one.
He moved behind her to rub her shoulders as she continued her midnight feast. ”We’re going to travel the world together, Jazz. Not just our tongues, but all of us. You’ll report on the news, and I’ll take the pictures. We’ll make lots of money, but more than that, life will be one big adventure that we get to live together, side by side, hand in hand.”
His words formed wonderful, appealing images in her mind of the two of them exploring the far corners of the world, from the exotic to the everyday.
“Keep talking,” Jazz said as she sipped at her latte, thrilled at the hint of vanilla that flooded her taste buds.
“That’s it, Jazz. You and me. We don’t need a lot to have everything. We’ll have each other and live a life of passion, love, and freedom. Just like we always wanted. I’ve decided to major in Anthropology. I’m going to take my photos all over the world, Jazz. I love capturing people, capturing life. And I wouldn’t have known that if you hadn’t forced me to join the school paper. You always know what’s best for me, even before I do.”
Eyes closed, she pictured her and Nathan together on a beach, each with a fruity drink in hand and an exciting story to share. Yes, Nathan’s vision of the future was perfect. He’d figured out what he’d wanted to do, and she was so proud of him for discovering a way to make that freedom he’d talked about in high school come true. Yet she still didn’t know who she was meant to become other than Nathan’s forever girl. As proud as she was that he had chosen a major, she still felt hopelessly lost.
“Ready for the next dessert?” Nathan asked.
“Yes, please.”
“Say chairete to baklava.” He popped the sweet morsel of honey, nuts, and phyllo dough into her mouth and watched in delight as she relished the flavor.
“You’ve figured your life out, but I still don’t know what I want to do.” Why did it have to be so hard? Why couldn’t she make a decision the way Nathan had? And why was she thinking about college when she should be focused on the incredible dream man standing right in front of her?
“That’s the thing.” He sounded so excited and energized, and she loved seeing this side of him. “We both love people. You can tell their stories, Jazz. You’re such a good writer, and you helped all those kids learn to read and write in the city. You could help people wherever we go, call attention to the injustices of the world, set them right. We could do that together.”
Jazz still didn’t know whether journalism was for her, though it ranked among her top thirteen choices, and she loved the picture of their future that Nathan painted for her now. Would this be their happily ever after?
“Pyarii Jazzy, this is gulab jamun,” he said, cutting a piece off a fried cheese ball covered in sticky syrup and spoon-feeding it to her. “It’s from India. We could go to India. All those colors. All those people. Imagine what kinds of stories they might tell us.”
That gave her another idea. One that appealed to her at a gut level. “Maybe we could volunteer? In the Peace Corps or something?”
He kissed her on the mouth even though she was still chewing on the latest dessert. “You’re so smart. I’d love to do the Peace Corps with you. Where do you want to go?”
“Honestly? Anywhere. As long as we’re together.”
And as Nathan introduced his next dessert with another terribly butchered accent, that’s when Jazz realized that none of the other stuff mattered all that much. So she had thirteen great choices for her major, but she had only one lifelong love.
Jazz and Nathan forev
er.
That made her the luckiest girl on all of Long Island.
Fourteen
Jazz held her breath as Nathan unwrapped his birthday gift the following November. She’d saved her pennies for months—her dimes and nickels, too.
Working at the literacy center in Brooklyn one day per week didn’t earn her a big paycheck, but adding in some savings from her car fund gave her enough to buy something special for her Nate. She hadn’t fully figured out her dream, so she wanted to do everything in her power to support his.
The shocked expression on his face as he lifted the Nikon from its box was worth so much more.
“No way!” he shouted, holding his new camera reverently in both hands. “This must have cost you a fortune!”
“Don’t worry about how much it cost. Do you like it?” In addition to saving her pennies, she’d devoted countless hours to browsing Craigslist, Hoobly, eBay, and their college bulletin board listings. In the end, she’d gotten a great deal and made her boyfriend happy, which counted as a total win in her book.
“I love it, and I love you! This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten. Thank you so much, Jazzy J!”
She blushed and ducked her head, mumbling, “You’re welcome.”
The refurbished camera fit in Nathan’s hands as if it had always been there. “Hold still. My first picture needs to be of you.”
“Right now?”
“Of course, right now.” Click.
Jazz laughed as Nathan took one shot after another rapid fire, even posing for him as she thought a fashion model might.
“This is so great,” he said, at last setting down his new prized possession. His wide smile remained. “I’m going to get you an old-fashioned hipster typewriter to match my new camera.”
“Nate…”
“Don’t argue. You deserve it. We deserve it. It’s like we’re already halfway around the world, like we could just walk out the door and into Belize or Cape Town or Luxembourg.”
“Nate, wait.” She hadn’t wanted to have this conversation today, but it was looking less and less like she’d be able to avoid it.
His face fell, as if he somehow knew what she planned to say. “What is it, Jazz?”
“Don’t get me the typewriter.”
“Why not?”
She took a deep breath. Just say the words. “I’m quitting the school paper.”
“What? What about our dreams together?”
She’d expected his surprise and his disappointment. She knew he’d question her commitment to their dreams, but willed him to understand that the most important part of those dreams was that they’d live them out together, side by side. That was what mattered, not what they did to support themselves during their travels.
She reached for Nathan’s hands to bring him close again. “They can still happen. They will still happen. Nathan, you’re amazing at taking photos. It’s your passion, your love, just like you always wanted, but writing isn’t that for me. I’m still searching for what I want to do.”
“But you’re so good at it, Jazz. Are you sure?”
She nodded. She’d been sure for a while, but Nathan painted such a beautiful picture of their lives together that she’d tried to convince herself that writing could make her happy. She liked arranging words to create powerful emotional reactions, and she liked the research that went into her reporting, too. But something important was missing, something she was determined to find.
“Sometimes everything can be perfect on paper, but still not make sense in the real world. Writing is one of those things for me.”
“So what will you do?”
He seemed to be taking this well, better than she’d hoped, but she needed to be brave as she told him the next part of her fledgling plan. She took a breath. And another. “Actually, I’m thinking about declaring my major in business.”
Nathan’s brows pinched as if he were trying to work out an unsolvable equation. Finally, he said, “Business? Like my dad?”
She’d been preparing herself for this, but seeing her boyfriend react so poorly to her decision cut deep. When she’d first considered business, it had surprised her, too. But after many meetings with her academic counselor and a few weeks volunteering for the financial aid office between classes, she’d become more committed in her desire to declare a major—this major.
“No, not like your dad at all.” She kept her tone steady. “I want to help people, Nate. To make their lives better. A business degree will open doors, the doors we need opened to change the world together. Who knows? Maybe I can be your talent manager when you become the most sought after photographer who’s ever lived.”
He dragged his hand across his mouth. “But all my dad ever does is work. It’s like I don’t have a dad at all. You know that. How could you choose to follow his path?”
So many past hurts flashed in his eyes, a reel of the many times his father had chosen work over his family. Jazz would never do that, and she needed to make him understand.
“That’s not what I’ll be doing.” She tried to reassure him. “I don’t care about signing bonuses or Fortune 500 rankings or any of that stuff. I want to work at a nonprofit. Maybe I’ll do some writing there, but with the express purpose of raising awareness about important social issues and helping to fund charities, and—”
“And making people’s lives better.”
“Exactly.” She breathed a giant sigh of relief. Why had she ever doubted Nathan? Of course, he would want what’s best for her. Of course, he would support her on her path to find happiness and meaning.
A small smile formed at the corners of his mouth. The tension in his jaw softened. “Are you sure?”
“I’m… getting there. I’ve been doing some volunteer work this term…”
“At the literacy center, you mean?” Nathan picked up his camera again, looking from it to her. Their normal easiness had returned, thank goodness.
“Actually, at the financial aid office. I’ve seen how much money can change lives. I’ve read applications for DREAM scholarships. These students are the first in their families to go to college, and it’s inspiring how they’re overcoming obstacles to pursue a better future. I want to help them and others like them.”
He pulled her in close and attempted to take a selfie with his new camera as he kissed her on the cheek. Jazz hoped the photo would turn out well, because she wanted a copy. This hadn’t been planned, but she had no doubt would be one of the moments they looked back on after ten, twenty, fifty years together.
Nathan set the camera down again and wrapped her in his arms. She laid her head against his chest as he said, “You’re too good for me, Jazz Michaels. You do know that, right?”
Fifteen
Two short weeks later, Jazz tackled Bethany in a huge, spirited hug. “The prodigal friend returns!” she shouted, practically crying with joy at the sight of her friend.
Bethany hadn’t come home to Long Island at all during her freshman year. She’d elected to take courses over the summer term to help with her goal of graduating early, and her parents had whisked her away last holiday season to visit family overseas. That meant this Thanksgiving of their sophomore year in college was the first time Jazz had seen her friend since graduation.
“I can’t believe you stayed away so long!”
Bethany hugged her back hard, but said, “Pffft. You were fine. You had Nathan. Kudos, by the way, for still having him. It’s been, what, a year and a half now?”
Jazz grinned. She and Nathan celebrated half-anniversaries the same way they celebrated half-birthdays, and they had just celebrated a special halfsie-versary earlier that month. “Almost to the day. It’s five times longer than his longest relationship before me, if you can believe it.”
Bethany waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, I can. Always knew you’d end up as Mrs. Reed one day.”
“And look at you, Dr. Goldman. Any special co-eds caught your eye yet?”
“Ugh, no. Who has time to date whe
n there’s so much to learn?”
They both laughed at that. Even though Jazz always made time for Nathan, she still maintained a 4.0 grade point average.
“What can I say? You’re living your dream, and I’m living mine.” Bethany bounced her car keys in hand. “Ready to head into the city?”
Nathan was away for a photography workshop over the holiday, so Jazz had asked Bethany to accompany her to a special year-end event at the literacy center. They were hosting their own holiday meal and an awards ceremony for the students who had hit important milestones in their reading and writing that year.
Jazz wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“Tell me everything about Burton. Is it amazing?” she asked, taking a seat in Bethany’s old clunker of a car.
“It is. Would have been better with you there, but no world-class educational facility should stand in the way of true love. How’s Queens College?”
“It’s fine. Nathan is the star of the Anthropology department and the school newspaper, and he has a steady stream of freelance work taking pictures for school events and things like that.”
A red light halted their journey, giving Bethany the opportunity to turn and stare at Jazz with a knowing expression. “So it’s been great to Nathan. How is it for you?”
“At school? I just declared my major in business, and I have a 4.0, if that’s what you’re asking.” Jazz felt hot under the spotlight of her friend’s gaze.
“So a 4.0 and a fiancé.”
“Well, kind of…”
“Kind of?”
“Nathan hasn’t exactly popped the question yet.”
The light freed them from their wait, and Bethany switched lanes as they sped up. “But you guys have talked about it, right? I mean, you’ve been dating for—"
Jazz nodded. “A year and a half, I know. We’ve talked about the future a lot, but marriage hasn’t exactly come up.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t have said anything. You guys are still super young anyway. It’s way too early to be planning a wedding.”
Jazz sighed and leaned her head back on the seat, staring up at the car’s roof. Too early to be getting married, yes. But was it too early to be asked?
Finding Mr. Happily Ever After_Nathan Page 6