by Jane Charles
“Go after her.”
Claire looks me up and down. “Like that?”
She has a point. I’ve been lazy today and have be sitting around in flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.
Okay, depressed too. This is how I’ve pretty much spend most of my weekends since the funeral.
“Do I need to pick something out or are you going to go change and go after her.”
Why the hell am I still standing here? “Have fun tonight.” I run back into the house.
I don’t think I’ve showered and dress so quickly in my life. I’ve got to catch up to Jackie somehow but I don’t have a fucking clue what direction she took. Did she go back to her family? To the train station in Poughkeepsie? The train station in Albany? Two totally different directions.
I grab my phone and dial Ashley’s number as I head to my car.
“Where is she going?”
“Jackie?”
“Who else. I just missed her.” Then I tell her what Jackie probably saw and what she is probably thinking. “I have to find her.”
“She’s on her way to my place.”
“Where is that?”
“Five blocks down from your Uncle Quinn. An old Victorian. If she beats you here, her car will be out front. Top floor apartment.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
I jump in my car and start it up then turn on the defroster before I grab the scraper. That’s when I see the red box. It has to be from Jackie. I haven’t even had so much as a drink with any other woman, let alone date anyone, so nobody else would be leaving me a Valentine’s gift.
I grab the box and jump back into the car and open it. The first thing I see is a telephone number. I’m tempted to call, but I’d rather see her first. What is beneath makes me laugh. “Oh Jackie, I do love you.”
Chapter Forty-Six
“Shit, shit, shit.” This cannot be happening to me now.
The tire thuds on my car as I pull off the road and onto the shoulder. There is a spare tire in the trunk, not that I know how to change it.
Actually I do know how, it’s just that the lug nuts are usually too tight for me to loosen and since I had my tires rotated just last week, I’m sure they’re so tight that only Hercules can loosen them.
Plus it’s getting dark and I’m wearing black.
I flip on my emergency lights and call Ashley.
“Hey, I have a flat tire.”
“Did you go see Brett?”
Tears start up but I swallow them. “Yes, and no. I saw him, he didn’t see me.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Just give me the number of a tow truck in the area.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere on I87 headed south.”
“Got it. I’ll call you back.”
“Can’t you just look it up while I’m on the phone?”
She’s hung up before I can even finish my question.
This is just stupid. I could sit here all night waiting for a tow truck and then I wouldn’t have a way home. I’ll just have someone pick me up and one of my uncles can bring me back to my car tomorrow and they’ll change the tire.
But, who the hell do I call on Valentine’s Day? It’s the dinner hour, time for romance, and I don’t want to be the one to ruin it for anyone. Just because mine’s a disaster doesn’t mean anyone else should have to suffer.
A car pulls in behind me and cuts their lights but turns on the hazards. I can’t see who it is, though I doubt it’s anyone I know. I flip the button to make sure all of the doors are locked. With my luck it’s a serial killer. The perfect end to this miserable Valentine’s Day.
Even though I look in the side mirror, I can’t see him. Where the hell did he go? My nerves tighten and I grasp my phone, ready to hit 911. Like that would do any good since I’m not sure where the hell I am.
He stops next to the window on the passenger side and knocks on the glass with knuckle of his index finger.
I crack the window just enough to talk. My nerves are skipping all over the place as I start to sweat. I turn off the heater before I melt.
“Geez, Jackie, it’s cold out here.”
My heart skips. Brett?
Then he leans down.
Where did he come from?
“Can I get in?”
I hit the button, unlocking the door. He slides in and smiles. The box I left on his car is now in his lap.
I burst into tears.
This is not exactly what I was expecting, but I’ll take anything right now and pull Jackie into my arms. Well, the best I can in a small sports car with a gear shift between us.
I just let her cry it out and rub her back, even though I’m not really sure why she’s crying. With four sisters I thought I had girls figured out, but Jackie has proven time and time again that I am clueless half the time.
“Why are you here?” She finally asks as she pulls away.
“Ashley told me.”
“I’m sorry. She should not have called you.”
“Why? I called her first, wanting to know where you were headed.”
Her eyes widen. “You saw me?”
“Yeah, and you still drive too fast.”
She bites her bottom lip. “Did I ruin your date?”
“Date?” I shouldn’t mess with her but I’ve waited almost six months for her. Longer than any guy should, but every time I thought about asking someone else out, it didn’t feel right. I wanted Jackie. I’ll always want her, so dating anyone else was just being unfair to them.
“I saw the girl with long hair.”
“She was just headed out. I wasn’t going with her.”
“Out?”
“Meeting up with friends for drinks.”
“On Valentine’s Day?”
“It’s not like she’s seeing anyone and hated the idea of sitting home tonight.”
“But…”
“You thought she was my date.”
Jackie’s cheeks turn read. “Yeah.”
“That would be gross. She’s my sister, Claire. She’s been living with me since Christmas.”
“Claire?”
“Sister. I told you about her.”
She starts to smile. “Claire!”
“Yeah.”
“I feel so stupid.”
“Hey, happens to us all.” I grab her hand. “Now, why did you come see me, finally?”
Jackie pulls back and her brow furrows. “I just want to give you that. I’d been holding onto it.”
Still skittish. I get it. It has been six months and in her shoes I might be too afraid to go back.
“About that,” I open the box and take out the piece of paper. “Thank you for your phone number. I’ve needed this. Ashley wouldn’t give it up for anything.”
She smiles and looks down. It’s not like Jackie to get embarrassed, but this is an odd situation too.
“I’m assuming this is for banana boat.”
She nods.
“The flat tire.”
Again she nods.
“I might earn another one tonight.” Then I pick up the third merit badge. “Why a telephone?”
Her face flames.
“Thought so. I wouldn’t mind earning one of those again either. Though doing the same thing in person is a lot better.”
“Those were a bad idea.”
“Hey, I earned each and every one of these merit badges.” I hold up the one with a book and the word Joy on it. “Is this because I’m such a good student, or do I need to read The Joy of Sex again?”
I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to turn as red as Jackie is right now.
I set it aside before she combusts and pick up the next one. “Snake. I do not want to earn another one of those.”
“Once was enough,” she agrees.
“Then there is this.” I pick up the heart. “Tell me Jackie, what does it mean, exactly?”
Moisture gathers in her eyes and
she blinks as one slides out of the corner.
“My heart or yours?” I ask.
“Mine.”
“You’re giving it to me?”
“I already did.”
“I thought you took it back.”
“I tried but I couldn’t.” More tears fall. “I was so stupid, foolish, stubborn. You were right. I wasn’t thinking straight. Those first few weeks are a fog and then time passed and I was afraid to call.”
“My flowers should have convinced you otherwise.”
She looks down. “I was scared.”
“Of what?” I need to hear her say it.
“That once you saw me you would reject me and realize you didn’t want me after all.” She clutches her hands together but even in faded light I can see they are trembling. “Theo was right. Your job is important and necessary. Sometimes you will be gone and you will be in danger.” She blows out a breath. “I don’t have to like it though.”
“But, can you live with it?”
For the first time she looks me directly in the eye. “Yes. If it’s the only way I can have you, then yes. I’d rather live with you being gone or not making an appointment or event than never having you at all.”
I take her hands in mine again. “I need you to be sure about this. I can’t go through what I just did, waiting and hoping, feeling like an idiot for waiting on a woman who might never want me again.”
Her tears well again. “I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Jackie, I already have. But, I’m scared to. How can I be sure that you won’t run again? Shut me out because I didn’t do what you thought I was supposed to do.” I’ve wanted this moment. To have her with me again. A hope of a future, but it also scares me. I need to know the answers to all of this now or it’s not going to work and we’ll be right back where we were at her brother’s funeral and I can’t do that again.
“All I can do is promise. You’ll have to trust. You will see.”
This will have to take trust. Yes, I love her, but I’m also cautious. Her rejection nearly killed me. Then again, there can never be love without risks. I take the heart merit badge and hand it back to her.
“Guard it.”
She takes it from me and puts it against her chest. “Always.”
Placing my hand behind her head I pull her close and kiss her deeply. A loving kiss, not a passionate one. There’s time for that later. Right now, I need her to know that I love her and she matters more than anything in the world. When I pull back she smiles at me.
“Valentine Wishes really do come true.” I can hear my mother’s words echo in my head as I say them.
“Valentine Wishes?”
“Something my mom always said. Make a wish for your love and it will come true.”
“I’ve never heard of Valentine Wishes.”
I laugh. “I’m pretty sure my mom made it up, but I like the idea of it. You can only wish for something for your love or they don’t come true.”
“And you made a wish?”
“And it came true.” Then I grin. “And the signs are all there that this is right.”
“Signs? You don’t believe in signs.”
“I think I may be changing my mind.” I hand her the merit badge with the tire. “Back where we started, and it can only get better from here.”
Jackie takes it, clutching it in her hand with the heart. “I love you, Brett. I never stopped. Even when I was hurt, stubborn and stupid, I never stopped loving you.”
“And I didn’t stop loving you. I’ve just been waiting for you to come back.”
About Jane Charles
Jane Charles is a USA Today Bestselling author who has lived in the Midwest her entire life. As a child she would more likely be found outside with a baseball than a book in her hand. In fact, Jane hated reading until she was sixteen. Out of boredom on a long road trip she borrowed her older sister’s historical romance and fell in love. Eventually she penned one of the many stories that were always in her head and discovered her passion for writing. Jane is an author of both historical and contemporary and blames being a Gemini on why she can’t pick one over the other.
Connect With Jane
@JaneACharles
JaneCharlesAuthor
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Jane Charles’s New Adult Romance
Valentine Wishes
Colors of You
Shadows of Memory
Casting Doubt
Between the Lines
Jane Charles’s Historical Romance
The Tenacious Trents
Compromised For Christmas
Landing a Laird
A Misguided Lord
A Perfect Gentlemen
Devil in Her Dreams
A Lass For Christmas
A Reluctant Rake
Lady Revealed
Lady Disguised
Lady Concealed
A Tenacious Trent’s Wedding
Lady Admired
Wiggon’s School For Elegant Young Ladies
To Walk in the Sun
Ghosts From the Past
A Gentleman’s Guide to Once Upon a Time
His Impetuous Debutante
His Contrary Bride
His Not So Sensible Miss
His Christmas Match
Muses
Her Muse, Lord Patrick
Her Muse, Her Magic
One More Haunted Evening