The Sins That Bind Us

by Geneva Lee

  She bites her lip as she nods, and I almost lose my resolve to continue unpacking until she gently shoves me away. “Let’s get to work then.”

  “By the way,” I call to her on my way out the door, “I promised Max we’d get Chinese tonight.”

  “It is Sunday,” she says with a smile that grips my heart.

  Grace Kane loves me. Every time I realize it, I fall in love with her all over again. This woman who sings too loudly in the car and loves too fiercely. She’s not as fragile as she thinks she is, but that doesn’t stop her from caring too much. She’s learning boundaries. We both are. Every day we take new steps—together and apart—but we always find our way back to each other.

  There are a hopeless amount of boxes in the living room. We’ve managed to clear out both trucks, but it will take weeks for us to sort through the lives we’ve brought along with us. I find Grace sitting cross-legged on a stack of boxes.

  “I’m not ever sure where toilet paper is,” she admits.

  “We can grab some on our way to dinner."

  She frowns at this suggestion. “I thought we were going to eat here.”

  “Do you know where the forks are? Or plates?” I ask her. "It's easier to go out."

  “They’ll give us chopsticks.”

  She’s determined to undermine my plan to get her out of the house.

  “I think we need to get away from all the chaos for just a little bit.”

  I offer her my hand and she takes it. Pulling her to her feet, I swat her butt. “Now, get upstairs and change.”

  “I don’t think I need to get dressed up for the Lucky Dragon,” she says, just as Max appears on the stairs wearing his button-down and tie.

  “Well, he’s dressed up,” I say, pretending to be surprised.

  She grumbles something about setting the bar too high and races up the stairs. I join her, opening my overnight bag and pulling out a towel.

  “I thought you didn’t know where towels were,” she says.

  “I like to be prepared,” I tell her. “Plus, I knew I’d be a hot mess by the time we finished today.”

  "You're my hot mess." She kisses my shoulder on her way to check boxes.

  I shower quickly, allowing the hot water to soak into my sore muscles. Pausing as it streams over me, I center myself. I’m here with her. I’ve given Grace her dream, and in doing so, made mine come true.

  When I finish dressing, I comb my hair and encourage myself in the mirror before I finally head downstairs.

  “This is all I could find,” she says, motioning to a breezy summer dress.

  I frown, realizing I should have packed for her as well. “I don’t want you to be cold."

  “I won’t be with you beside me.”

  “Where did you find that?” She motions the slate gray button-down I’ve paired with jeans.

  “I labeled my boxes really well,” I tell her with a wink, and she rolls her eyes.

  We take her car. I had to pull out every trump card I had when her old Civic finally bit the dust, but she'd finally let me buy her a Grand Cherokee. She couldn’t argue that it would be a safer and more reliable car for both her and Max.

  We pile inside it after I double-check that Max is bolstered properly.

  “I do wish that we’d been able to have our first dinner at home,” she says wistfully, her eyes lingering on our house as we drive toward the Lucky Dragon.

  “Next Sunday we’ll do it right, Sunshine,” I promise her. “We’ll have Renee over, and we’ll know where the dishes are.”

  She laughs at this, taking my hand as I maneuver the steep road. “I guess you’re right. It’s one less thing to stress about.”

  There’s been so little stress in my life now that she’s in it. I no longer find myself preoccupied with the past. Although, I do look to the future. It’s easier to enjoy every day now that I have her to share my life with.

  The Luck Dragon’s parking lot is empty as we pull in. That’s not unusual since it’s mostly a take-out joint, but as we reach the door, we find a sign, “Closed for a private event.”

  “Oh no!” Grace cries as she reads it.

  “That’s not going to stop me."

  I knock on the glass door, and Mr. Cho promptly opens it. Grace stares at me in horror as though ignoring the posted notice is akin to crimes against humanity. “Jude...”

  “Mr. Mercer,” the restaurant owner greets me. “Come in, come in.”

  The look of horror on Grace’s face fades to confusion. Max and I share a conspiratorial glance, excited that our plot is working, but she catches it.

  “What are you two up to?” she demands as we step inside.

  I don’t bother to answer, not wanting to risk more suspicion. Mr. Cho shows us to a table in the center of the restaurant. He’s placed a white linen table cloth on it and a cluster of daisies in a vase. There's even a lit tea light.

  “Did you do this?” she asks me as she takes it all in.

  “I thought we should have fine dining on such an important day, but I also really wanted Chinese.”

  “It is a tradition,” she teases me as we take our seats.

  I’d prearranged the menu with Mr. Cho to ensure that all of our favorites were ready. Max is going through a growth spurt, and he manages to eat damn near his weight in food. We plan what we'll plant in the garden and Max makes his case for a dog.

  Grace's smile is radiant the entire evening, and I sketch it into memory. Someday I'll paint her like this, but I'll never do her justice.

  “I can’t believe you did this,” she says as Mr. Cho drops off the check along with three fortune cookies.

  “I wanted to make today memorable."

  “You’ve already made all my dreams come true,” she says.

  I raise an eyebrow. Reaching out, I take her hand. “All of them?”

  Our eyes lock. Just finding each other has completed our lives, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that I still want, and I want them with her. Grace breaks away and passes out the fortune cookies. We lapse into silence as we begin our ritual. She’s too busy reading hers to realize mine is still sitting on my plate. Max winks next to me. Then, he passes me his fortune.

  “You will get a dog,” I read aloud.

  That’s what I get for not asking him what he had chosen to put on his personalized cookie.

  “That is very specific and timely,” his mother says, narrowing her eyes.

  Max holds up his hands, but his impish smirk undermines his pretense of innocence.

  “What about yours?” I ask her.

  She swallows, and I realize tears are glistening in her green eyes.

  “It says all my dreams will come true.” Her voice cracks as she reads it. She sniffs and wipes her finger along the rim of her eye. “What does yours say?”

  By now she’s figured out that I’ve planted all of the fortunes, but I think I can still surprise her.

  “I don’t know,” I say, holding mine up.

  “You cheat,” she says. “Whatever is in there is not going to come true now.”

  “I established the rules. I can change them.”

  “Oh, yeah? What do you want to change?”

  I push to my feet and move to her side of the table. Grace's breathing speeds up as I get closer.

  “From now on, I think we should share all of our fortunes.”

  “Sometimes our fortunes suck,” she whispers.

  “There’s no one I’d rather get a sucky fortune with,” I say to her as I slowly lower myself to one knee.

  Grace’s hand flies to her mouth as I crack open the cookie, revealing a slip of paper tucked around the band of a diamond ring.

  “Why don’t we start with this fortune?” I suggest.

  Her eyes don’t leave mine. She reaches out and plucks the slip free with trembling fingers.

  “I don’t think I can read it,” she admits. “I’m shaking too hard.”

  I take the ring, dropping the cookie on the table
and hold it out to her. She pauses before she allows me to slide it onto her finger.

  “What does it say?” she asks, giving the slip to me. I take it, but I don’t bother to look.

  “It says I love you. It says that you’ve given me more love than I ever thought I deserved. It says that if we’ve made it through the storms we’ve faced, we can make it through anything. It says we’re going to grow old together in rocking chairs on our front porch. It says you’ve given me your heart, and not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for that.”

  “That’s a lot for one tiny slip of paper." She's crying now even though she's still smiling.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, a smirk curving across my mouth. “I meant that it says, will you marry me?”

  “Yes.” She barely gets the word out before I’m kissing her.

  Max wiggles between us, and I’m so glad he’s here to share the moment when my last dream came true.

  That night we’re all too giddy to sleep. When Max finally surrenders, I tiptoe downstairs, trying not to trip over boxes. The house is quiet, and after searching a few minutes, I find Grace on the porch gazing in the direction of the sea.

  "It's too dark to appreciate the view," I call out.

  “I can’t see it,” she says, as I come up behind her and draw her body against mine. “But I know it’s there.”

  There are so many things in life that can be said for: love, hope. There was a time when I’d questioned if I could ever deserve to ask for those gifts. Although even then, I’d clung to them, refusing to live in a world where darkness overshadowed its possibilities. That unshakable belief almost destroyed me. Now, holding her, I’m certain of one thing:

  I’ve always had faith, but I was saved by Grace.

  A thank you

  Thank you for sharing this story with me. If you enjoyed it, kindly consider leaving a review or sharing with friends.

  Please feel free to reach out to me by email at genevaleeauthor@gmail.com or on Facebook (facebook.com/genevaleebooks) to share your thoughts.

  I hope to hear from you.

  I would also like to say thank you to Sharon Goodman, Elise Kratz, and Melissa Gaston for being there during the writing of this book. I look forward to working together on many more.

  Thank you to Tamara Mataya for lending her keen eye and experience.

  My gratitude to Shawna Gavas for notes that kept me going and manic editing.

  Thanks to Shayla for being a shoulder but also a distraction.

  To the GLRC, who always keeps the faith even when I take them on new, wild rides. I don’t know what I would do without you. #TeamG

  Thanks to Ellie at Love N. Books for working with amazing photographs and to Franggy Yanez and Stu Reardon for the gorgeous photo on the cover.

  Thank you to Cassy Roop and Pink Ink Designs for interior formatting.

  And to all the people who have been there throughout the years, thank you for standing by me. I’ve been writing this story for a long time and it feels good to finally share it.

  Also by Geneva Lee

  THE ROYALS SAGA

  Command Me

  Conquer Me

  Crown Me

  Crave Me

  Covet Me

  Capture Me

  Two Week Turnaround

  To learn more visit GenevaLee.com