Epilogue
Two years later
“Jessica!” I called as I walked into the house, dropping my keys into the handmade bowl on the heart-shaped table just inside the front door. It was late, later than I usually got home but practice ran over. Our rivalry game was that week, and the team was putting in one hundred and ten percent. I had a great group of kids this year, but I said that every year. They were dedicated.
“Out here,” she called. It sounded like her voice was coming from the backyard.
As I made my way through the house, the echo of my sneakers on the hardwood floor reminded me that I’d better take them off before Jess saw me. My wife hated it when I wore shoes in the house, particularly after working out in the yard or on the field.
My wife.
It may have been round two for us, but I never got tired of calling Jessica my wife. We’d just celebrated another year of marriage, making it six years total. We remarried on what would have been our ten-year anniversary, choosing to count our cumulative years together rather than starting back at one. Neither one of us really cared to dwell on the years we spent apart. We were together again, and that was all that mattered.
As I passed the mantle over the fireplace, I glanced at our side-by-side wedding photos. In the first, Jessica was beautiful in her puffy white princess gown. In the second, she was even more beautiful in a form-fitting ivory lace dress. I looked the same in each photo—wearing a black tux and looking down at Jessica like she hung the moon and all the stars. She was looking at me the same way.
“Jess,” I called again as I walked out of the house to the backyard, passing underneath the ‘happily ever after’ sign Jess had hung above the door, the same one from our first home that she’d secretly kept all those years.
“Over here.”
From my spot on our back deck, I looked across the wide expanse of the lawn and saw her sitting on the swing I’d hung from the large maple tree in our backyard. Her back was to me and I’d bet she’d been watching the sunset, the exact reason I’d put the swing in that place. I glanced at the sky, a beautiful pink reminding me of the sand at the beach in Bermuda where we’d taken our second honeymoon.
“Hey, baby,” I said as I came up behind her. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and kissed her warm cheek. I felt her cheek rise under my lips from her smile.
“Hi, handsome,” she said.
“I got a phone call today,” I said, kissing along her jawline and down her neck.
She giggled—I loved that sound. “Oh yeah,” she said, tilting her head and giving me her neck. “Who called you?”
“Andrea.”
Jessica straightened up and twisted her body in the swing so she was facing me. “Yeah?” There was so much hope in her eyes. Hope and caution.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “It’s happening, baby.”
“It is?”
“We’re going to be parents,” I told her, pulling out my cell phone and showing her the picture of the tiny baby girl we’d just gotten the approval to adopt through an international agency.
“She’s beautiful,” Jessica said with tears in her eyes as her finger hovered over the image on the screen.
“There’s more,” I said, swiping my finger across the screen so another image popped up. “She’s got a big brother.”
Jessica’s eyes widened as she looked from the phone screen to me and back again. “A brother?”
“Maksym,” I told her. “Maksym and Sofia.” They were from the Ukraine.
“They’re beautiful,” she said, not taking her eyes off the screen. She took the phone from me and moved between the two images for several minutes. Tears spilled down her cheeks, but I didn’t dare interrupt this moment for her...seeing her babies for the first time. My girl was becoming a mother right before my very eyes, even if it wasn’t in the most conventional of ways.
I waited ten years for this moment. More than that, if I was being honest. I’d known I wanted a family with this woman the moment I met her as kids and we played house and school and whatever other ridiculously girly games she’d talked me into because I would have done absolutely anything for her.
I still would.
She stared at the pictures for a few moments longer before I broke the perfect silence. “Say something, baby.”
She looked into my eyes and hers were brighter than I’d ever seen them.
“I love you, Danny. So damn much. Thank you for this. Thank you for giving me a family.”
I smiled before I leaned in and kissed her, pressing my forehead against hers.
Everything was going to be okay.
And they lived happily ever after…the end.
Playlist
I’m a rock girl. Most people who know me know that about me. I love me some hard rock and heavy metal, but for some reason, country music is what inspired the heck out of me to finish off this story. These are some of the tracks I listened to while writing Say Something. I listened to a whole lot more, but these are the ones that I felt held some kind of connection to Jessica and Danny’s story. In no particular order, enjoy!
Born To Love You - LANCO
Break Up In The End - Cole Swindell
In Case You Didn’t Know - Brett Young
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye - Luke Bryan
Take Back Home Girl - Chris Lane featuring Tori Kelly
Kiss Somebody - Morgan Evans
Stay - Florida Georgia Line
Unforgettable - Thomas Rhett
Hometown Girl - Josh Turner
Hooked - Dylan Scott
Mercy - Brett Young
Small Town Boy - Dustin Lynch
Last Shot - Kip Moore
What Ifs - Kane Brown
You Make It Easy - Jason Aldean
Come Over - Kenny Chesney
What Do You Want - Jerrod Neimann
Made For You - Jake Owen
Red On A Rose - Alan Jackson
Acknowledgements
This section is always the most difficult to write because I’m always afraid I’ll leave someone out. This book was hard to write. It was an idea that I had, based on personal experiences and feelings, but I wasn’t quite ready for it. One day, I saw a pre-made book cover and knew it belonged to this story. So I bought it and saved it until I was ready, and I was ready sooner than I thought. I think it was because I had that cover burning a hole in my Google drive. So thank you, Marisa-Rose Wesley, for the beautiful cover that gave me the motivation I needed to get this story out. Thank you to my editor, Aimee. I enjoy working with you and I appreciate having a Shoulder Aimee to help me through editing. You were one of my rocks during my infertility experience and continue to be a great friend today. Thank you to my proofreader and BFF, Natasha. You are like my right arm and I’d be lost without you. So glad I get to spend this release day with you! To my betas, you’re all amazing. I appreciate your ongoing support and feedback. My reader group – Jennifer’s Chapter Chicks – you’re all amazing. Thank you for reading my stories. To all the readers, bloggers, and authors who helped promote Say Something, thank you. I am so proud to be part of the indie book community. We rock!! To my family and friends, thank you for your ongoing love and support. To the PPGs. You all know who you are. You held me up when I was so far down, and I’ll be eternally grateful to each and every one of you. And last, but certainly not least, to Brad. I love you. Thank you for being you. <3
About the Author
Jennifer was born and raised on Long Island, in New York. She relocated to South Carolina in 2002, where she met the love of her life. They got married and live their happily ever after just outside of Charleston with their fur-kid, a spoiled rat terrier named Daisy. When she’s not reading or writing, she works as a behavior technician practicing ABA therapy, and is a graduate student, pursuing a degree in psychology. Jennifer is a breast cancer survivor, and she enjoys amateur photography, travelling, and music…it’s a bonus when she can combine all three. She independently published her
debut novel, Our Moon (JACT 1), in June 2015.
Connect With Me
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.jenniferlallenauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jallenauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorJenniferA
Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/b4LjgD
Books by Jennifer L. Allen
JACT Series
Our Moon (JACT 1)
Hearts in the Sand (JACT 2)
Wildflowers (JACT 2.5)
Second Chances Series
Change of Heart (Second Chances 1)
Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances 2)
Gravity Series
Force: A Prequel to the Gravity Series
(previously published in the Get Rocked! in Vegas Box Set)
Boulder Blizzard Series
Christmas Interference: A Novella
(previously published in Christmas in the City Anthology)
Standalone
Here Without You
Table of Contents
Author’s Note
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Epilogue
Playlist
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Connect With Me
Books by Jennifer L. Allen
Say Something Page 17