by Dawn Edwards
‘You ok?’ Drew asked in a low voice as I was cutting up vegetables for dinner. I just nodded, not wanting to say anything. ‘Alright, I’m here if you want to talk. Let me know when you want to go home.’ He rubbed my back, looking into my eyes. ‘I want you to trust me, I’ve got you, always will.’
During dinner, I was distracted by everything that had been said earlier today. Abby knew I was alive, another person. I wanted so badly to reach out to Zoe, I needed her. As great as Drew was, there was just something about a best friend that I was desperately missing.
It had been hard over the past year, but now, she was so close, yet as far away as ever. As shit was getting real with my future, I needed her. I also wanted to share my joy of falling in love and gush over how head over heels in love I was with Drew. I might even be willing to have ‘sexy talks’ with her, ones I had always been reluctant to have before.
‘What do you think?’ I heard my mother say, and I looked up from playing with the roasted chicken on my plate to her and then to Drew, who was looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
‘What’s that?’ I asked.
‘We should start looking for furniture for the upstairs of your summer home,’ my mother repeated, sounding tickled. I knew just how much she loved helping to pick out the items for the living room and downstairs master, along with all the fixtures and appliances, I was happy to indulge her as she needed a creative outlet, and this wasn’t exactly my strong point.
They had told me a while ago that the condo Matt and I had purchased had been foreclosed on by the bank and already re-sold. I was fine with it, I had no interest in ever going back to it, let alone live in it.
I didn’t know if I wanted to live in Boston; I didn’t want to fall back into the life I once had where my parents dictated every move I made, where every decision I made was first pre- approved by them.
‘That’s something that Drew and I still need to sort out,’ I told them confidently. I closed the subject, not wanting to get into it all with her, not now, not until my father was healthy again. And it was true, Drew and I still hadn’t nailed down plans for when I got back. It appeared to me that he was based out of the Cape and he was setting up the house to be a permanent address, not just a seasonal one.
CHAPTER 24
DREW
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself before ringing the doorbell at the Cahills’ Cape Cod home. This afternoon was more than a business meeting with Steve. My agenda had nothing to do with business and everything to do with their daughter.
Steve still wasn’t back to work, but was starting to work a few hours a day from home, and he relied a lot on me and Colleen to help with his workload.
I was happy to do it, of course.
Colleen answered the door and hugged me as I entered the house. ‘Steve is in the dining room,’ she told me. ‘Can I bring you a drink?’
‘Thanks, I’m fine.’
I made my way to the dining room, which he had turned into his home office, as his real home office had a bed in it and the desk was pushed out of the way. I sat in one of the chairs near him placing my messenger bag on the table, and a few folders from the office next to his laptop.
‘How’s it going?’ Steve asked me, looking up from his laptop.
I nodded, pulling out my tablet and a blue folder that contained a draft of a prenuptial agreement I had a lawyer draw up earlier this week.
Steve closed his laptop and rolled his chair around to what would be the end of the table, to sit closer to me, his normal place. As he did, he eyed the folder. I wanted to get the business out of the way first, so I picked up my tablet to update him on my business over the past two weeks. It was a slow time, but still, I went over numbers, plans, and contracts for the summer which was one of the only things keeping me busy these days.
After all that was complete, Colleen came into the room, ‘
‘Lunch is ready,’ she announced then turned to exit the room. It was a rare thing that we were alone without Jessa, but she had wanted to spend time with Abby, and I encouraged it so I could have exclusive access to her parents.
‘Actually, Colleen, can you come in here for a moment? There’s something I want to discuss, and I’d like it if you were here.’
She walked into the room and took a seat next to her husband. I took the blue folder and took the deepest breath of my life. I needed to relax.
I looked across to see the Cahills looking at me, then Steve looked at my hands. ‘What’s in the folder?’
‘This,’ I said, tapping it, ‘Is a draft I’d like you to have a look over.’ I passed it to him. ‘It’s a prenuptial agreement, I’d like to ask Jessa to marry me.’
They both looked up to me. Steve looked surprised, while Colleen had a huge smile on her face.
Steve laughed, ‘Well, it’s up to her, not us, son.’
I smiled, son, that didn’t escape me. He’d only used it a few times. ‘I know; however, it means a lot to me to have the blessings from the two of you before I ask her.’
‘Well, I appreciate you asking, that means a lot to us.’ He looked at his wife, who was nodding in agreement. Steve opened up the folder and skimmed the agreement.
‘It basically says that Jessa keeps sole responsibility for her trust funds,’ I started to paraphrase. ‘That if any capital purchases are made that I might benefit from, her investment is protected without contest. That any money made by either of us as of our wedding day is equal assets, except any interests culminating from the trust. The only two stipulations I have is that I own half of the Hyannis house and she does not sue for any business assets.’
He continued to read a bit more, then looked up at me. ‘Why is it important you have the house in your name also?’
‘I want to be an equal, I don’t want to feel like I’m a guest in my own house, I don’t want her to be able to kick me out.’ I let out a laugh, then added, ‘Plus, I’ve been working my ass off as a labor of love with that place.’
Colleen looked over the agreement. ‘Have you been speaking to my father?’
I looked at her, ‘No, why?’
Steve answered for her, ‘Because this looks very similar to the agreement I had drawn up and presented to her father when I asked to marry her.’
‘When do you plan on asking her?’ Colleen asked me.
‘Christmas.’
‘Can you give Colleen and me a moment alone?’ Steve asked. I nodded, put my tablet into my bag and left the room, pulling the French double doors that usually stayed open closed behind me and walked into the kitchen, where Colleen already had the island set for the three of us. I poured myself a drink from the bottle of scotch they kept on the counter. I felt comfortable here, it had become a second home to me.
It felt like an eternity that the Cahills were talking, but in reality, it was only a few minutes before they both walked into the kitchen. Steve had regained most of his strength back but was still battling with endurance. He handed me back the file. ‘There’s nothing in here to protect your savings or personal assets not associated with the business.’
I nodded, ‘I’m aware.’
‘You need to protect yourself too.’ He looked at me intently. ‘Ok?’ I nodded. ‘Go ask your lawyer or whoever drew this up to add that and I’ll have my lawyer look it over, otherwise I have no contest over it, but also make sure Jessa knows you’ve done this.’
‘You don’t have an issue with me wanting the house?’
‘None whatsoever,’ Steve said, taking a seat. ‘I just wanted to know why...and make you sweat a bit.’ He winked at me while Colleen hit him playfully.
‘Do you have a ring?’ she asked me.
I reached into my bag, pulled out a small box, and showed it to her. She opened it, looking at the ring and nodded, ‘Very nice, however, there’s also this one.’
She held out an opened box showing a large vintage-looking ring. ‘It was my aunt’s ring, I always planned on giving this to Jessa. I know she loves this ring, if you want, y
ou can use this to symbolize your engagement.’
I looked down at the ring. It was beautiful and a lot more impressive than the one I bought her.
‘Are you sure?’
‘We are,’ Steve nodded.
‘So, I take it you’re ok with me asking her?’
Colleen hugged me, ‘Absolutely.’
‘We are just surprised you haven't already,’ Steve chuckled. ‘You’ve been pining after her since you first met her practically.’
It didn’t happen often, but I felt myself blushing.
CHAPTER 25
JESSA
I kept looking at the bag Drew was carrying. ‘Curiosity killed the cat, you know,’ he smirked, teasing me.
‘Well, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to die, but my curiosity is definitely piqued.’
‘I won’t torture you much longer,’ he assured me as we walked hand in hand into my parents’ house on Christmas morning. I had taken my presents over last night and we were just waiting on Deb to arrive from picking Breton up from the airport to have brunch.
It was lightly snowing, and while there was a light dusting of snow covering the ground, the grass was still peeking through. All the snow that had fallen only a few short weeks ago had all but melted.
‘I told you, you didn’t need to get me anything, you’re all I need,’ I said.
He leaned in and kissed me. ‘Technically I didn’t buy you anything, I made it,’ he smirked, which earned him a smile.
My mom looked like she was in her glory with a Christmas vest and matching slippers, puttering around setting the table for brunch while my dad was trying to find the Disney Christmas parade on TV. ‘This was something the kids always loved to watch on Christmas, I’m not sure why, Josh always hated parades.’
‘He hated the crowds, Dad,’ I said as I came in and hugged him from behind. ‘Merry Christmas, old man.’
‘Who you calling old?’
‘You,’ I kissed him. ‘Brett just texted, they’re just pulling off the highway.’
We had been unsure when Breton would be home, so we had agreed to play it by ear. When he got back to London last night and boarded a commercial flight early this morning, we arranged that we would have a nice brunch today with presents after and save our turkey dinner for tomorrow, and invite my grandparents over to tell them the big news-I was still alive.
‘I want to give Drew my present first,’ I beamed after brunch as we all made our way into the front room of the summer house which my mother did a decent job of decorating given the last-minute supplies she found through the picked-over stores.
‘It’s from both of us,’ Breton reminded me and rolled two large mismatched suitcases into the living room, which everyone eyed suspiciously. Only Breton and I knew exactly what they were. All of my belongings from London.
Breton opened his backpack that had been sitting on top of one of the bags and pulled out a large white binder.
‘Papers?’ Drew asked with a confused smirk on his face.
Breton nodded, rolling the suitcases towards him one by one. ‘And these,’ Brett beamed. ‘Don’t forget these.’
‘Luggage?’ Drew looked more confused than ever at the two mismatched bags and one binder full of papers and folders. He picked up the binder and flipped through it, taking in the words, pictures and touching the USB keys that were in clear zippered folders. ‘Is this…?’
‘The completed evidence,’ I answered for him, placing my hand on one of the bags. ‘And these are all my belongings from London.’
‘You’re not going back?’ he questioned rolling the words over, not so sure that he understood the words he just said. But that was the gist of it.
It was a good thing that I didn’t have much in the way of material possessions in London and that I kept things neat and tidy, because Breton only had a few hours last night to pack it all up before catching his flight this morning.
Breton had finished up with all the evidence and had one of his team members review for anything we may have missed and checked there were no holes in my backstory. When he got them back the other day, I knew that there really was no need for me to head back to London, but that it also wasn’t the safest bet for me to stay on the Cape either. As it was, I had likely already been here too long.
He stood up and engulfed me into a huge hug. ‘Really?’ he questioned, not fully able to believe it was real, that it was all finally over.
I nodded, kissing him. ‘Really.’
‘You’re staying,’ he stated it, rather than asked it.
‘Well, I’m heading to Vegas for a bit, just until we get all the PR and legal stuff sorted and a plan to turn myself in. Everything hinges on me not having left America.’
‘But why wait?’ Deb asked the question that I knew was on Drew’s lips.
It was my father who spoke up. ‘Zoe has worlds coming up soon, and we don’t want to interfere with that, and we will need her to do all the PR stuff. As it’s going to be a lot, I want her on it and we are willing to wait.’ Breton, Abby and I had sought his advice the other day when everything was starting to come together and this was his suggestion, and I felt it was the best one.
‘We’re going to Vegas?’ Drew beamed.
I tapped his chest, clarifying, ‘I’m going to Vegas with my mom, you are staying here.’
His face dropped, ‘For how long?’
I shrugged and looked to Breton then back to Drew. ‘About a month, as soon as Zoe is back from worlds and Breton has a break in missions.’
Drew looked to Breton and nodded, understanding that I couldn’t turn myself in alone, that we were a package deal.
Finally, when everything else was opened, my father handed me a bag with an oddly wrapped present.
I tore into it and I felt my eyes widen. ‘A kite?’ I took it out and looked at it. ‘You remembered?’
He nodded. The first summer we were together, kids were forever flying kites on the beach. I had confided in him that when I was a child, I would fly kites with Breton, Josh and our father. I had smiled so much telling him the story that my cheeks cramped up. I went on to tell him that flying kites was one of my favorite childhood memories..
As I looked at the kite, realization dawned on me. ‘You made this, didn’t you?’
He nodded, taking it from me ‘Come, let's go fly a kite.’
He helped me to my feet. ‘But it’s freezing out there.’
‘So, wear a scarf, your mother did just give you one,’ he retorted. There was no way I was getting out of this.
We bunded up and he led me down to the beach, staying in view of the house.
He handed me the spindle before walking away from me to toss the kite in the air.
There was only a slight wind, but enough for it to catch the kite. ‘Let more of the line loose,’ he instructed me. I did and ran a bit for a good lift off, propelling it into the air.
I squinted up at the sky, there was writing painted on the tail of the kite. The white banner made up of nine white diamond shapes with letters drawn on with black sharpie: MARRY-ME? I looked at Drew as he was walking towards me, not letting his eyes leave mine. The kite fluttered to the ground and landed softly in the grass as he came within my reach.
‘Drew,’ I let out a breath as he lowered to his knees and pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket.
‘Jessa Cahill, from the first time I met you, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. Even when we all thought you were gone, I knew, deep down, that our story wasn’t over. Now I’ve been given this second chance with you, and I intend to make you mine for the rest of our lives…’ He looked up to me then opened the box. I instantly recognized my aunt’s ring, and I heard myself gasp and covered my mouth with my free hand.
‘Jessa, please do me the honor of being my wife.’
I felt a lone tear escape my eye as I nodded. ‘Yes,’ I exclaimed and stuck my left ring finger up to allow Drew to slide my aunt’s ring on it before bending over to kiss thi
s man that meant everything to me, feeling more and more tears streaming down my face.
After pulling away, I admired the ring for a moment. ‘This was my great aunt's ring, how did you get yet?’
‘Your mom,’ he grinned, then looked up to the house, where I saw my family, our family, gathered around the window watching our moment. This ring and his proposal was the final push I needed to crush any feelings of self-doubt that I might not be enough for him, there was hope in the promise of Drew’s love.
CHAPTER 26
DREW
January was the longest month in the history of time; it was the last day of the month, and it already felt like 900 days since Jessa left, while really, it had been thirty.
Dropping her and her mother off at the terminal in Providence Rhode Island on New Year's Day wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to start my year off. After nearly a month with her again and spending Christmas together, I wanted to start and end this year with Jessa at my side for the entire time.
She left with a plan, with Breton assuring me they had a timeline, and he promised me she would be back home with me soon, or at least back in Boston. Whether she went to jail or not, that was yet to be seen. I took some comfort in the fact that Abby was pretty confident that if we sold it properly to the authorities, there would be no jail time, potentially probation and likely legal fines. All of that hinged on Breton corroborating a story that limited the crimes Jessa had committed.
I had been keeping busy, but I'd never be too busy for Jessa. As it turned out, my schedule wasn't the issue. I wish I had listened to my gut and left with her, but I needed to take the time to prepare everything for the spring and summer, in addition to finishing the house for when Jessa moved back. Had I left, maybe things wouldn't have been so weird between us at the moment.
Things started to change a few days after she arrived back in Vegas, once she was settled and her mother came home for the week to ensure Steve wasn’t overdoing it. One day we were texting all day, laughing while we chatted before bed, then the next day it was as if a switch was flipped and she morphed into a different personal altogether.