by Ali Parker
“I would if I were you. But hey, don’t let me scare you. Fear means you care. It means you’re invested. You want the best for Hailey and the baby. If you weren’t scared, I’d be concerned. You’re a good guy, Jackson. You’ll be an awesome father. Just look at Chessie tonight. She wanted to play with you, not the rest of us. That’s a good sign.”
I hadn’t thought about it that way. “Thanks, man. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
Rick turned off the sink and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t need it, but anytime you need some reassurance, you can come to me. I’ve always liked the idea of taking a younger weaker man under my wing for mentorship.”
“Thanks—” I blinked. “Hey. Hold on a second.”
Rick draped an arm around my shoulders and threw his head back with booming laughter. “It was too easy, Jack. Too easy.”
Hailey smiled over her shoulder at us as we approached the dining-room table. “What are you boys laughing about?”
“Rick is bullying me,” I said.
“I’m sure you started it,” Kim teased.
Rick’s arm fell from my shoulders and he nodded at Chessie, who was slumped in her chair with her cheek being crushed by her hand. She looked like she was going to fall asleep sitting up. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go lay down in the spare bedroom. It’s well past your bedtime.”
“I don’t want to go to bed,” Chessie said before a massive yawn nearly swallowed her whole.
“Uh huh,” Rick said. “You don’t look tired at all.” He reached down and scooped her up. Chessie wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as soon as her cheek hit his shoulder. He held up a finger to us. “Just give me a minute. I’ll be back.”
“Good night, Chessie,” Kim called after them.
Chessie never lifted her cheek from her father’s shoulder.
I ached for the day where I would do the same thing with my child.
I caught Hailey watching me with a small smile on her lips as I moved around the table to sit back down beside her. She pulled her chair closer and crossed one leg over the other. Her foot rested against my calf and she took my hand in hers.
Kim grinned at us and sipped her wine on the other side of the table. “Have I mentioned how nice it is to see the two of you like this?”
“Only half a dozen times this evening,” I said.
Hailey giggled. “I don’t mind hearing it.”
“In that case, it’s really fucking nice,” Kim said.
Hannah chuckled. “About time, right?”
Hailey turned to me and rested her chin on my shoulder. “We’re never going to hear the end of this, you know?”
“Oh, believe me. I know.”
Rick returned after putting Chessie down. He sat back down and talked to Kim about how Chessie was already asleep, and as they chatted, Hannah topped off wine glasses once more. Nobody was driving home and it was a celebratory evening so nobody was holding back. We all wished Vanessa and Rhys had been able to join us but their little one was under the weather so they’d had to cancel last minute.
It was probably a good thing. Rick ate enough ribs for the both of them combined.
I cleared my throat. “Now that everyone is all in one room again, there’s something I wanted to do.”
Hailey lifted her chin from my shoulder and I stood up. “What is it?”
I pulled my chair out of my way, and with all eyes on me, I went down on one knee.
Kim groaned.
Hannah flinched.
Rick let out a low, uneasy sound in the back of his throat.
I fought myself not to smile as Hailey stared down at me with her mouth hanging open.
“Jackson!” Kim barked. “What the hell are you doing? Have you learned nothing? Stand up!”
“Hailey Brown,” I said, reaching for her hand. She let me take it but she looked like she wanted to run right out of the room. “I have a proposal for you.”
Kim buried her face in her hands. “Oh God.”
I ignored her. “I’ve wanted to ask you this since our appointment with Dr. Davies and I wanted to wait for the right moment. This feels right to me.”
Hailey shook her head. “Jackson, I don’t want to—”
“Let me finish,” I said. “Hailey Brown, will you move back to New York City with me so we can do this thing for real? I want all of it. I want the king-sized bed and the houseplants and the candles. I want the baby diapers, cribs, onesies, Lamaze classes, the whole nine yards. I’m all in. With you and with our family. But I want us to be in the same city.” I searched the eyes of the woman I loved. “What do you say?”
Hailey’s eyes filled with tears and a giggle left her. She nodded fiercely. “Yes. I’ll move to New York with you.”
“No running away this time?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No running away. I promise.”
Hannah tapped the side of her wine glass with her knife. “Kiss! Kiss!”
The others joined in and I got to my feet to pull Hailey toward me and dip her low for a deep, passionate kiss in front of our friends, who whooped and hollered in celebration until Chessie bellowed down the hall for all of us to be quiet.
Hailey laughed against my lips and pressed her hands to my chest. “I love you, you crazy boy.”
Chapter 37
Hailey
The second bedroom of Hannah’s apartment had never looked so empty. Sure, when I’d moved to New York the first time, I’d taken most of my things with me, but I’d also left a good chunk of things behind, like my old dresser and my bedframe. The expectation was that she would send everything afterward by truck.
Obviously, that never happened.
This go-around, things were different.
There wasn’t a single thing left in the old bedroom. I stood at the threshold, the soles of my well-cushioned old sandals lined up with the metal strip separating the bedroom carpet from the hallway hardwood.
I’d spent many years in this bedroom feeling stuck in limbo. Now things were moving too fast for comfort.
But I wasn’t scared. Not anymore. And I wasn’t alone.
I sighed and leaned one shoulder on the doorframe. “You were a good home to me,” I said softly to the room.
It didn’t say anything back. I hadn’t expected it to. But the sun shone through the window and painted a bright path of light on the carpet where my bed used to be. I smiled and rapped my knuckles on the doorframe before pushing off and heading down the hall to the kitchen, where my sister was sniffling over the kitchen sink while she filled the kettle with water.
“Hey,” I said.
She straightened up and turned off the water. Hannah wiped her eyes dry before she turned to me with a forced smile. “Hey. Did you get everything?”
I nodded. “Yep. Did my final sweep to make sure I left nothing behind. I got it all.”
Hannah licked her lips. “So that’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Silence hung between us but I knew exactly how my sister was feeling. I was feeling it too.
“I’m going to miss you.” The words hitched in my throat and I laughed at my own inability to control my emotions. It would only get worse as the pregnancy went on. “I’m really, really going to miss you.”
Hannah pointed an accusing finger at me. “Don’t. If you cry, then I’ll cry. And I really don’t want to cry because once I start I won’t stop.”
I felt bad leaving her alone in this little apartment. That feeling hadn’t crept up on me at all the last time I left. Maybe part of me had known it wouldn’t stick and sooner rather than later I’d be back here.
Not this time.
This time was final.
I was starting over in New York with the man of my dreams and our baby in my belly. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was going to be magical.
But that didn’t make goodbye any easier.
“Let me walk you down to the car,” Hannah said.
I accepted the offer. My sister and I left the apartment and she let me linger in the hallway for a minute before I finally turned my back on her home and we made our way down the hall to the elevator. We rode it down with our arms wrapped around each other, and when it spat us out, we crossed the lobby and stepped outside into the late morning sun.
Jackson was waiting outside for me. He was leaning up against the side of a rented truck loaded down with several suitcases. I wanted to take as much as possible with me on the plane so that the week of waiting for all my other stuff to arrive wouldn’t be too difficult. All my other worldly possessions were already headed to New York. He had his arms crossed and his muscles were on display in his tight black V-neck shirt.
He looked good. Then again, Jackson always looked good.
And he was all mine.
A giddy thrill ran through me as we approached.
When he saw us coming, he pushed off the side of the truck. “Ladies,” he purred. “Are we ready to hit the road?”
“I think so,” I said.
Hannah put her hand on my shoulder and turned me to her so she could pull me in for a hug. I fell into her arms and breathed in the smell of her Moroccan oil shampoo.
She gave me a tight squeeze. “Take care of yourself, okay? I’ll come up next month and book my flights as soon as I get the time off approved at work.”
“Okay. I can’t wait. The guest room will be ready for you and you can help with the nursery.”
Hannah sniffled into my shoulder. “I would love nothing more.”
When we pulled apart, we were both teary eyed. We laughed at our own silliness and wiped each other’s tears. Jackson got in the truck and gave us a minute to say our farewells.
“The offer still stands that I can come stay with you guys once the baby is born for support,” Hannah said. “I can make dinners and clean house and do whatever you need.”
“And change diapers?”
“Don’t push your luck, little sister. You know I don’t do feces of any kind.”
I giggled. “Okay. Okay. You get the fun auntie stuff then.”
Hannah patted my cheek before stepping back and wrapping her cardigan around herself. “You’d better go. Call me when you land?”
“I will. I love you.” I opened the truck door and climbed up into the seat.
“I love you too,” Hannah said. I could see right through her smile. She was sad to see me go. But there was a bigger part of her that was happy. She’d always wanted me and Jackson to end up together.
I closed the door. Jackson started the truck. The engine rumbled and I buckled up. As we pulled away from the curb, I rolled down my window and stuck my arm out to wave goodbye. Hannah stayed on the sidewalk and waved until I lost sight of her around a corner.
Jackson put his hand on my knee. “You okay, Hails?”
I wiped my tears and closed my hand over his. “I will be.”
“You still want to stop in at your work?”
“Yes. I want to say goodbye to Azira properly this time.”
“Are they even going to let you in there since you quit?”
I’d written up my resignation letter the night Jackson got down on his knee and proposed I move to New York with him for real. I’d hit send without even bothering to proofread it, which was unlike me. But I was so certain I was making the right choice.
It was time to shed the dead weight in my life. And the biggest anchor was definitely my job.
They’d written back the following morning and told me not to bother coming in to finish the week. They didn’t need me.
Their dismissive way of saying goodbye had pissed Jackson off. But me? I didn’t give a damn. Goodbye dead weight. Hello freedom and fresh starts.
And motherhood.
I still have to wrap my head around that one.
It was a fifteen-minute drive to the office towers where the call center was. Jackson offered to go up with me but I opted to go alone. I passed familiar faces in the hallways and on the elevator, but none were the face I was looking for.
I found Azira at her cubicle on the phone with an irate customer. Azira was rolling her eyes and tapping the end of her pen on her mouse pad to the beat of an old Elvis song. When she saw me, she sat bolt upright in her chair.
“Let me put you on hold,” she said. “My manager just walked into the office and I think he can help me work something out for you, Mr. Sykes.” She put Mr. Sykes on hold, hung up her headset, and leapt out of her chair like a cat.
Azira flung her arms around me. “Oh my gosh! Did you come to say goodbye?”
I laughed and nodded. “Yes. I couldn’t leave without seeing you. And I wanted to thank you for keeping me sane in this place. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Azira flashed me a white smile and planted her hands on her hips. As usual, she was dressed in bright colors. Her neon pink, high-collared shirt looked incredible with her bell-bottom black pants. The points of yellow booties peeked out from beneath the dark fabric. “What am I supposed to do without you now, Hailey? I don’t think I can deal with this place if I don’t have you here.”
I shrugged. “Quit.”
She blinked at me. “I can’t just—”
“Yeah. That’s what I said for years. And I let this place suck my soul dry. I was miserable here, Azira. You were literally the only thing I liked about this job and I lied to myself for three years that the future I wanted was here. It’s not. I looked around and realized there was nobody in this company above me whose job I wanted. I was on a one-way street to regret. And now? I have a wide-open road in front of me and I’m not looking back.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Hailey Brown?”
I laughed. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Does this secret have something to do with your sudden lifestyle change?”
I nodded. “It’s a big one.”
Azira winked and leaned in close. “I can handle big ones.”
“Put it back in your pants.” I snickered. “I’m pregnant, Azira. I just found out. And I’m moving to New York with Jackson and we’re going to start a family together.”
Azira blinked at me.
I giggled at her shock. “I know. It’s a lot.”
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
Azira let out a delighted cry before throwing her arms around me and congratulating me. She made a fuss about the baby and asked me a dozen questions I didn’t have time to answer.
I held up both hands. “Okay. Okay. Calm down. I know it’s a lot. And I don’t have time to get into the details right now. But I’ll call you sometime this week and tell you everything. And maybe you can come to New York and visit me one of these days?”
“You’d better invite me to the baby shower.”
“Consider it done.”
Azira cupped my face in her hands. “I’m happy for you, Hailey. You deserve all the happiness in the world. Now get the hell out of here. This place is too small for you. Even for a visit.”
I gave her one last hug. “If it’s too small for me, it’s definitely too small for you. If you ever need a place to crash in New York, call me. A woman like you would make waves in the big apple.”
I meant every word. Azira was a powerhouse of a woman, and in time, I hoped she would realize what I had—that the call center was just a good hiding place. Nothing more.
I left the office feeling like I could take on the world. When I slid back into the passenger seat of the truck, Jackson asked me how it went.
“Couldn’t have gone better,” I said.
“So now what?”
I stared out the windshield down the busy Nashville street lined in blossom trees with green leaves and no petals. I grinned. “Onward.”
Chapter 38
Jackson
Business had never been better.
My appointments with clients were running back to back for the first time since I started my matchmaking career. I was
almost beginning to feel like there wasn’t enough of me to go around. If my business had not been so organized, I would have likely become overwhelmed and backed off the success for a while.
It was daunting but I had help in my corner that was making all the difference.
After quitting her job at the call center, Hailey had spent the first week in New York mulling over career possibilities and what she might want to do that would provide a good family and work life balance.
It was harder to come by than either of us expected, and money wasn’t an obstacle.
I could afford to put her through any education program she wanted. We considered teaching, oral hygienist, accountant, bookkeeping, paralegal, and so many more. Nothing made her excited. Nothing pulled her in.
So I’d made the same offer I made two months ago for her to come work for me. She’d surprised me by saying yes almost immediately.
Now we were three weeks into her being my assistant/manager and I couldn’t believe the difference it made having her in the office.
She was a fucking rock star and she knew it.
My midday online appointment with a new client ended shortly before lunch. I put my jacket on and wandered out of my office into the waiting room, where Hailey’s desk was. She had her head down when I came out and she was working on the office tablet, scrutinizing my schedule for the next couple of weeks.
She had no idea I was standing over her.
When I cleared my throat, she yelped and jumped. The tablet nearly went flying off the desk but she caught it and shot me a dark, intimidating stare. “Don’t do that, Jackson. I could have broken this.”
“I could buy another one.”
She stuck her tongue out at me. Her attention immediately returned to the schedule. “I’ve been reviewing how you have your appointments set up for the next couple of months. It’s a little counterproductive. Do you mind if I rework things and contact your clients to see if changes are good with them? I can save you a lot of time and possibly buy you an extra day off a week.”
I blinked. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yes. And simultaneously create more space for more appointments on the days you’re in the office. How do you feel about taking Mondays off? That gives us three-day weekends to get the nursery ready and we can schedule all baby-related classes for Mondays.”