Like a kid on a frickin’ Christmas Day, I tore into the present with glee, causing Jude to laugh heartily when I tossed the paper at him and ripped open the top of the box.
Scones. Beautiful, beautiful scones sat inside the box, enclosed in a plastic bag.
“As fresh as I could manage,” he said. “She finished them a couple of hours before I had to leave for the airport.”
I pulled one out of the bag and held it up to my nose. “Oh, I love her,” I groaned. I took as delicate of a bite as I could manage since I already had my lipstick on. Eyes closed, I sank back on the couch and savored every perfectly not-fresh crumb. “My soul is so happy right now.”
“It would seem so,” he said, voice full of amusement.
After one more bite, I sat up, giving him a shy smile. “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t manage some clotted cream in there.” With a smile, he watched me take another small bite and then move that box aside. When my lap was free again, he slid me the second box. On that label, it said Little Pineapple. My eyes met his, and he grinned.
With careful fingers, I pulled open the wrapping paper. It felt more important to go slow with this one, and it was almost never my instinct to go slow on anything. But as I folded the edges back, I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to create something special. Something meaningful. It was why he came earlier than he told me and why he reached out to my brother.
When I pulled the top of the lid off, three objects were wrapped in white tissue paper, one large and square, one medium and squishier looking, and one flat and small.
“Any particular order I should open these in?” I asked.
His eyes were smiling as he watched me, and I felt it in my heart.
“Left to right is fine.” He pulled out his phone. “I have a video that goes with the second one.”
“My goodness,” I murmured, picking up the first. It felt like books, which made me smile. When I pulled off the tissue, I laughed in delight. It was a stack of board books, all baby versions of classic literature. On the top was
Jane Eyre with a bright illustrated cover. “Jude, these are amazing.”
Underneath
Jane Eyre was
Pride and Prejudice,
The Wizard of Oz,
Alice in Wonderland,
Sherlock Holmes,
The Jungle Book, and
Romeo and Juliet.
“So that you can teach our child all the wonderful things you know so well,” he said.
I clutched
Jane Eyre to my chest like it might contain all the happy I was feeling. “Thank you,” I said, completely overcome.
“Next,” he urged.
I set the books aside and picked up the next package. It was soft but firm. Before I could pull the tissue off, he handed me his phone. The screen was dark, a play arrow in the middle of it.
“Video first?” I asked.
He nodded.
I hit the button. I didn’t recognize the dark table or kitchen where Jude had set the phone. His face filled the screen, and I could immediately read the nerves in his expression.
“Hello, the present you’re about to open isn’t just from me. I had some help in getting this to you and to the baby.” Jude turned the screen, and I saw his mom wave nervously. I gasped, a hand coming up to cover my mouth. I only spared Jude a quick glance through my lashes, but he was watching me with a slight smile.
“Lia,” his mom started in a wavering voice, “Jude’s father and I wish very much we could be there to give you this in person. And I’d like to start by apologizing for what happened at the pub the last night we saw you. We have no excuse for our behavior, and”—she looked over at Jude—“it’s something that we’re working on as a family, to overcome. I hope you can forgive us because we’d love to meet our grandchild someday soon. And if there are any mistakes on the gift, it’s because Jude doesn’t take direction very well. But I did try.” In the video, Jude gave his mom a smile, and she returned it. It was awkward, and they both looked unsure, but I felt a tear go down my cheek all the same. “Take care of that little one for us.”
The video cut off. I couldn’t even risk a glance at him before I opened the next package.
It was two small creatures made from the same soft wool of the sheep I’d found in his room. One was a similarly shaped sheep with a lopsided head and one leg. Through my tears, I traced the other, a black and gray wolf.
“So our families can teach our child all the things they know as well,” he said in a rough voice.
His eyes were filled with tears, and I cupped the side of his face, smoothing a thumb underneath his eyes. “You talked to your family?”
“We are very much a work in progress,” he said, clasping my hand and pulling it down so he could lay a kiss in the center of my palm. “I won’t say we’re all the way there, but with the help of a therapist,” he said with a wry smile, “and a few tense phone calls before my visit, yes, I’m talking to my family.”
I wiped at my face. “I’m going to have to redo all my makeup, and I can’t even be mad about it.”
He grinned. “One more, love.”
“Oh, geez.” I set the small toys aside with just one more soft touch to the wolf. With a grin, I knew this would win Paige over in a heartbeat. She’d love him.
I found myself holding my breath as I unfolded the last bit of tissue. My forehead creased in confusion when I saw a small jersey. It was a different blue, with different logos, but my heart skipped dangerously when recognition clanged like a noisy bell in my head.
“Seattle?” I whispered. “You …
He settled his hands over top mine, which were clutching the Seattle Sounders jersey with shaking fingers.
“One-year contract,” he said, holding my gaze steadily. “My agent thinks I’ve lost my bloody mind for doing this, but I couldn’t stand the thought of being across the ocean from the two of you.”
I shook my head. “Jude, I don’t even know if I can say this delicately because my emotions are like … gone right now,” my voice wobbled, “but isn’t this a massive step down for you?”
“Yes.” His grip tightened. “And while you were gone, I realized there are worse things than not playing in England. There are worse things than not being the player I used to be. There are worse things than not having my family understand me.” Jude cupped my face the way I’d cupped his, and I leaned into that touch. “I will be happy playing here because the worst thing I can imagine is being away from my heart. That’s you, love. Both of you.” He slid closer, resting his forehead against mine, and took a deep inhale. “I don’t know what I did to deserve finding you that night because you were the catalyst, Lia. Whatever hope I’ve found for the rest of my life started with you. I know how closed-off I was, how selfish I’ve been, and reparations begin now. If it takes you a month, a year, two years, for you to trust what we have, I’ll wait.”
A sob escaped my mouth, and I was hardly able to see him through my tears. The warmth of his hand on my face caught plenty of my tears, and I knew he meant it. And my heart was so full of the truth of that I couldn’t find a single word as he held me. My hand gripped his shirt when he tried to pull away, and he laughed under his breath.
“My love,” he said, wiping my tears with sure movements of his hands over my skin, “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’re not,” I replied.
“Not as long as you’ll have me.” He grinned. “You were so right about us, Lia. And as much as I missed you, this time apart was good for me. We needed it to do this right. Because now, I know that our future is built on something unshakeable, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t stop touching him. “You’d really wait that long?”
His thumb touched the center of my bottom lip. “If that’s what you need.”
When I pulled in a shaky breath, my tears finally cleared from my eyes, and I slid my hands behind his neck and into his hair. “You know patience isn’t my strong suit, right?” I whispered, tugging him closer.
“Is that right?”
I nodded. “Especially when I know what I want.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.