Jack might have been closed off and cautious, but he’d never been shy about making me a priority. And I’d known in my heart that he loved me. He’d just been too afraid to admit it. However, hearing him say it now was enough for warmth to fill me up. It was one thing to have that knowledge and another thing entirely to have it confirmed.
“I want to be with you,” he went on, voice rough. “I want a life with you, if you’ll have me. I want to take you to Lia’s and spend holidays with your family, get to know them. I want to build something together. A home, a family, all of it. I’m hiring amanager for the bar. I want us to have a normal schedule, where we’re not rushing all over, trying to steal moments together. And I want to help you remodel your house, to make it what you’ve always dreamed of. Because you deserve that, Bonnie. You deserve so much more than the leftover crumbs.
“I’d never thought much about marriage,” Jack admitted. “But that day at the Rhododendron Inn, I liked the way you talked about it. How it should be. Being married to your best friend. You’re that for me. I want to take care of you, to show you every day that you don’t have to do it all alone. That you have a partner in me, a teammate. If you want it.”
Emotion threatened to overwhelm me. All those things I’d wanted from marriage and had been denied, being made to feel like my expectations were too high, too lofty, were staring back at me now with dark eyes and genuine resolve.
Maybe Jack didn’t realize it, but he was already doing those things.
“I want to take care of you, too,” I agreed. “You’ve never once been shy about making me a priority. The cabinet and the teacups. Jack, you can’t possibly know how much that meant to me. And I can’t explain it in a way that doesn’t make every version of me before this moment sound weak and cowardly. But you’ve been there for me and supported me exactly how I needed.”
I explained, “Plenty of folks try to help. Or they ask what you want or what they can do, but I think you might be the first person who ever looked at me and said, ‘What do youneed?’ Over and over again. And you didn’t even realize you were doing it or the significance of it, but it meant the world to me.”
Jack’s thumb rose to my cheek and gently wiped away the tear that rolled down. His voice went impossibly soft, and he asked, “So what do you need, Bonnie? Right now. What do you need?”
The answer was right there, like an apple, ripe and ready for picking. I didn’t even have to think.
“You,” I confessed. “Just you.”
Jack rose and pulled me into his arms. I laced my fingers behind his neck and pressed my body flush to his. I absorbed his warmth and his love and every single ounce of possibility. I let myself see the future playing out. And I let myself believe it.
I shifted away so I could see him, allowing my fingers to sift through the soft hair at his nape. “And I just wanted you to know, I don’t need to fix you, Jack. You’re not the boy you were in high school. You’re smart. You’re motivated. You work hard, and you’ve built so much more than just Magnolia Bar. It’s not the only redeeming aspect of your life. You’re a good man. You’re caring and kind. You give your time and energy to people who need it. You support me and let my rabbit eat holes in every one of your socks. I don’t want to change anything about you.”
His eyes, bright and eager, searched my face. I hoped Jack was letting himself believe in the possibility, too.
“Maybe I had a crush on the bad boy with the motorcycle,” I said. “But I want to spend the rest of my life with the man who owns my heart. I love you just the way you are.”
“I love you too, Clyde.”
I pressed up onto my toes, and Jack met me halfway. My hands cupped his scruffy jaw as our lips touched. There was heat and want, but it was a kiss of promise. An oath that gave us back toeach other. A vow for a new beginning. One that allowed us the freedom to shape it any way we wanted.
When Jack’s forehead rested against mine and the cold couldn’t touch any part of me, I said, “Let’s play a game. Three favorites. Ask me my three favorite places.”
“Okay,” Jack agreed. And the edge of his smile grazed my lips as he repeated, “What are your three favorite places?”
“Right here,” I whispered and let my mouth touch his. “You and me.” Another soft press of skin. “Forever.”
epilogue
JACK
Several months later
I’d just pulled the lasagna out of the oven when all my carefully laid plans for the evening went to hell.
The knock at the front door was my first clue. Bonnie shouldn’t be knocking on her own front door. It wasn’t even locked.
Then came the muffled voices from the other side. Two distinct voices. Ones that I recognized.
My hand went briefly to my pocket before I turned the oven off. Then I made my way to the entryway—the newly remodeled entryway.
Over the last six months, the house had undergone extensive renovation. Now we had a beautiful outdoor space, a screened porch, and a large deck for entertaining. There were even raised beds for a vegetable garden and lattice work beneath the decking for the blackberry plantings Candace and Mercer had given us.
We’d made upgrades here and there throughout the existing interior, but we’d also added a large bedroom, a walk-in closet, and an en suite bathroom. The new addition on the back of the house would be ours—mine and Bonnie’s. All the rooms were now bright with natural light and neutral wall paint. No more dark paneling anywhere. The old carpet had been torn out, and the wooden floors beneath refinished.
And today was the day the crew had completed the kitchen, the last remaining piece in the remodel puzzle. The bay window and new cabinets made the space feel sunny and open. The pale granite countertops complemented the walls and flooring. My eyes snagged briefly on the light fixture over the kitchen table. Everything was the way Bonnie had envisioned it.
She’d seen the potential, and we’d made it happen. We were celebrating tonight.
