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“Sure.” I eat my burger, my mind on my girl. I wish to heaven I could fix everything for her. Take away all the hurts. But it’s rough since I caused some of them.
We finish in silence and Devin drops off the check, not even meeting my eyes. Just smiles at Grace.
I sure as hell hope Harvey forgives me quicker than the town has.
It takes a few weeks before Grace gets ahold of me.
“I have to go and see a client, Harvey,” I call to her. She’s still holding back from me. It hurts but I get it.
“Okay. I’ll see you later.” I can hear the relief in her voice.
This is the last piece I need to put together her surprise. I’ve got her a beautiful new recliner and stained glass lamp that looks just like the one her parents had before she broke it when she was growing up. I know she was upset about that too. It took awhile but I found the exact one. I’ve also got a huge set of bookshelves to put up in the corner of the living room. All in all, I’m hoping that she loves it. I’m hoping that she understands that I accept her past and understand that it’s part of her. That I would never ask her to move on. Our past defines who we become. But we can have both a past and a future that coexist. Even if it’s in her parent’s house.
I don’t know if it makes her uncomfortable or what it is. But I would gladly do anything to make her happy.
The next day, I wait for her to leave for the garage, telling her that I’m gonna be working later in the day.
Ruth calls me and then Jamie and Amanda. All of them are gonna help me.
Fifteen minutes later they’re pulling up in the driveway. I go meet the troops and smile. “Let’s get this show on the road, ladies.” I’m not in the least surprised to see James and Rafe with them. Both of them nod at me.
“I see we have some help for the heavy lifting.”
“Yeah. Have you got the new stuff for the bedroom too? We can start on that as well.”
“Paint and everything is in the garage. I snuck them in last night.”
“Let’s do this. I hope you know what you’re doing,” Jamie says, a skeptical light in her blue eyes.
“I think it’s perfect,” Ruth says, her little chin lifted. I can tell she’s offended by the question but I don’t care.
“It’s alright. Let’s get going. We’ve got to have everything done by the time she gets home tonight.”
We work for hours and hours and by the time we take a break that afternoon it’s all put together. The walls of the bedroom and living room glisten with fresh paint. We even tackled new paint in the kitchen which wasn’t on the list but what the hell? This is for my princess who I’d do anything for.
The large recliner in a velvety gray sits in the corner of the little nook that I put together with the pale balsam wood shelves. Sitting on the shelves are some little trinkets that I found scattered throughout the house. Along with a few pictures of the two of us as teenagers and then another one from last Christmas when we sat together at Jamie’s house. She snapped the photo and if you look really close you can see the love in my eyes. I asked if they had anything to go on the shelves and she got the photo made and framed.
“That says it all right there. I could see that night how much you loved her. I don’t think she saw it but everybody else did.”
I stare at it and sigh. It’s true. My feelings are in the soft smile on my lips and the way I’m touching her hand. The way I’m leaning into her like I can’t stand to be away from her.
I wish to god I’d figured it out before I acted like an idiot.
I touch the box in my pocket. None of them know that I bought a ring for her weeks ago. Actually even before I came home.
I want the time to be right and I’m not sure it is yet.
I hear a car pull up in the driveway. “She’s home. Hide!”
All of them scatter to different corners of the room. I hear the key rattle in the lock and turn to face the door. I take a deep breath to steady my nerves.
Harvey is beautiful and smart. But she’s also wild. There’s no telling sometimes how she’s gonna react.
She walks in the door and turns, her pretty lips dropping open right before all of her friends jump out from behind the furniture. She jumps and squeals.
“What the hell! Shit!” She holds her hand over her heart. “Dammit, you guys! You scared me!”
Then her eyes open wide and tears glitter in them. Jamie clears her throat. “Surprise! I hope you like it. Jeremiah has been planning it for weeks.”
