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WCSF had sent me flowers and a large care package, and from what my mother told me, Allegra and Nova stopped by every evening and stayed for hours. Dad came the first night but went back home for work. He took Tierney with him since she had school, but she called and checked on me every day. For three days straight, Mom and Jeremiah never left my side outside of to rest and take care of their hygiene. I appreciated the gesture more than they would ever know. It felt like I had angels watching over me while I slept.
The first thing I wanted to do was send everyone thank you cards. I know it wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to let them know I appreciated their thoughts, prayers, and visits. The second thing I planned to do was call Uncle Chris to take care of the wiring. And after that, I wanted to plan a getaway for Jeremiah and me. I can’t imagine how hard things were on him. He’d been telling me forever to take care of the wiring and I put it on the back burner.
Mom said he didn’t want to do anything while I was asleep. He’d hold my hand, talk to me, and play my favorite shows the whole time he was there. I was truly lucky to have him. He continuously did things to prove I was safe with him in all the ways. If this situation taught me anything, it was to take care of my business but also prioritize the now. I didn’t want to spend time worrying about what would or could go wrong in the future. We didn’t know how much time we had on this earth, and I wanted to spend mine doing what I loved with those I loved, and Jeremiah was at the top of that list.
“You ready?” Jeremiah asked, taking my hand.
I hesitated to go up the stairs and hoped he wouldn’t notice. He did. I nodded and took a deep breath as he led me up the stairs. Our steps were slow. The whole time I walked, I looked down and made sure each step was correct. That each step was careful. That I didn’t rush and pay less attention as I tended to do. I’d say it was less fear and more carefulness than anything else. I wasn’t sure how long this would last, but I’d be patient with myself for as long as it did.
It was in that moment that I realized this was how I’d been with Jeremiah. Nova was like a fall I didn’t think I’d ever be able to heal from. Jeremiah… he’d been my slow and steady pace. The man in whom I took my time and hadn’t rushed. The one where I was careful, wanting everything to be correct. Because I was sure that was what would have kept me safe. Kept me from falling and getting hurt again. But that wasn’t the case.
No matter how careful I was, the only thing that would truly keep me safe with a man was his intentions and his character. His choice to do right by me. And I had confidence that Jeremiah would do just that.
“The wiring has been handled,” he said, cutting the lights on in the entryway and living room.
“Okay, pooh, thanks.”
His hands rested on his waist for a few seconds as he looked around. When they dropped, he turned to face me.
“I want you to move in with me, baby. Now. You’ve had this townhouse since college and the shit is falling apart. The inside looks good because of your interior design, but this shit is old. I want you with me, or at least let me put you in something new.”
“Okay, I’ll move in with you.”
As I passed him, I realized he was prepared for me to give him a hard time. “I know you have a thing about us moving too fast, but you can trust me. Have I ever intentionally let you down before?”
Giggling, I shook my head as I continued to my room. “Uh no, Jerry. That’s why I said I’d move in with you.”
“Exactly, so I don’t want to go back and for—”
When his mouth snapped shut, I looked back at him.
As the weight of my agreement settled within him, his tense body relaxed, and he smiled. “You said yes.”
“Mhm.” I mirrored his smile as he walked over to me. “I said yes.”
“You’ll come home today?”
“Yes, Jeremiah. I’ll pack as much as I can and leave today.”
“Don’t worry about doing too much. I don’t want you moving too fast too soon. Just grab the necessities you need for tonight and I’ll have a moving company here in the morning to take care of everything else.” His arms wrapped around me, and I tilted my head for a kiss. “You can redecorate and do whatever you want to the house. It’s your home now and I want you to feel comfortable.”
“I already do, but we’re gonna need more color in the master bedroom. And softer chairs. Ooh! And can we turn the free room by the pool into my office?”
“Whatever you want, Angel.”
I wasn’t sure which one of us was smiling the hardest, but it made it impossible to kiss. Still, we tried. I wouldn’t fight Jeremiah on this, or anything else he wanted to do for me for that matter. The days of going slow out of fear were over. I’d be careful and take my time, but I’d also trust him to guide my steps as we fell deeper in love.
EPILOGUE
Thirty-Seven Days Later
There was a time,not too far in the past, when Nova looked at me with the same amount of love in his eyes that shined as he stared at Allegra—his girlfriend. I knew now, that look wasn’t reserved for me; it was reserved for whatever woman was making Nova feel loved at that moment in his life. And I was okay with that.
At Ava’s half-birthday party, Nova and Allegra announced their new relationship. Because I had an idea things were changing between them, I was prepared. Out of respect, they asked Jerry and me to meet them for drinks the next evening and they told us the news. Now, I was looking at them holding each other with huge grins as their attention shifted from Ava who was crawling toward them to each other on a video Allegra had posted.
It was a little weird seeing them this way, but I suppose they could have said the same thing about me and Jeremiah. I wouldn’t say we were close friends with them again, but if we saw each other out, we’d spend a little time together. We were making slow work of getting ourselves together and becoming the best versions of ourselves that we could be, and I wanted nothing more than that at the moment.
Tiffany took barely no time leeching onto another man. This one just so happened to be a married secret society member whose wife left him when she found out. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as nice as me. She dragged Tiffany from Tennessee to Mississippi when she found them in bed together two weeks ago, and I hadn’t heard any news about Tiffany since. When I did, I prayed it was that she found an unattached man to tie herself to.
