Just as I predicted, every single head in the office swivels our way, including Alyssa and Tiffany who are hanging around my desk and eating popcorn.

Yes. Literally eating popcorn out of a microwavable bag.

Even Patty has a palm full, popping a piece in her mouth as she watches us go past.

I try and give them a disapproving look, but I’m not sure it works, since half of me is still giddy from my revelation and the other half is scared shitless over what Will is about to do.

He leads me right over to my father’s office—Ted Phillips, President in big shiny letters on the door, reminding us who he is to both of us—and raps on it.

“Come in,” my father says.

Will squeezes my hand but wastes no time in opening the door, ushering us both inside.

My father doesn’t look up until the door closes shut, and even then he seems disinterested.

“What’s going on?’ he asks, peering over his glasses. “Fighting over your workload?”

“Ted,” Will says. “I have to speak to you about something.”

My father leans back in his chair, a bemused smile on his lips as he looks between the two of us.

Shit. I don’t know what that smile means.

“Oh really? Do I get three guesses?”

Will and I exchange a glance. “Uh,” Will stammers.

“Is it about how they’re popping popcorn out there and we have a ‘no making popcorn, seafood, or hardboiled eggs’ rule in the breakroom because the stink permeates the whole office?” he asks. “Or is it about Casey using the photocopier to make copies of his dick. I found a stack of them under Tiffany’s desk.”

“Ew,” I say.

“Or,” he goes on, “is it about the fact that you’re screwing my daughter?”

I jolt. I never thought I’d hear those words coming out of my father’s mouth.

“Ted,” Will says.

“Look, Will,” my father says, pressing on. “I don’t know if you think I’m senile or what. Maybe I’ve been gone so often that you don’t think I’m paying attention. But of course I’m paying attention. That’s my fucking job, isn’t it? And do you know what your fucking job is?”

“I’m not really sure I have a job at the moment,” Will admits.

“That might be true,” he says. He looks at me for a moment, like he’s going to say something but doesn’t. “Anyway. Did I guess right? I know the popcorn and the dick copies are right.”

Will exhales heavily through his nose. “You’re close. Ted, I know you don’t want to think about this, let alone hear this but the truth is . . . I’m in love with Jackie.”

I can’t help the smile on my face, even when my dad looks to me for confirmation.

“Is this true Jackie?” he asks, gesturing to Will with his pen. “This old man here loves you and you’re okay with that?”

I nod, trying to find the words. “I know you think this is something it’s not, but it’s true. We didn’t . . . I didn’t plan on it, it’s just that . . .”

“That Will is a wonderful guy and you couldn’t help yourself?” my father asks wryly. Then he sighs, tapping his pen along the desk. “To be honest with you, I admit it makes me feel a bit better to know that there’s actually something real going on here.”

“How long have you known?” Will asks.

He shrugs. “Probably from the start. You can tell a lot from body language you know, you learn to pick up on that shit when you get old.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you say anything? And why pull that shit today with Mona?”

“Well I had to know, Will, what your actual intentions were. You can’t expect me to just be okay with the fact that you’re screwing my little girl, who is sixteen years younger than you. Who was around, just a teenager, when you were with your wife.”

“Dad, you’re making it weird,” I warn him.

“Because it is weird. Damn weird. Maybe not for you two lovebirds, but it is for me. Jesus. Talk about keeping the business in the family. Anyway, I couldn’t quite figure it out, Will, if you were just trying to get over Sasha, if you were discovering the fountain of youth, or you actually cared about Jackie.”

“And?” Will asks.

“Now I know the truth. You looked like you wanted to kill me today, Will. Hell, you were ready to murder me on Friday night. That’s all I really needed to know, that you weren’t just using my daughter to get laid, and I needed to know that Jackie wasn’t using you.”

“Why would I use him?”

“Because he’s rich, young lady. Handsome and smart. And you two have been working awfully close together at a time when you’re both lonely. I know how it goes.”

“So . . .” Will says cautiously. “You’re okay with this? Because I thought you were going to send me back to LA with broken bones.”

“I was going to,” he says. “I changed my mind.”

A change of heart, just like that?

“Wait,” I say slowly. “You talked to mom, didn’t you?”

The corner of my father’s mouth quirked up. “Maybe. The point is, I’m glad you both had the balls to finally tell me. And, when it comes down to it, now that I know it’s genuine, well, I don’t hate it. It’s weird. But I don’t hate it. Jackie, I at least know you’re in good hands. And Will, well . . . I just feel sorry for you.”

“Hey!” I cry out.

“But it’s okay,” my father goes on. “Because Will can be a little too perfect sometimes. It’s good to know he’s with someone who will give him a hard time, possibly for the rest of his life.”

Will is trying not to get ahead of himself but I know that smile. “Let me get this straight. This is okay? Nothing else changes? Not her job, not my role? Not you and I?”

“Okay, well now you are getting ahead of yourself here,” my father says. “Things will change. Jackie, you’re free to stay his assistant if you want. I don’t see a problem with it as long as you keep working. But, please . . . I don’t want anyone here to feel pressured, but I’m not sure I like the idea of you living at home for much longer. If I have to keep seeing Will after work, that’s really going to put a damper on things. I can only stand the guy so much.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Will says.

“Oh, and you might want to tell the minions outside,” he says, jerking his thumb at the door. “I’m pretty sure there have been office pools over this for the last few months.”

Damn that Alyssa.

“On it,” Will says, sounding strangely determined.

He opens the door and heads out of the office to the middle of main room where the picnic tables are.

I take a look at my father, giving him a grateful smile, and then step outside his office to figure out what Will has planned.

Will is climbing up onto the top of the picnic tables just as my father comes up, standing beside me.

“What is he doing?” my father asks under his breath.

“I have no idea,” I tell him.

“Everyone! Can I have your attention please,” Will calls out so that everyone is staring at him. Which was totally unnecessary because everyone already was staring at him. It’s hard not to notice when a six foot two linebacker of a man in an Armani suit stands up on a table in your office. Good thing we have very high ceilings.

“This is your doing, Jackie-O,” my father whispers to me. “He was normal before he ever met you.”

I can only beam, the smile splitting my face as I watch him.

“Why do I stand up here?” Will projects, looking around at everyone.

“Is he doing the scene from Dead Poets Society?” my father asks.

“I thought it was from Jerry McGuire.”

“I stand up here,” Will goes on, “because I have something to say. As many of you know I’ve had a pretty shitty go the last couple of years. My wife left me, pregnant with another man’s baby. I still had to work with her as we figured out the divorce. You can imagine it wasn’t easy. It was hell. Enough hell, for the both of us, that I eventually came up here.”

“You think Sasha is going to hear about this?” I ask my dad.

“Probably,” he says. Then a sneaky grin comes across his face. He’s enjoying this way too much.

“Here to the land of rain and cloud and astronomical housing prices and endless yoga-pant attire. Where each and every one of you embraced me. Right from the start. You brought the sunshine I had so missed from LA back into my life.”

A round of awwwws goes up from where Alyssa, Tiffany, and Patty are gathered.

“And it was with your kindness and Canadian hospitality and good old-fashioned passive aggressiveness that I really started to feel at home again.” He pauses and waves his arm across the office to me. “And then I met my assistant. And she blew you all out of the water.”

A few groans sound out from the room.

“Sorry, guys and gals, but just look at her. Look at this kind and beautiful Jackie Phillips as she stands there beside her father, a good man who is working far too hard for the better of everyone here. Those two are the most important people in the world to me, and I’m honored to not only still call Jackie my assistant but Ted my friend and partner,” he pauses, “even now, especially now, after Ted found out that I’m sleeping with his daughter.”

An audible gasp flows across the room.

I face palm.

Pretty sure my father is still grinning.

“Yes, that’s right. Whether you thought you imagined it or not, I have been bossing Jackie around outside of work for a while now. And now, it’s all out in the open. Where it belongs. The relationship part, not the . . . it doesn’t matter. I just wanted to clear the air. Make sure there are no more secrets.” He waves his hand at me. “Jackie, come up here.”

“I would rather not,” I mutter under my breath.

I look at my father who rolls his eyes. “Fucking crazy kids is what you are.”

“Jack-ie! Jack-ie! Jack-ie!” Alyssa and Tiffany start chanting, banging their fists on the desk until the keyboards and pencil holders are jumping.

“You’re dead to me,” I yell at them as I do a strange walk of shame to the middle of the office, stopping at the base of the picnic tables.

Will holds his hand out for me. “Are you all in?” he asks.

This man, this man, this man.

What a stupid question.

“I’m all in,” I tell him, grinning at him stupidly as I put my hand in his.

He hauls me up to the table, careful not to knock over the laptops and monitors, and then gives me a huge kiss in front of everyone. A kiss that takes my breath away, takes us away, just for a moment, to a place where we aren’t on display in front of everyone we work with.

When Alyssa and Tiffany become my cheerleading squad and start hooting and hollering though, everyone else starts to clap in support. Or even if they don’t support it, it’s at least a nice break from the doldrums of work.

“My, that was yar,” I tell him as we break apart, placing my hand on his chest, staring up into his eyes.

“That’s not how that word works,” he tells me, looking extra smug.

“Then it was . . . magical.”

“Ty says magic doesn’t exist.”

Ty. My son is going to be overjoyed at all of this. As if my heart couldn’t feel any fuller. He’s going to have a man in his life that he loves, that loves him.

“Ty might say that, but I know the truth,” I tell him, grabbing his shirt collar. “You’re magic, Will McAlister. My Prince Charming and Fairy Godmother all rolled into one.”

“I’m just a man who knows what he wants,” he says, cupping my face. “And Dream Girl, it’s you.”

He kisses me again, and if people are cheering I don’t hear it.

I just hear my heartbeat.

Feel his lips.

And know the war is over.