Chapter Thirty-Five
Jordan
“No. No, no, no, no. Not happening,” Jay says, and crosses her arms.
I smile at her and wait with my hands outstretched.
“Damn it, Jordan, I don’t want to go through this again.” She looks at the horse carriage and then at me.
“I’ve double-checked the horse to make sure he’s okay, and I promise this time will be better.”
Jay looks at me and then bites her lip. “Do you really want to have a do-over?”
I nod and reach out, pulling her in my arms. “You deserve to have the date you always dreamed of. The first got ruined, so I’m going to make it better.”
“If it means that much to you...” she mumbles against my chest.
“It really does. I want to make all your dreams come true.”
She looks up at me and smiles, placing a hand on my cheek. I lean into the touch, and she nods.
“All right, handsome. Let’s go for a spin.”
The past two weeks have been heaven and hell for us. Heaven because we’ve spent every day together, and hell because I’ve had to loosen my control.
We’ve both decided to go back to work in two weeks, so we’ve spent our days lying around the house or going to the park. It’s been amazing, talking and laughing and making love. I can’t get enough of her, and the more I have, the more I want.
Her sister called one day last week and asked to go see a chick flick. I offered to go with them, but I could tell that Jay wanted some one-on-one time with Summer. I could have followed them. I could have waited outside the movie theater until she was finished. I could have gone with them and seen another movie. But instead I chose to trust Jay and listen to my father.
By the time she came back home to me, she was practically running through the door and in my arms. I made love to her on the floor right in the entrance because we couldn’t wait to get to the bedroom. I don’t think my anxiety about being away from her will ever leave me, but at least I’m able to control it long enough for her to see a movie. I’m a man who’s obsessed, so I can’t expect too much.
Her wrist only had a small break and is healing quickly. She was released to go back to work next week, so we’re sticking to the plan. I know Jay has her own fears about what happened to her, and working for Osbourne Corp. again. But Miles called her last week and they talked for a long time about how much he wanted her to come back to work.
She agreed to try it out again and see how it goes. With Miles cutting back some of his work, she’s not needed as much as she was before, so this is a good time to start. She can work part-time and still be able to keep busy while figuring out if this is what she still wants to do long-term.
She started writing again, and to walk by the office and see her typing away warms my heart. She looks so intense but happy, and that’s all I want for her. For the both of us. Maybe one day she’ll do something with her stories, but until then, I know she’s happy just writing.
I’ve thought about proposing to her a million times in the past two weeks, but I wanted it to be perfect. The carriage we had on our first date was hired for commission out of state. So I had to wait until it came back into the city before I could reserve it again. Now it’s here, and this time nothing is going to go wrong.
I help Jay into the carriage, and her hands are clammy. She looks worried as I sit down beside her and we pull away from the curb.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m just really nervous.”
“It will be fine,” I say, running my hand over my pocket to be sure the ring is still safely inside.
“I love you,” I say, and kiss her lips softly.
She smiles at me, and some of her nerves drop away. “I love you, too, Jordan. So much.”
The carriage rides along the park, and it’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon in New York. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and I’ve got my soon-to-be wife at my side.
The ride is a little bumpy as we go over some of the rougher pathways. There’s some sort of race happening today, so there are a lot of people passing by us. It’s not as private of a ride as I’d like, but it’s New York, so there’s never much privacy.
As we near the lake, I turn and look at Jay. She’s worrying her lip, and I can see a little color has left her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, concerned she’s not having a good time.
“Jordan—”
“And here we are,” says the driver of the carriage as we stop by the lake. He grabs the picnic basket and stands there, waiting on us.
Jay stands up, and I help her down, taking the basket and walking to the spot we sat at last time.
“See, already better than the last ride. Now just don’t kick me in the balls and we’ll ace this.”
I’m able to get a smile out of her on that, but something is bugging her. There’s something she’s not telling me.
I spread the blanket out, thinking that maybe if we sit down for a little bit she’ll be okay and can tell me what’s bothering her. Maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t proposed yet. She made a few small comments this week about getting married, but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise, so I just played them off and talked about something else. Maybe she thinks I’ve changed my mind, which is absolutely insane.
We sit down, and I open up the picnic basket. “I’ve brought a few things I think you might like,” I say, trying to entice her with food.
She gives me a sideways glance and then nods. It’s unlike her not to get excited about sharing a meal with me. Usually she can’t wait to eat. It’s one of the things I love most about her. But her mind is somewhere far from here.
I open the food containers and set them down. The smell of her favorite dried meats and cheeses floats between us as I take her hands in mine.
I’m just going to get it out in the open. I’ve been stressing about it for two weeks now, and I know she must be thinking the same thing. She didn’t want to do this carriage ride today, and I’ve forced it, so I’m going to propose to her and tell her what an idiot I am for going through this charade. I don’t want confusion to be the reason she’s worried. I want to set her mind at ease.
“Jay, since the day you walked into my life—”
At that moment, Jay inhales the smell of the food, and instantly her face turns green. Before I can finish my sentence, she leans over and throws up on the blanket.
‘I’m pregnant,” she says and then looks up at me and bursts into tears.
“Marry me,” I blurt out, totally overwhelmed by what just happened.
There’s a pause, and we both begin to laugh. God, this would only happen to us.
“Are you saying that because I’m pregnant?” she asks, laughing through the tears in her eyes.
“Damn it, woman, you know me better than that.” I pull the ring out of my pocket and slide it on her finger. I grab a bottle of water and lean down, picking her up. I carry her over to the bench nearby and sit down with her in my lap. I cradle her in my arms, feeling the warmth of her body against mine.
“Jay, my sweet little bird. Why didn’t you tell me?” I kiss the top of her head as my heart grows. “We’re going to have a baby?”
“I was trying to find the right time. I just found out this morning. You had this whole thing planned, and I was feeling sick. I didn’t want to tell you yet, but I didn’t know how to say I wasn’t feeling good without you going crazy.”
“I’ve been planning this as a proposal. I had to wait on the damn carriage to come back to the city.”
“Stupid carriage,” Jay mumbles. “I thought you changed your mind.” She looks up at me, and I can see the worry that was there fade. “You were just playing me.”
“How could you possibly think I could ever change my mind? You’re the love of my life.”
“Hormones?” she says, and shrugs like it’s the answer to everything. Maybe it is.
“So, is that a yes?” I ask, looking into her chocolate-brown eyes.
“Yes!” she squeals, and throws her arms around me. “Oh God, Jordan. It’s all happening so fast.”
“We’re not on a timeline. We do things our way and at our own pace. I’ve known you for a long time. And I knew from the moment we met we’d get to this point.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ve been mine since the beginning. I laid claim to you long ago.”
“You did.” She nods in agreement.
“Do you want to go back home so I can get you some ginger ale and rub your feet?”
She smiles at me and nods, then looks over at the picnic. “I’m sorry this was ruined again.”
I shake my head. “It just gives me another chance to try again. Third time’s a charm, right?”
“Oh God.” The worry is back, but it’s playful this time.
“Home,” I say, and tuck her into my arms as I carry her out of the park.