Chapter 32
JJ
“A monkey will type out the Bible if you leave it long enough.”
~ Grandma Dixie
“I told you to stay away from her,” I gritted out. In two seconds, this conversation was going to be over, one way or another. Brady was leaving, either on his own two feet or with a little assistance, which I would be more than happy to give him.
“Fuck off, JJ.” Brady moved towards me.
“Leave. Now.” My hands fisted at my sides and I forced my shoulders to relax. I stepped forward, closing the distance between us.
“Make me, asshole.” He smirked.
I knew I should ignore him. I was there for Destiny, and kicking Brady’s ass in the waiting room of a hospital was not going to help her. But damn if I didn’t want to.
“Hey!” I heard Destiny call out just as she rounded the corner and found us toe-to-toe. In a flash, she was standing between us, pushing on my chest. “What do you think you’re doing!?”
Lifting my hands in surrender, I took one step back. The last thing I wanted was for Destiny to be upset. I was wound up, and in truth, it wasn’t Brady’s fault. When I’d looked all over for her after the press conference and she had been nowhere to be found, I’d panicked and tried to get a hold of her. Each time I’d called it had gone straight to voicemail. Every text I’d sent got no response. Then, it had taken me what felt like a lifetime (but in reality was probably only about fifteen minutes) to find out where she was. When I did, I told Jessie we had to postpone the groundbreaking. It had taken another fifteen to get through the crowds of people and reporters to get to my car. Then, I’d driven like a bat out of hell to get to the hospital. When I’d walked in and seen Brady, it’d sent my already-on-edge nerves right over the damn cliff.
“Seriously?! What is wrong with you two?!” she asked what I assumed was a rhetorical question. Pivoting so her back was to me, she crossed her arms and looked up at Brady. “Brady, thanks for the ride here and staying. I really appreciate it. But you can go now. I’m fine.”
Brady’s eyes narrowed. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, thank you,” Destiny said firmly.
“A’right. You call me if you need anything.” With that he and the damn toothpick that was always dangling from his mouth headed out the double doors towards the parking lot.
Destiny turned, and when her eyes met mine, there was a storm of emotions swirling in them.
My heart slammed in my chest. Fred had said that they thought it might be an iron deficiency, but maybe the tests had turned something else up.
“Is she okay?”
The corners of Destiny’s mouth turned up in a small grin, and her beautiful face relaxed. “She says she’s fine. She’s definitely feistier than ever.”
“Oh good.” I pulled Destiny into my arms as relief washed over me.
Instead of wrapping her arms around me, she remained still. “We need to talk.”
Well, that was the shortest-lived relief I’d ever experienced.
“Wow. I messed up already?” I teased, not thinking in a million years that that was actually the case. But, when she pulled out of my arms and looked at me, it was clear that it was.
“Seriously?”
I was at a total loss. Things had been great. The press conference had gone off without a hitch, and before I’d even had a chance to make it to the groundbreaking on Briggs Big League Sports Academy, Destiny had been MIA. I’d found her. Grandma Dixie was going to be okay. What could I possibly have done?
“Let’s sit.” She motioned to the seats lined against the wall.
Sitting was the last thing I wanted to do, but as I was learning to do, I let her take the lead.
Her butt hadn’t even hit the seat before she sighed and brushed her hair behind her ear. “I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just going to say it.”
That ranked right up there with the things you never wanted hear. It was tied with “we need to talk,” and the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with had just said both. Things were not looking good.
“After I got the call that Gram was here, I was on my way to my car when I cut behind Yum Yum’s and I saw you with Jessie.” The look on her face and her tone both indicated that that was significant.
Did she think something was going on with me and Jessie? If that was the case, I could easily put her mind at ease.
“Jessie’s my publicist. My happily married publicist. There’s nothing going on—”
“I know,” she said. “I mean, I did think maybe something might have happened with you two, but…” She shook her head, growing increasingly agitated.
“Nothing has ever happened between Jessie and me,” I assured her.
“It doesn’t matter,” she sighed. “I mean, that’s good, I guess, but that’s not what I was talking about. I heard you two talking.”
“Okay.” My mind was doing a Google search to figure out what could have gotten her so upset. My brief meeting with Jessie felt like a lifetime ago, considering the years that had been stripped off my life as I’d been desperately trying to find Destiny following it.
Apparently, the fact that I was so slow on the uptake did not sit well with Destiny. Pursing her lips, she tilted her head as her eyes widened.
“Does a paternity test ring any bells?”
“Oh. That.”
Shit. Jessie and I had discussed that. The woman claiming to be the mother of my child was basically trying to extort me.
“Yeah, that. I saw his picture. He looks—”
“Like a Briggs,” we said in unison.
“I know.” I rubbed my hands over my face. I could see how she would be pissed about this. “Look. This has happened to a few of my friends. Women want a payout. They have a kid and say it’s a ballplayer’s. Sometimes, it is. Sometimes, it isn’t. I just wanted to find out before I said anything. To anyone.”
I could see the wheels turning in Destiny’s head.
Knowing I had a short window to plead my case before she got good and set in her opinion, I tried to explain myself. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you—I swear. It’s just, before this morning, I wasn’t even sure where we stood. And I just didn’t want to… Hell, forget about not wanting to rock the boat. I didn’t want to capsize the sucker.”
The iron vise on my chest released when a tiny smile appeared on her face.
“I get that. I do. It’s just that, between that and retiring, moving home, even the sports academy, I just… I always feel like I’m one step behind. Like you have all of this stuff going on and I’m on the outside looking in. I trust you, JJ. I do. And I may not like that I was kept in the dark even if I do understand your reasons. But, if this is going to work, you can’t keep things from me.”
“Okay,” I agreed easily.
Her brow furrowed as she repeated, “Okay?”
“Yes, okay. From now on, you know everything.” It wasn’t that I’d wanted to keep anything from Destiny. I’d just been trying to do the right thing. Sure, I’d failed miserably, but my heart had been in the right place.
Her eyes narrowed, and she asked as if she were testing me, “Is there anything I don’t know? Anything else that I’m going to find out about?”
Damn. There actually were some things I hadn’t been totally forthcoming with. But, if that’s what it took, then it was open-book time.
“I was the reason that Chester broke up with you the day before your prom. I’d just got into town and was at the Pit Stop filling up when I heard him bragging to his friends that you were a virgin and he was going to change that. So, I paid him a thousand dollars to break up with you.”
“A thousand dollars?!” she shrieked.
“I’d just got my signing bonus. I would’a paid him five. Oh and I paid for the AC unit at the Spoon. Also, I’m the private lender who approved your loan. But your business isn’t the only investment I made. When I decided to move back and open the academy, I talked to a few members of the city council and I invested in several small businesses. Your interest rate and terms are the same as The Flower Pot’s and Yum Yum’s, who are both doing renovations.”
I waited for her to get mad. Destiny was fiercely independent. When I’d gone to Mr. Crawford at the bank, he’d said that Dixie had offered to give Destiny the loan and she’d declined it.
“You put in the AC?” she asked, her eyes widening.
That’s what she was stuck on? Weird.
“Yeah,” I said. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you working in that heat.”
Her arms flew around my neck, and even though I wasn’t sure what had inspired this outburst of affection, I wasn’t going to question a good thing. So I rubbed up and down her back as she nuzzled against me, and she mumbled something about me being the person she wanted to share her messy with. I had no idea what she was talking about, but there was one more thing I needed to tell her, and this one was a doozy.
“Um, there is one more thing,” I said cryptically, suddenly getting a serious case of the nerves.
I dropped my arms when she pulled back looking a little uneasy asking, “What?”
After reaching into my pocket, I retrieved the small, blue Tiffany’s pouch. “I’ve been carrying this around in my pocket for about a month and a half. I didn’t know when to give it to you.”
When she took it out of my hands, it was obvious that she had no idea what was inside it. I mean, she probably knew that it was jewelry of some kind, but not that it was a five-carat princess-cut engagement ring. While she was busy opening it, I lowered onto one knee. I’d just got into position when she tugged the ring out of the small pouch.
She gasped and covered her mouth with her empty hand. She was shaking her head no, and tears were brimming in her eyes. I hoped that wasn’t a bad sign. But I’d come this far, so I wasn’t going to wait another second to ask Destiny to be mine. Forever. If she said no, I’d just ask her next week—and every week until she said yes.
I took the ring from her and held her hand in mine. “I know this might seem fast since I only told you that I loved you a few hours ago, but the thing is, it’s not really that fast. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. I loved you before I really knew what loving someone meant. I loved you when I shouldn’t have,” I pointed out, and her shoulders shook with laughter. “I know I’ve messed this up every step of the way, but like I said, I’ve never done this before. You are the first girl I’ve ever loved, and I want you to be the last.
“I can’t promise that I won’t be a bonehead and mess up, but I can promise to always love you, take care of you, and never keep anything from you again. I promise that I will do everything I can to be the man who’s worthy of your love.
“You make the world a better place just by being in it, and if you let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to make your world a better place. Destiny Rose Porter, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she mumbled behind her hand as her head stopped shaking back and forth and started nodding up and down.
I didn’t take the time to put the ring on her finger. Instead, I stood and pulled her up with me, kissing her like my life depended on it. And it did. She was my life, and soon, she would be my wife. If I had anything to do with it, it would be very soon.
Our kiss was interrupted by claps, and when we looked up, there was a crowd of nurses, doctors, and a few patients that had gathered. Some people were even holding up cell phones, which meant my proposal was probably going to be on TMZ within the hour.
Knowing that Destiny hated being in the spotlight, I looked down, expecting to see her mortified. Instead, she was smiling the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her face, and for the rest of my life, I would do everything I could to keep it there.