Never Been Worse (Evergreen Park #3)

Chapter 32 – Harper

THIRTY-TWO

HARPER

“You can’t come down yet,” Wes says, and I giggle, standing at the top of the stairs.

“What?”

“I told you to relax! I’m doing something. Jesus, woman.”

Wes and I spent the morning grocery shopping before we cleaned, organized, and prepped a few lunches for the upcoming week together, laughing and joking the whole time. I’d never had more fun doing basic tasks than I did today, even if the grocery store was a madhouse.

“Maybe we swap our weekly reset to Tuesdays,” Wes whispered while we stood at the overly long checkout line, a baseball hat pulled low over his face. “We don’t have traditional jobs, so we don’t have to keep a traditional schedule.”

Warmth flooded me, realizing he didn’t plan for this to be a one-time thing.

About an hour ago, Wes told me he was ordering me to go upstairs and relax while he set up a surprise. I inevitably argued, at which point, he carried me into the bathroom and told me to take the world’s longest bath. When he said please , making puppy dog eyes, I couldn’t help but smile and go along with it, but now I’m dying of boredom and just want to hang out with my husband.

Words I never thought I’d be saying two months ago, to be honest.

“I’m bored ,” I whine from the top of the stairs. I took a shower instead and blew my hair out so it wouldn’t be wet for whatever he has planned, but after, I slid on a cute pair of pajamas, as per his instructions.

“Fine,” he sighs. “It’s not fully ready, but you can come down.” Eagerly I make my way down the stairs, meeting Wes at the bottom. “My impatient little wife.”

“I missed you,” I murmur against his lips, my arms going around his neck. His smile could light up a room, it’s so bright.

“Is that right?” I nod. “All right, well, come on, let me show you what I did.” Then he leads me into the living room, all of the furniture pushed to the walls and a mess of blankets and pillows in the center. Candles are lit on the tables around the room, and I’m in awe that he was able to do this by himself in less than an hour.

“What is this?” I ask as he leads me around the fort-looking thing and shows me the entrance.

“We’ve never really had a date,” he says. “Not one that wasn’t planned for PR and was just for us.”

The bulge in my throat grows as I look around.

On the coffee table are two glasses of milk and two plates of six cookies, which is almost hidden by a giant pillow and blanket fort he built around it with the couch cushions. He found, or maybe he bought, some twinkle lights and lined the fort he made with it, making a magical little hideaway.

“Wes,” I whisper, looking and stepping closer. There’s actually a structure to this, and I look over my shoulder at him. He’s blushing now.

“I bought this kit to make forts last week because I got an ad for it and it sounded fun. We’ve both been so busy, I haven’t had time to do a little indoor date, but today is the perfect chance. I figured you’d enjoy movies and cookies more than a fancy dinner out, though anytime you want, I'll make a reservation at Trattoria Seven, and we’ll be there,” he says of the famous Italian restaurant in Hudson City.

A tear trails down my face at his gesture. This is why I have fallen for Wes Holden. He knows me so well, constantly taking notes of what I like or don't like. It’s something I’ve never experienced and hope I never lose.

“No, no,” he says, shaking his head. “Don’t cry. This is supposed to be fun,” he says with a laugh, pulling me into his arms.

“It is. It’s so fun, Wes. I just…no one’s ever done something like this for me.”

He smiles with understanding before taking my hand.

“Let me show you around. So here are a bunch of cookies, and we both have a plate. Some of them are baked from your favorite dough, and some I bought today.” He tossed a few items in the cart today, and I didn’t really pay attention, but now I wonder if maybe I should have. “And I found this little rating sheet, so we can decide which we like best. And inside, we have giant pillow chairs, but we can also merge them to lay together.

“Yes, that option,” I whisper with a nod, and he laughs.

“All right. And I’ve got Beauty and the Beast queued up, since I've never seen it, but we can watch?—”

“You want to watch Beauty and the Beast ?”

“You said it was a classic and one of your favorites.”

“It is.”

“Then I want to watch it.” I open my mouth, but he shakes his head. “It’s as simple as that, Harper: if you want it, I want to make it happen for you.”

“Wes,” I whisper, emotions clogging up my throat.

“No, because if you cry, it might make your stomach hurt, and I want to eat cookies. Get in the fort, baby.”

I smile at him through watery eyes. For a moment, I think about arguing, but then I say fuck it, shrug, then bend and snuggle into the pillows, ready for what might just be the most romantic date of all time.

“Okay, I see it now,” he says, pausing the movie later right when the Beast shows the library to Belle.

“Right?” I ask. “This is exactly how it felt when you were showing me the design room.”

He smiles then presses his lips to my hair. “You definitely had that silly, shocked look on your face,” he says with a laugh.

I smack him in the arm, then resettle into his side.

“Sorry today was boring,” I say quietly as Gaston falls off the side of the building in the movie.

“What?” he asks, turning to look at me, but I keep my eyes on the screen.

“Today. Reset days are monotone, but you’re…you. Boring isn’t really in your vocabulary. Next time, I can do it myself. Like you said, I can do it some other day when you’re practicing or something, or?—”

“Hey, hey. Look at me, Harper,” he says, and when I do, there’s nothing there, no mask, no lie, just Wes smiling at me. “This was the best Sunday I’ve ever had. Period, Harper. I wouldn’t change it at all.”

“But—” I start, because he’s clearly just being nice, but he shakes his head at me.

“But nothing. Part of being with someone is doing what they like, right?”

“I…I guess?”

“Today was a good day. An us day. We won’t always have these. Sometimes I'll be on the road, or you’ll be designing late or prepping for some big fashion show.” I roll my eyes, but he shakes his head, holding my chin so I can’t look away. “But I’ll always wish I had this, every damn night. The simplicity of just being with you. I told you I missed the morning after. I missed normal . Someone, a partner, treating me like just that: a partner. A teammate. Someone who helps with the dishes and the grocery shopping and the cooking even though I’m shit at it.”

“I’m shit at it too,” I whisper with a laugh.

“Then we’ll learn together,” he confirms, and I fucking love that, that he wants to learn and grow with me, that he sees this future where that’s something we do. We fall into a comfortable silence, Wes brushing my hair back, the television droning on with some show I don’t remember putting on before he whispers into my hair.

“Sunday kind of love.” His breath tickle at the back of my neck.

“Hmm?”

“When I hear that song, this is the day I’ll remember.” I make a mental note to look that up, to figure out what it means, the song tickling at something in my brain. Without thinking, I give him one of my own.

“Banana Pancakes.” I feel his smile against my skin, and it spreads the warmth further.

We sit in silence once more, him brushing my hair back. My head moves into his hand to try and get more, and he laughs as he scratches my head. “You’re like a little puppy, wanting to get your head scratched.”

“It feels good, sue me.” A moment passes before I speak. “Have you ever had a dog?”

He shakes his head. “No, my mom was allergic when I was younger, and when I was out of the house, life was too crazy, on the road all the time. Riggs has Gracie, but it’s hard because when we’re out or on stage, you have to trust whoever is watching it.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but I hear the want in his voice. “You?”

“No, Jeremy hated pets. I always wanted one, though.”

I bite my lip, nervous to speak what’s in my mind, but eventually I spit it out. “Maybe we should get one,” I whisper, afraid because although Wes and I have agreed this was more than some fake marriage, we’ve been focused on the now . Our conversations have never tiptoed into the future, into what happens in ten months when this arrangement is over.

He’s quiet for a long minute that feels like it goes on forever, and my heart pounds, wondering if I went too far. I open my mouth to tell him I was kidding, but I don’t have to when he speaks. “Would you come with us?”

“Hmm?” I’m afraid to assume what he means.

“On tour. Eventually we’ll go again, all of us love it too much not to. Would you come with us?”

My heart skips a beat, and I fight the smile pulling at my lips. “If you…if you wanted me to,” I say. “If you wanted me to go, I would.”

“I want you to come everywhere I go, Harper,” he says with ease. “I want you by my side always.

“Oh.”

“To clarify, so you don’t let your brain fill in gaps where I’m not explicitly clear,” he says, and I smile because I love how he seems to easily have a read on me. “I want you to come on tour when we go. And I want to get a pet with you if you want it. I want it all with you.”

“Oh,” I say again, now just blown away by his bluntness and how lucky I am that I somehow stumbled into this, that I found this man after all of the chaos that has been my life. A man who is so deeply into me, who understands me and knows me and still wants me despite it all.

“We should do it again, you know,” Wes whispers after more silence, while I think about him and what he's given me. I look at him, confused, but the confusion lifts when I see where his eyes are—a large framed photo from our wedding. I’m not sure when he put it up, but it’s been there for a few weeks, at least.

“Again?”

His hand moves, pushing my hair back to look at me better. .

“The first time, we were both distracted. The reasons weren’t right. I’d like to do it again someday. Me and you, getting married, but for real this time.”

“I thought you said it was for real the first time?” I ask with a smile

“For me, it was. It was always real for me, Harper. You took a little bit of time. I’d like to see you walking down the aisle to me, knowing that it’s going to be me and you forever.” I roll my eyes and move to get away. “I’d also like a shit ton of guests to show you off. A gown you made exactly the way you want. Every detail, the way you dreamed of as a kid.”

“Wes,” I whisper, tears coming to my eyes at his thoughtfulness. He shakes his head, looking at me, then shifts us so I’m straddling his lap, his hands on either side of my face.

It hits me then, like a wave crashing over me, that I’m falling in love with my husband. It’s happened so slowly, I almost missed it, but today, when we slowed things down and spent an entire day together, it hit me over the head.

This is what Ava feels for Jaime, what Jules feels when she looks at Nate. This all-consuming feeling of safety and comfort and just…knowing. No tinge of fear or doubt, just…love.

“I told you I want to give you the world, Harper. Whatever you want, I want to make sure you have it.”

“I think I’m falling for you,” I whisper.

“That’s good,” he whispers, and I try to move to look at him, glare at him even, but his hand on my chest holds me tight. “Because I’ve been there a long time, waiting for you.”

“Wes,” I whisper, but he shakes his head.

“I'd wait forever, but I’m glad I won’t have to.”