44. ~ James ~
CHAPTER 44
~ James ~
C har looked happy, lighter than she had in weeks, but also exhausted. I wanted to sweep her away for a weekend camping trip to the Lower Kananaskis Lake with me. I wanted to enjoy the last heated days of summer in the mountains before the evenings got frosty, but she couldn’t. She was ramping up for the final push to finish her park.
But she needed a break before a break took her.
“Can you push everything back a week? Come out and play with me,” I begged. I’d been supportive since the park’s inception. Surely she could weasel out of one or two days of park work. Weren’t her friends still helping her? They could take over for a short stint.
This week Char had seemed to finally let go of her fears around us, and I wanted to celebrate. I wanted to revel in every moment. I wanted to stand on top of a mountain and tell the world that she was mine, mine, mine. That I’d found the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
Char rubbed her forehead, and it was clear I was adding to her stress. Why was I pushing her? She’d come and found me in my basement suite, where I’d been studying for tonight’s cartography exam. She’d been happy and buoyed about the news from the museum, and I was ruining it.
And yet I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I was like the fat kid in that Willy Wonka book. I was greedy for more, unable to stop. But instead of wanting chocolate and sweets, I wanted Char.
“I’m sorry. It won’t be forever.” She leaned against me on my black leather couch, her eyes pleading. “It’s just right now I have a lot of deadlines and reports and receipts to send into sponsors and the various grants that have supported the park. There’s already a playground, and it’s been amazing, but the kids are getting filthy because there’s no top soil or sod. I promised the kids trees and grass and basketball nets. I’m so close, James. I’m sorry. It’s just two more weeks.”
“I know.” I gave her a hopeful look, wiggling her leg. “Maybe you could quit your job tonight and get a new one? One with better hours?”
She gave me a light snort. “Yeah, those fall out of the sky. I wish!” She sighed, her body softening as though visualizing the perfect job.
“One where you can nerd out on old things.”
“It would be incredible to work around artifacts all day, but I don’t have a degree.” She looked so wistful, I wanted to fulfill that dream for her. Right now. Forget cartography. I had a new mission: find her an amazing job.
She smiled and added, “What if I found a job that included some travel? I could go places for free!”
“Or we could save up and go to Mexico for Christmas. Just you and me.”
“What?” Her unfocused gaze snapped to me. “A trip? For us?”
Okay, so a couple’s Christmas destination vacation might be moving a bit too fast. But I’d seen the hopeful spark in her eyes. She wanted it.
“Well, I mean…” I acted casual, my heart thrumming like I was about to ask her to marry me. “If you can’t get away for some camping, then maybe Mexico at Christmas? You should be free by then, right?”
I gave her my best smile, and she laughed, her body pressed against my side. “Sure. You buying?”
“Nah. You’ll be rolling in the dough by then.”
She was smiling for real now, her spirit lifted, the stress of her day seemingly shed.
“You really do love me, don’t you?” She rocked her shoulder into mine, giving me a secret smile like she couldn’t quite believe it was true. She reached over and mussed up my hair. I grabbed her hands and tipped her backward onto the cushions, my body pressed over hers. She giggled. “If I’m around all the time, you’re going to get so tired of me.”
“Hm.” I kissed her once on the lips. “I think we need to experiment with that.” I trailed my lips down her neck. “Explore the limits.” Another kiss, this one along her collarbone. “See where the boundaries are.” My lips met hers again, and I sunk into the haven of enjoying the last woman I’d ever kiss. She was the one my heart had been waiting for. I was done searching. I’d found her.
She sighed against me, and I shifted so I was wedged between her and the couch’s back, taking my weight off her.
“You have everything,” she said, her voice sad with longing.
I stopped my kissing and looked at her. “I do?”
“You have all these fun new jobs that work around your classes.”
It was true that I’d been trying different ones lately, picking up short-term contracts like I was testing pages from Char’s book. It was fun, but it wasn’t a long-term thing. I wanted adventure in my personal life, not just in my work. I wanted to explore the city as well as the world with Char. That was what I craved the most.
“Savings and money,” she continued. “Spontaneous trips to Corsica and beyond.”
“You’re going to get this park finished, Char. And then all the amazing goodness you’ve been putting into the world is going to flood back to you. I bet you and your dad will be travelling through Greece before you know it.”
She shook her head, her forehead crinkling. I brushed a few strands of her hair from her cheek.
“Why not?”
“I realized the trip was about me. If I want to be closer to my dad, we don’t need an expensive excursion that he probably wouldn’t enjoy. I should get in a car and go down there and visit him. It’s not even that far. We could sit around and play cards or something.” She smiled playfully. “I think I finally have gin rummy figured out.”
“You sure? Mrs. Laven might have misled you with the rules.”
“I’m sure she did—to her own benefit, of course.”
“Of course.” I gently trailed the back of my index finger down the round of her cheek. “Tell me how else I have it made?” I was curious if she’d mention us.
“You have an apartment and a car.” Her voice grew quiet. “And a family who loves you.”
“In case you didn’t notice, my mom has adopted you. You’re a Backstrohm for life, whether you like it or not.” She’d belonged since the day she’d walked through the front door with the hole in her sleeve. Her status wasn’t quite as permanent or official as I’d like, but I’d get her there. I’d slide a ring onto her finger and take the easiest vows of my life. Love. Cherish. Hold.
Done, done, and done.
Char blushed, looking shy, but also unafraid of the fact that she was one of us now, a part of our clan.
“You forget something,” I murmured, my attention drawn back to her lips. She was wearing a coconut lip balm today, and it made kissing her even more delicious.
“Hm?”
“The most important thing.”
“What’s that, my little pirate?” She gave me a tentative, teasing smile, like she knew what I was going to say.
“I have a girlfriend who finally,” I tipped my head back and added an extra ‘finally’ for drama, “loves me back.”
She rolled the corner of her bottom lip between her lips on a laugh, and said, “Yeah. You’ve got that, too.”