Epilogue Jess and Mo
Epilogue
Jess and Mo
Nine Months Later
Jess stood up straight from the kitchen table, letting her hand stay on the back of Maddie’s chair.
“You are so much better at this than I am, my friend,” she said to Maddie. “I’m sorry I’m not more helpful.”
“I am useless,” Maddie said plaintively. “Everyone else in class is a thousand times better than me. There’s no way I’m not going to fail the test.” She dropped her pencil and plopped her elbows onto the table, face falling into her hands.
Seventh-grade math was kicking Jess’s butt; she was a word person, not a numbers person. The last thing she was going to do was let Maddie get down on herself, though.
“Nope,” she said, gently pulling on one of Maddie’s arms. “That’s not what we’re going to do. Come on, time for a break.”
Maddie let herself be pulled out of the kitchen and out onto Mo’s porch. Jess lifted the lid of the large storage box Mo had installed for Maddie’s archery tack.
“Jess…” Maddie whined. “I suck at this, too…”
“Bah! Bull—crap,” Jess said, correcting herself as she slid the foam target out from its place against the side of the house.
“You can say ‘bullshit.’ I won’t tell Daddy,” Maddie said.
“Shh,” Jess said quietly. “It’s not your dad I’m worried about.” She shot a look at Mrs. Sargysan’s back door. Maddie giggled.
“Okay, good point,” she said.
Jess took the target down to the end of the yard and jogged back. Maddie was adjusting her arm guard as Jess hopped up the steps.
“Okay, Mads,” she said, getting in place a few steps behind her and to the left. “Make yourself proud.”
Maddie turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Don’t you mean, ‘Make you proud’?” she asked.
“No,” Jess said. “I meant exactly what I said.” She crossed her arms, leaned against the back of the house, and winked.
Mo walked through his front door, placing his smithing bag in its spot just inside. He took a deep breath, savoring the smell of Maddie’s sugar cookies in the air.
“Daddy, we’re in the kitchen!” she called out to him.
“On my way, sugar plum,” he called back.
He hung his jacket on the coat rack and ran a hand down Jess’s jacket beside it. He took a deep breath, checking that his present for Jess was snug in the pocket of his jeans, and followed the delicious aroma.
Maddie was carefully moving some cookies from a cooling rack to a large plate as Jess straightened, taking a freshly baked set out of the oven. She smiled at him.
“M’lady,” he said to her, winking and nodding. He joined Maddie, giving her a side hug. “What’s this about, sugar plum? Are all of these for me?” He reached for a cookie, and Maddie swatted at him.
“No, Daddy, this plate is for Mrs. Sargysan,” she said. “I’m trying to get the best ones.”
“Ah, makes sense,” he said. He went over to Jess, who tiptoed up as he leaned down.
“Have a good day?” he asked after a quick peck.
“Not bad,” she said. She darted a glance at Maddie. “My classes went well.”
Mo didn’t quite get the quick glance at Maddie, but he decided not to push.
“I’ll be back,” Maddie said, carefully picking up the plate piled high with cookies and leaving the kitchen. “I want to give them to her while they’re still a little warm,” she said over her shoulder.
“Good idea,” Mo called out to her. He looked back down at Jess. “Everything okay?”
She sighed.
“Tough therapy session. Don’t want to get into it; the waterworks are going to start again,” she said.
Mo nodded, rubbing her back and taking her in his arms. She’d been working hard for months. Her aches and pains had disappeared. He was proud of her, but he felt at a loss as to how to truly help. The anniversary of Cassie’s death had been crippling for her, and it took weeks to get back the progress she’d made. He squeezed tight.
“You’re doing so great,” he said into her hair.
“Doesn’t feel like it,” she said against his chest.
“You are, I promise.” He’d thought to wait until later that evening, but he decided not to. His nerves shot up, and he had to take a deep breath to calm the jitteriness in his muscles. “M’lady?”
“Hmm?” She pulled back a little to look at him.
“I, uh…”
She raised an eyebrow.
“You okay, ’phaest?”
He chuckled a little. The shortened form of Hephaestus that she’d come up with was still cute enough to tickle him.
“Pretty much,” he said, slipping a hand into his pocket. “But better soon, I hope. Brought you a little present. Give me your hand.”
She took a step back and did as he asked, her eyebrow still raised. He put the freshly cut key in her palm.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“I hope it’s the key to your new home,” he said, his voice a little weak.
She took another step back, focused on it.
“I know your lease is going to be up soon,” he said quickly. “And since, well…you’re already part of our little family…I was thinking you could come live here.”
She didn’t move. And since she hadn’t raised her head, he couldn’t read her face. His heart was pounding, his hands weak.
She sniffed.
“Jess?” he asked, bending a little to try to see her.
She sniffed again and looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. His heart clenched.
“Jess, m’lady, I’m sorry,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “It was the wrong day to ask. You said you had a tough—”
“Yes!” she wailed into his chest.
“Yes?” he asked, pulling back to see her well.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she sobbed, nodding, her eyes clenched tight. He was thrilled and heartbroken at the same time. He pulled her back close.
“Are…are you sure?” he asked. “You can say no; maybe it’s not a good time.”
“I love you!” she cried into him. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.
It was far from the first time she’d told him that she loved him, and it still made his heart soar. But her shouting it while sobbing jumbled his feelings and made it hard to know what to do. He started rubbing her back again.
“I love you, too,” he said. “Do you want to come sit with me?” he asked. She nodded against him.
Slowly, he walked them to the couch. She dropped down but scooted tight against his side. He kept rubbing her back as her crying subsided. She took a deep breath, swatting for one of the tissues on the end table.
“I…I…” She hiccupped as she wiped her nose. “I don’t feel like I have a home,” she said, looking at him, her eyes red. “That’s…that’s what we talked about today. Cassie gave me the feeling of home as a child, not my parents.” She hiccupped again. “I’ve felt…untethered since she’s been gone.”
A lump was developing in Mo’s throat, his eyes filling with tears.
“So this…” She raised the hand holding the key. “The fact that you want to share your home with me…” She started breathing fast again and held the tissue up to her mouth.
“But…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to share my home, Jess. I want it to be your home.”
Her face crunched up.
“Thank you!” she wailed, falling into him.
He hugged her tightly.
“No, m’lady,” he said. “Thank you.”
She sniffed hard.
“For what?” she asked, muffled against his shoulder.
“For making it safe for me to love you,” he said. “For recognizing and respecting my—”
“If you say ‘weirdness,’ I’m going to bite you,” she said. He chuckled.
“I know better than to use that word with you now,” he said. “I was going to say for respecting me as an HSP and not trying to change me or criticize me. You’ve become one of my safe spaces by letting me be who I truly am.”
She pulled back a little to look him in the eye.
“You made it easy to love who you truly are,” she said, shrugging.
His cheeks warmed, and he darted in quick for a kiss so she wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes. She kissed him back then surprised him by jumping to her feet.
“Where are you going?” he asked as she walked toward the front door. She grabbed her bag off the hook.
“Gotta put the key to my new home on the key ring you made for me,” she said, winking at him.
He smiled back, not hiding his tears.