Chapter 51
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
JACE
You are not the last dream of my soul.
You are the first dream, the only dream I ever was unable to stop myself from dreaming. You are the first dream of my soul, and from that dream I hope will come all other dreams, a lifetime’s worth.
Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince
I checked my watch again, making it only four minutes after I’d checked it the last time. The kids and I had just gotten to my parents’ house, and I was anxiously awaiting Polly’s text letting me know she was on her way over to meet my parents . . . as my girlfriend.
We found Pop in the garage, music playing in the background as he inspected a very old set of golf clubs. He was never much of a golfer.
“You thinkin’ about picking up a club again?” I called out.
Pop smiled briefly, then held up a finger. He glanced toward his workbench. “Alexa, be a dear and pause the music.”
“Pausing,” a robotic female voice sounded.
“Thank you, Alexa.” I saw the amused smirk on Max’s face as Pop thanked the AI computer program.
“You’re welcome,” Alexa said.
Pop shook his head. “That Alexa is always so polite. Good manners are a lost art. Max! Ryla! Good to see you two again. Say Ryla,” Pop said, a twinkle in his eye. “Susan’s inside, making something that smells like waffles if you’re interested.”
As soon as he said waffles, Ryla was running up the concrete garage steps and barging into the house.
“Hiya, Maxy. I think she’s got some fresh homemade sweet tea, too.”
“I’ve never tried sweet tea.”
Pop held a hand to his heart. “Son, you’re missing the nectar of life. Why don’t you follow your sister and bring out a glass for you and me.” Pop looked over at me and startled, acting like he hadn’t seen me. “Oh, and maybe this guy, too.”
I was proud of Max when he went into the kitchen alone. I eyed Pop suspiciously, wondering why he’d wanted to get me alone.
“You taking those classics to sunny Florida soon?” I crossed my arms over my chest. His golf bag looked straight out of the 1970s and probably was a third hand-me-down. My parents weren’t big on new things. Which, again, was why this supposed move to Florida was so out of left field.
“Ack, well, Kent and your uncle have been talking about golf and think I need new clubs. But I told them it was hard for me to do that much golf these days, and if I did, these work just fine”
He shuffled over to a folding chair, grunting as he sat. He inclined his head to the empty chair next to him.
“I’m glad you came over,” Pop began as I sat down. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about, uh, something. It’s about Florida. Things aren’t exactly as Kent described. I know we put an offer in on the condo and it’s been accepted, and I know Kent made it seem like we’re movin’ any day.”
I frowned, because that’s exactly what Kent made it sound like.
“But we’ve barely started fixing this house to sell. Who knows if we’ll actually be able to sell this place.” He looked around the junky old garage like it was the Taj Mahal.
“Pop? You do want to move, right?”
In response, he picked an invisible speck of dust off his shirt. “I may not be as keen on it as your mother. And while the thought of being down there a few weeks at a time sounds nice, living there full -time . . .” He grimaced and looked over at me. “It sure would be nice to have this place to come home to.”
“I thought you didn’t have enough money to keep this place and buy the condo.”
Pop shifted in his chair. “That’s true. You know, son, and this is just a shot in the dark, but I’d always hoped that maybe you’d take this house on eventually, when your momma and I are too old to keep up with it. ’Course I wouldn’t want you to feel any pressure, just throwing the idea out there.”
I leaned forward. “I’m a little confused. Are you asking me if I have interest in buying this house from you and Momma?”
Pop nodded, shifting in his chair again. “I’m humble enough to admit that my arthritis is getting worse. Your mother, God love her, can only take so much. I know how hard you work and how much you save, Jace. I’m awfully proud. Proud as any father can be of their son. The house here is all paid off. If you were willing to live here, take care of all the upkeep like you’ve been doing and paying a portion of the utilities and taxes, I’d be happy to deed the house to you. Of course, if I get sick enough and you can’t care for me, you can feel free to put my butt in a home. I know it’s a lot to ask, what with your mother being how she is, but I think you movin’ out has given her some perspective.”
I looked over my shoulder, wondering when Max would be coming back with the tea. “This is a lot to process, Pop. And if you’d have asked me a few weeks ago, I probably would have taken you up on your offer. But, well, a lot’s changed since then.”
A helpless smile came over my face.
“You see, there’s this girl—a woman. And she’s a game-changer. I guess what I’m saying is, it’s not just me anymore. I’d love to help you out, you and Momma both. And if you decide to stay here, regardless of where I’m living, I’ll always come and help.”
A knowing smile played over his lips. “Is it the kids’ momma?”
I gave him a cautious nod.
“You know your Momma called that one a mile away. Ever since you drove away with those kids the first time you brought ’em over here, she’s been pestering me on how to get y’all back over here. She wants to meet her something fierce.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Well, I’m thrilled to hear you say that, because she’ll be here soon.” I glanced at my watch just then and saw I’d missed a text from Polly.
Polly : I need to talk to you.
* * *
Worry tightened my insides as I drove to Daisy’s ten minutes later. Pulling into the parking lot, I spotted Polly’s father’s Tesla near the back. After parking next to her, I cut the engine and climbed into her passenger seat.
Polly was sitting stiffly, facing the steering wheel, her hands splayed open on her knees. She’d obviously been crying, makeup from around her eyes had leaked in trails down her cheeks.
“Are you alright? What’d he do to you?” I put a hand on her forearm, needing to touch her.
She just shook her head, chest heaving. “My father . . .” she started, but her voice broke. I leaned over the center console the best I could, desperate to hold her in my arms.
“Whatever he’s done. It doesn’t matter, Polly. It doesn’t. You have me. And you have two amazing kids who are funny and tough, just like you.”
She turned to me with sad, swollen eyes. “My father’s assistant, Jeffrey, has been spying on us. I haven’t told you this as I didn’t think much of it, but I’ve seen this black SUV behind me a few times and then again at Young Wills last Thursday. That was Jeffrey. He knows we’re together and told my father God knows what.”
I didn’t want to worry Polly, so I rubbed her back soothingly as she spoke, unaware that I was counting how many favors I’d owe Sam when I gave him a call later. Someone’s black SUV was about to get harmed. Or maybe I’d need to talk to him in person. Less evidence that way.
“And then he threatened some strange kind of public denouncement of me, threatening to tell everyone about you and I so I’ll get fired and can’t work as a doctor again. At least not around here.”
I immediately started to shake my head. “That won’t happen. No one will care, Polly. We’re adults. Your father is trying to scare you. No one is going to care.”
Her lips wobbled, voice breaking when she whispered, “That’s not all.”
I clenched my fists, hating how powerless I felt, and waited.
“He said he has a family from Green Valley that will claim that you acted inappropriately with their child at a school. He said that it doesn’t matter if there isn’t any proof, the damage to your reputation will be done. I can’t do that to you, Jace. You are meant to work with kids. And you have your whole life ahead of you.”
She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath.
“I love you. In my whole life, I’ve only ever felt this kind of love for four people: my mom, my two kids, and Leah. And now all of a sudden, you. Tell me Jace, how can I risk your future? I can’t. I can’t ruin your life.”
I grabbed her face in my hands and kissed her, needing something to ground me. My mouth moved hard over hers, tasting the salt from her tears, the trembling sadness of her lips. I would not lose her. Not when I’d just found her.
I pulled back, continuing to hold her face, feeling tears in my own eyes.
“There is only one way you could ruin my life, Polly, and that’s by leaving it. I’ve found the love of my life, and two kids I love with my whole heart in just a few short weeks. I couldn’t believe it at first. But it’s real. I used to be so angry at your ex, for leaving you and the kids like that, but now I’m thanking my lucky stars. He left, because I was coming. Someone, somewhere, knew that this—you, me, Max and Ryla—was it. We were meant to be a family.”
Polly was full-on crying again, so I took a moment to brush my thumbs under her eyes.
“I want to be there on Max’s first day of high school. I want to be there when Ryla loses her first tooth. I want to clap and cheer and embarrass the hell out of Max when he graduates college, and I want to scare the shit outta all of Ryla’s boyfriends, then walk her down the aisle to the last one.”
I continued to cradle Polly’s face in my hands as I brought my forehead to hers. “It took me twenty-four years to find you. Don’t cheat me out of the next seventy-six.”
“Jace,” she whispered roughly, burying her head in my neck until her sobs quieted and breathing calmed.
When she finally pulled back from me, eyes red and puffy, hair wild around her face, I still thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
“You really think you’re going to live to be a hundred?” Her voice was hoarse and quaking, but she was teasing.
That was a good sign.
“Ryla may take a few years off,” I teased back, my own voice thick with emotion.
Polly settled back into the driver’s seat, looking utterly exhausted.
“What are we going to do? I asked him to give me a week to move out of the house, not that he agreed to it. If we moved out, I don’t have a place to go. What if he makes good on his promise to tell everyone about us, people in town do care, and I lose my job? I need health insurance. I can’t lose it.”
A wild idea, one that didn’t involve a black SUV, had been taking shape in the back of my mind. An idea that kept making itself louder in my head as Polly kept taking.
“Do you think your father will actually do this? It sounds an awful lot like a bluff. He’s so worried about the court of public opinion, yet he’s ready to throw his only daughter to the wolves? That doesn’t sound likely.”
Polly shrugged. “He certainly seemed serious.”
I hesitated. “I have a wild idea.”
Polly laughed mirthlessly, adjusting her dress. “Good, because I have none. Except for crying in Daisy’s parking lot.”
“Did you know that Tennessee doesn’t have a waiting period for marriage licenses?”
Polly’s head snapped up. “Waiting period for . . . no, I didn’t know that,” she said carefully, then scrunched her face. “Wait, how do you know that?”
“Sam tried to—” I stopped and held up a hand. “You know what? Never mind.” I leaned closer to her, letting a wayward grin come across my face. “Think about it, Polly. If we’re married, your father won’t have a leg to stand on. We’re only a dirty little secret to him if we continue to hide it. But if we get married, we’re calling his bluff. And if it’s a bluff, you’ll be safe. Your job is safe. Your health insurance is safe.”
Polly blinked. “And what about you? What if his threat to you isn’t a bluff?”
“I know two county sheriffs, have pull with important people in town, and have the truth on my side.” Was I happy about her father blackmailing me? No.
But was I worried? Also no.
Polly studied my face, then began to blink rapidly as she sat stock upright. “You’re really serious.”
I nodded, easygoing smile in place.
“You want to get married? To me?”
“Mmmhmm,” I drawled lazily.
Polly shook her head. “But that’s . . .well. I mean—that’s insane!”
“Insane enough to work.”
“What if it’s a mistake?”
“What if it’s not?” I leaned forward, grabbing her left hand and bringing it to my lips.
“Hold on, Romeo.” Polly slid her hand out of mine. “This is all predicated on my father bluffing. What if he’s not?”
I smiled and leaned back against the seat, inexplicably calm. “This morning, not five minutes before I got your text message, Pop asked if I had any interest in moving into their house. With his arthritis, my parents need someone to handle all the house upkeep, and eventually, he or both of them will need more care. He offered to deed the house to me in exchange.”
Polly’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head again.
“I said no. I told him if it was a few weeks earlier, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would have helped out and lived in that house as long as they needed me. But it wasn’t up to just me anymore. You and the kids, that’s where my home is now.”
I could see her softening a bit but could still hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to puzzle her way around all of this.
“Polly, if you lose your job and can’t find another one in town, I’ll move anywhere you need to go with you and the kids.”
I’d started inching closer to Polly as I talked, her face continuing to soften. She was moving closer to me, too, almost unknowingly. Like she knew the way forward but wasn’t ready to go there. Not yet.
“Or we can stay in Green Valley and if you’re game, we can live in my parents’ house. We can start our life here, together, the four of us.”
She startled at my words, eyes going soft then, looking mildly dazed, like she was finally starting to believe this was true.
“You have me,” I continued. “So, you also have my family and my friends. You have Leah and the new friends you’ve made. And most importantly, we have Max and Ryla. Whatever is coming for us, we can get through it together.”
We moved closer together still, our hands intertwining almost on their own accord.
“Say yes, Polly. I’ll sign an iron-clad prenup where you can take me for all my money in the case of a divorce.”
Our foreheads touched and I felt a little puff from her exhale on my cheek.
“Do you love me?” I whispered.
“Yes,” she whispered back.
I closed my eyes briefly with relief, then opened them.
“Then say you’ll marry me, Polly. We can face the future together.”