Chapter Thirty-Three
TALLY
J anuary was the happiest month of my life. Being with Jake, finally knowing what it felt like to be in love, had me floating on a natural high. We developed new routines. I’d walk him out to the garage to get into his car every morning, and we’d spend a few minutes saying goodbye without words while the girls were upstairs getting dressed. We couldn’t walk past each other in the house without reaching out to brush our hands together or steal a kiss when we were alone. But my favorite times were after the girls were asleep. That was our time, and I eagerly anticipated it every day.
But by the beginning of February, I was beginning to wonder when he was going to tell the girls. Each time I brought it up, he said he needed a little more time. For what, I wasn’t sure .
“Are you going to miss me this weekend?” I asked as I kissed him goodbye on a Friday morning before he left for work.
“Very much.” His hands slid down my back as his lips moved along my jawline to my earlobe.
I giggled as I did whenever he kissed me there.
“Don’t forget about helping the guys tomorrow at Ethan’s.” I had volunteered him to help Ethan, Cooper, and Lucas over at Grandma June’s to work on some cleanup from the ice storm, a new greenhouse for spring, and a few repair projects while the girls and I were up north for Penny’s bachelorette weekend.
“I didn’t forget.”
“Although, I don’t know how much help an old-timer such as yourself will be.”
He spun me around and pressed my back against the side of his car. “Listen.” His mouth found my earlobe again, and his fingers wiggled against my sides, and I started giggling uncontrollably and pushing him away.
“Stop!” I cried. “The girls will hear.”
He did as I asked and kissed me instead until both of us were dizzy.
“You’re going to be late for work,” I whispered.
He leaned away, his hands coming up to rest against the sides of my neck. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You know that?”
“Told you.” I gave him my sweetest smile, and he touched his lips to mine one more time before leaning his forehead against mine and letting out a little tortured growl .
I chuckled as he got into his car, keeping a hold on my hand. “Have fun this weekend.” He squeezed once before letting go. “But not too much fun.”
I smirked. “I’m a real party animal.”
Schultz Winery was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been in Michigan. The villa in Traverse City looked as if it was snatched straight out of a vineyard in Italy. The four of us enjoyed the weekend together, celebrating Penny’s last days as an unmarried woman. We visited local shops and antique stores. I picked up some cute souvenirs for Jake’s girls and a Traverse City hat for Jake. We walked along the shoreline and talked and laughed. It had been so long since we’d spent so much time together, and we vowed to make it an annual thing from now on.
The weekend came and went too quickly, but by Sunday, I was ready to get home to Jake and the girls. It made me so happy to know I had someone to go home to. Just what I’d always wanted. And thinking about Penny’s upcoming wedding had me dreaming about my own wedding.
After a leisurely trip home, including lunch and more antique shopping, we arrived back in Abbottsville in the evening and headed over to the Sweet’s house first to drop Ellie off.
“I wonder why Lucas is here.” Penny pointed at his car .
I was surprised to see Jake’s car there too.
“Maybe they had more projects for Gram,” Ellie said.
All four of the guys came out of the house as we pulled up, and we climbed out of the car to see what was going on.
“Hey, guys.” Ellie went straight to Cooper. “Still working on the greenhouse?”
“We finished.” He took her hand. “Want to see?”
“Sure.”
All of us trailed behind him into the back yard, where the new greenhouse sat to the side of their property.
“Looks great,” Ellie said. “Gram’s going to love using that.”
And then someone flipped a switch, and strings of lights came on that hung from the patio area all the way across the yard to the big oak tree that used to hold the treehouse.
Ellie gasped, and her hands shot up to cover her mouth.
“Oh my gosh!” Penny said.
“What the?” Jessa’s eyes were wide as saucers.
I had no words.
We all stared at the brand-new treehouse before us, lit up by sparkly white lights. It was painted white with a little railing wrapping around, a shingled roof, pink shutters on the windows, and a proper ladder instead of random boards nailed to the tree. The old treehouse had been only a floor until the ice storm destroyed it. This was the treehouse of Ellie’s dreams.
Ellie’s loving gaze turned to Cooper. “You did this? ”
His smile could’ve lit the yard on its own. “Come with me.” He held his hand out and led her across the yard.
We moved a little closer and watched as they climbed the ladder to the top.
Ellie opened the door and went inside. Her joyful exclamations heard from within made the rest of us laugh.
And then, just as she came out onto the porch again, Cooper got down on one knee.
Ellie’s hands were over her mouth again, and the rest of us grabbed hold of each other and cried happy tears—well, Jessa just smiled—as our best friend said yes to marrying the man of her dreams.
“I’m engaged!” Ellie cried as she held her hand out for us to see.
“Woohoo!”
“Yeah!”
“Congratulations!”
They climbed down, and we rushed over and surrounded Ellie in a group hug. My heart was so full of happiness for her.
There were more congratulations to the happy couple after that, and Grandma June came out of the house and hugged and kissed her granddaughter, then invited us inside for dinner.
After a wonderful evening with friends, Jake helped me get my bags from Penny’s car, and I rode home with him.
“You guys did a very nice thing for Ellie. And you did a special thing for me, too, helping make my best friend’s engagement so memorable.”
“I was happy to do it, and it was a lot of fun hanging out with those guys. ”
“I’m glad because they are all a part of my life now because of my friends, so it means a lot that you all get along.”
“We do. Lucas is a cool guy, and I never realized how funny Ethan is.”
“He is a funny guy.”
“And hey, hanging out with a country music superstar is always cool.”
I laughed. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Were the girls at Marjie and George’s the whole time?”
“Only during the days. They’ve been so great helping out so much this year. We should do something special for them.”
“That’s a good idea. Do we have to go pick the girls up now?”
He shook his head and brought the back of my hand to his lips. “I’ll go over later. I want some time alone with you first.”
My heart stuttered in my chest at his words.
“We probably won’t be able to go out just the two of us this week for Valentine’s Day, so we should take advantage of this while we can and celebrate early.”
We brought my things to the guest house, and I wheeled my suitcase into my room. I turned to go join him in the living room and found him leaning against my door frame.
“What are you doing all the way over there?” I asked as I started peeling off my winter coat.
He was across the room in seconds, taking over at removing my coat, tossing it on the floor, pressing his mouth against my neck, tipping me back onto my bed, resting his body beside mine, and hovering over me.
“I missed you,” I whispered against his lips .
“Not as much as I missed you.”
I giggled. “Apparently so.”
He stopped kissing me and stared down into my eyes. “I wanted to sneak away after dinner and take you up in that treehouse.”
“It would’ve been a little cold up there.”
His fingers slid under the bottom edge of my shirt and softly caressed my skin, sending shivers through my body. “I would’ve kept you warm.” His voice was deeper than usual.
“What has gotten into you?”
“This is the longest we’ve been apart, and I was desperate to be close to you from the second you stepped out of that car.”
I slid my hands up his back and buried my fingers in his hair as I tugged him down to my lips.
“Look at you, taking control.” He spoke between kisses. “And to think you were shy when we met.”
“I can stop if you want.” I gave him a coy look as I took my hands away and started to sit up.
He grabbed hold of my arms and pinned them to the bed. “Don’t you dare.”
Things grew more heated the longer we were in my room until we were on the precipice of a choice that would change me forever. And even though I felt in my bones that Jake and I would be together forever, I wanted that moment to be with my future husband. I’d told him as much before, and he’d told me he would only ever be with another woman if she was his wife too.
I pulled away, and he must have sensed my need to stop because he rested his head on my shoulder and let out a long, deep breath .
“You make me crazy, woman.”
I ran my fingers slowly through his hair.
“I never imagined love could be like this.” He lifted up on his elbow and gently pushed some pieces of hair back from my face as he spoke. “Because I’ve never had this before. I’ve never had that feeling I had when you were gone of missing someone so much that you ache for them. I’ve never wanted to tell someone everything I’m thinking, every little thing that happened in my day, every dream for the future. That’s how I know this is real.”
“I’ve never been in love before,” I said, “but I feel the same way. I had fun with the girls, but I missed you every minute. All I wanted was to talk to you, to kiss you good night and good morning, to snuggle up on the couch with you at the end of the day. You’re my favorite person in the world.”
He grinned from ear to ear and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I’m so in love with you.”
“I love you too.”
I lay there long after he had gone to get the girls, floating on a cloud, which was nothing new the past month of being in this relationship. And after the words he’d just said to me, I truly believed the future I longed for was well within my reach. But first, we needed to bring the girls in on all this.