Chapter 17
Valentine’s Day
Maria: What do you think? Too much?
She attaches a picture she took of her herself in the full-length mirror inside of her closet.
Maria’s wearing the yellow cocktail dress she bought.
It looks good against her tanned skin and dark hair.
She’s paired it with gold t-strap five-inch heels.
Her hair is twisted up on top of her head with loose tendrils curling around her ears and neck. She looks stunning.
She and Ryder started dating a month ago, and I’m trying not to act weird about it. She’s so smitten with him and it’s good to see him smiling. Maria is such a goofball, you can't help but laugh when she’s around.
Me: You look beautiful.
Maria: I’m so nervous.
Me: You will break hearts tonight. Have fun.
Maria: OMG! He’s here! Got 2 go xxoo
I go back to the bathroom mirror and pick up my mascara, needing to hurry because Jayson will be here in ten minutes.
My hand shakes as I bring it up to my eye.
I toss it aside and lean against my bathroom counter to stare at myself.
My eyes take in my light blond hair. I cut it some, about five inches, so it hangs at my shoulder blades, and had some layering put in to give more volume along the sides.
Jayson says he loves it and runs his hands through my hair every chance he gets.
I look deeper into my light green eyes. I wonder if Jayson can see what lurks behind them. I wonder if Ryder can.
My phone chimes again.
Julien: Our boy is about to climb the walls waiting to come get you.
Me: I’m almost done getting ready.
Julien: Hold on…
My phone rings, and I see Julien’s name requesting a video call with me. I swipe to accept.
“Hey bestie,” Julien chirps as soon as his face comes up on the screen. I must look ridiculous in full make-up and hair, wearing my unicorn-patterned bathrobe. I squint at the screen because Julien’s face is hard to make out.
“Where are you? It’s really dark.”
“I had to hide in the laundry room so Jay wouldn't hear me. You look fantastic, Liz.”
I snort. “Yeah, right. Are you about ready to head out too?”
“Yeah. I’m going to wait for you guys to leave first, just in case. And I want to see what happens.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“You’ll see,” he grins widely.
Even though he’s full of teasing right now, I know Julien is apprehensive about his date tonight.
I’m the only one who knows about it, and he has sworn me to secrecy.
He still hasn’t come out to his parents, to Jayson or Ryder either.
I feel guilty keeping secrets from Jayson, but it's not my secret to tell, and I will not betray Julien or the trust he has in me.
“Where are you and Elijah off to tonight?”
“We thought it would be safer if we went to dinner in Fayetteville. No one should know us or recognize us there.”
When I first found out that Julien and Elijah were in a relationship, my mouth dropped.
To say it was a total shocker is an understatement.
All the times Elijah showed up to the events, races, and parties we went to weren’t for him to see me.
It was Elijah’s opportunity to see Julien.
They are both scared of what will happen if their friends or the kids at school find out about them.
It makes me mad that there are still such close-minded, bigoted people out there.
Julien and Elijah are two of the kindest, most loving, people I know.
I love Julien with all my heart, and he deserves to be happy without having to live his life in fear or feel shame because of who he is. Because to me, he’s already perfect.
Besides, I’ve always liked Elijah. He and I have gotten closer since Julien told me about their relationship.
I’ve grown quite protective of Elijah, and he trusts me like Julien does.
I make plans for the three of us to hang out together alone when Jayson isn’t occupying every waking minute of my life.
I want to give the two of them every opportunity to be able to express their relationship with one another, to provide for them a moment where they can hold hands, kiss, and be affectionate, without fear of being judged.
I cherish those times with Julien and Elijah because I see how much they care for and adore each other.
I know Jayson and Ryder would feel the same way as I do if Julien would give them the chance.
“Julien, Fayetteville’s like over an hour away!”
“Better to be safe than sorry,” is his reply. “Liz, hold on. I think I just heard Jayson leave the house.”
“Crap! I’ve haven’t even put my dress on. Love you!”
“Bye, Liz. Keep our boy in line tonight.”
I snicker. “You know that’s not going to happen.” I blow him a kiss and end the video call.
Mom calls my name from downstairs. I rush to shimmy into my chiffon dress, step into my yellow strappy heels, spritz on some perfume, and dash downstairs.
If I wasn’t holding on to the stair banister, I would have tripped and fallen down the stairs, making this Valentine’s very memorable.
The reason for my falter is the handsome boy standing at the bottom, looking up at me with love and adoration in his eyes.
I haven’t once seen Jayson in anything fancier than khaki slacks and a dinner jacket.
Tonight, however, he’s wearing a dark charcoal men’s dress suit, blue dress shirt, and dark tie with blue and silver accents.
He thick brown hair is styled so that his bangs are parted to the side and up, giving him a more clean-cut look.
Jayson’s resting his shoulder against the bottom banister, one hand casually in the pocket of his slacks, looking every bit like a GQ model. He is breathtaking.
Jayson’s intense gaze slowly rakes up my body in increments, from my strappy heels to the panels of my dress that seem to float around my knees, to the deep V of the dress’s bodice.
“Liz, you are captivating.” The butterflies in my stomach wake and scatter into a million fluttering wings.
Thankfully, my unsteady legs are able to make it to the bottom of the stairs, but I’m not going to take any chances.
As soon as Jayson offers me his hand, I latch onto it, but he stops me on the next to the last step.
Careful of my hair, he reaches one hand around my neck and spreads the other across the dip of my spine, pulling me in.
He holds me like that, silver eyes travelling over my face, before inching in and capturing my lips in a sweet kiss that makes my toes curl.
Mom clears her throat behind us. She and Dad are standing at the front door, camera in her hand. So embarrassing
“Is this how it’s going to be at prom next year?” my dad asks her
“Oh, much worse, I’m afraid.”
My dad groans.
We stand for what seems like hundreds of pictures because once Mom is done, Hailey jumps in with her phone to take more. Jayson apologizes to everyone saying we’ll be late if we don’t leave now and guides me outside, hand placed possessively at my back.
On our way to his truck, bright twinkling lights catch my attention.
Our oak tree, which I now call our "date tree," is lit up from top to bottom with lights, and an old-fashioned swing hangs from the bottom branch. When did that happen? Among the crystal lights, silver origami stars hang down from the branches. I take it all in and decide that it’s the most wondrous thing I have ever seen. I look at Jayson, who is beaming at me with pride knowing his romantic gesture is what put the awestruck look across my face. I decide that the tree is the second most wondrous thing—Jayson’s smile is the first.
“I’m speechless. It’s so magical. I don’t have words." Jayson threads his fingers with mine and brings them up to his mouth for a reverent kiss on each of my wrists. He leads me over to the swing and holds it steady for me to sit down. “Aren’t we going to be late for dinner?”
“Already planned for that. Trust me.” He smiles, waiting as I smooth down my dress and gently lower myself to the polished wood board of the swing.
Once I’m settled, he gives me a small push. “You keep surprising me.” I tilt my head back to look up at him.
“I used to daydream about doing this for you when I was younger.”
“Your dream was to push me in a swing?”
“Actually, yeah. I would daydream of you wearing your blue princess dress, the one you wore the first day we met, and that plastic tiara. Your hair would be loose and tumbled down your back and every time I would push you, it would whip back and float down like a cascade of shimmering silk. I imagined your smile and your laughter as you swung high into the sky to catch the stars.”
"You're very poetic tonight," I tease, and his cheeks turn red.
He lifts his hand and pulls one of the silver origami stars down from its string that holds it tied to part of a branch and hands it to me. “Open it.
I place my feet down to stop the swing from swaying and carefully pull apart the star.
Just like the paper gifts he used to leave me on my windowsill last summer after we started dating, this star is also filled with his handwriting.
Inside he has written “a daughter who has your eyes and your smile.”
Curious, I ask him, “What’s this mean?”
Jayson bends down to my upturned face and whispers to me, “Inside every star is a wish. My wish.”
My brows scrunch together before his words hit me. His wish is for a daughter, our daughter. One that looks like me. Tears spring to my eyes. We may be young and not even close to having a conversation about our future, marriage and kids, but his sweet thought is romantic and touching, nonetheless.
“Every star on our tree is filled with a wish. Wishes that I want to share with you, spend the rest of my life giving to you. All you have to do, Liz, is reach for the stars and I will give them all to you. I love you so much.” He moves my hair to the side and kisses my ear, my neck, my bare shoulder, and I shiver.