Chapter 45 #2
Olivia had agreed to help us with the divorce since she could still legally practice, but I doubted she had helped anyone else get divorced. Although, I wouldn’t put it past her.
He grinned and closed the car door behind me, then fell into step beside me as we walked toward the entrance.
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.
He looked at the sky, which was perfectly blue and cloudless in a way that made it feel like a set piece.
I looked at the sidewalk, making sure I didn’t trip or scuff a heel.
“Actually, can we…?” I motioned to the park across the street, where the trees were just starting to bud and the walking paths had been swept clean by the recent windstorms. “Go sit and talk?”
He followed my line of sight, looked relieved, and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do that.”
We jaywalked like teenagers dodging a truant officer, and the minute my shoes hit grass, I realized how much I’d missed the feeling of open air.
Adam seemed more relaxed too, hands in pockets, head tipped back to catch the sun, like a prisoner who’d forgotten what outdoors felt like.
We meandered for a bit, not really saying anything, until he finally asked, “So, what’s up with the case? ”
“Nothing,” I sighed. “All the drama has already happened.” Then I filled him in—Cliff Notes version.
“Stacy’s out on bail, in a treatment facility.
Her sisters are caring for Jeremiah. I met them, they’re actually really nice.
Tanner is… well, just waste of space piece of shit, but did anyone really expect anything else. ”
Adam frowned. “I talked to Birdie and read the report. You’re not pressing charges?”
It turned out Stacy had a history of mental illness and a very brilliant mind.
She could hack almost anything which is how she’d been able to hack the security system of my building, my smartlock, alarm system, and Tesla.
Tanner convinced her to get off her meds to start a family, then not to go back on them once she had Jeremiah because he was afraid, she’d put on weight.
He isolated her from her family and was very emotionally abusive. So no, I wasn’t pressing charges.
“Not for the break-ins or the car. They’re only getting her for the discharge of her weapon.”
“And you’re paying for her lawyer.”
“I’m helping with legal fees, yes. The treatment facility is taking a lot of the family’s resources. It’s not cheap.”
He watched me for a second, his eyes unreadable, then shook his head. “You always do that.”
“What?”
He stopped us by an empty bench and sat down, patting the spot next to him. “See the best in people. Even when they’re… confirmed felons.”
I lowered beside him and set the manilla envelope with the divorce papers on my lap and flattened my hands over them. My palms were sweaty. “She’s not a felon. She was hurting. She has mental health issues. She needed help. You would have done the same if you’d been there.”
I knew Adam still thought I was being too easy on her, but he hadn’t seen how broken she was.
“No, I wouldn’t have. She pointed a gun at you.”
I knew we were never going to see eye to eye on this, so I changed the subject to one we did agree on. “How are the girls?”
That did it, his whole face shifted, like the sun came out from behind a cloud.
“They’re great. They both started piano.
Joey’s in soccer, she loves it. She even sleeps with her ball.
Andi started the math league. She won a first-place medal but gave it to Joey because she thought it was a pretty necklace. ”
“Sibling generosity.” I smiled. “Extremely rare. I hope they never grow out of it.”
“They miss you,” he said, quietly, almost reverently. “A lot.”
I lifted my eyes to meet his. “Really?”
“You seem surprised.”
“I am… I just thought…I haven’t been around in a while.”
“They talk about you all the time. Ask if they can call you all the time.”
“What do you tell them?”
“That you’re busy working,” he shrugged. “And that you’ll visit when you can.”
My brows lifted. “Do they believe you?”
He looked at me for a long time, and then smiled, but it was a sad smile, the kind people wear when they’re about to say something they know will sting. “No.” He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
I took in a shaky breath.
He said my name, just once, “Billie,” and I swore I felt my pulse trip over itself like a kid running downhill too fast.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his face, which would have made me lose my nerve entirely. He waited. He always waited for me, which was both his best and worst quality.
When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me, gaze so direct it was like standing in the path of a high-beam headlight.
My tongue felt too big for my mouth. “What?
“What did you want to talk to me about?” he prompted, as if willing me across the finish line, his voice that gravelly timbre that used to make my knees buckle and now just made my stomach somersault.
I fumbled, but finally blurted, “So, you remember when we were in the closet at the magazine launch?”
He grinned, the dimple in his left cheek popping like a camera flash. “Yes, I definitely remember when we were in the closet.”
“No, not…that… I’m talking about when you said we can’t be friends.”
He nodded and I realized something I needed to ask him something important before we continued.
“Wait, are you seeing anyone?”
Adam blinked, startled and maybe a little offended. “What?”
I felt my face heating to the color of a tomato. “Are you dating anyone? Charli, or anyone?”
“No, I’m marr—” He shook his head. “No. I’m not.”
Relief swept through me like a warm bath, and I let my head tip back to stare up at the sky, blue, cloudless, and so clear it was almost indecent. “Okay. Okay, good. Because when you said you were in love with me, but I didn’t want to raise kids, I’ve been thinking about it and… what if I do?”
His eyes darkened and his jaw clenched making me dizzy. “Do you?”
“Not kids in general,” I clarified, “your kids. Your girls. Andi and Joey. I want to be there for them. I want to be there for you. I want to…” I trailed off, suddenly unable to remember most of the English language.
He leaned in, so close I could feel the warmth radiating off his skin despite the cold. His voice had dropped at least two octaves, the way it did when he was talking to me in bed. “What are you saying, Billie?”
I bit my lip, nearly drawing blood, but forced myself to push through.
“I’m saying I don’t want to get a divorce.
I never did. I want to be married to you.
I want to take the girls to school and pick them up and make them oatmeal and watermelon in cubes because for some reason they won’t eat it any other way.
I want to have movie nights and braid their hair and fight with you about whose turn it is to walk the dog.
Oh, I really want to get a dog. We’re getting a dog.
And I want to make blueberry pancakes every Sunday.
” My voice cracked, and I hated it, but I didn’t stop. “I want you. I’ve always wanted you.”
For a second, he just sat there, not moving, not blinking, like the world had stuttered and skipped a frame. He stared at me, not saying a word, his expression didn’t change.
“Adam?”
A single tear fell from his face and he exhaled, it sounded like a breath he had been holding for…maybe forever.
Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine, they were like warm petals, soft and gentle as they found mine in a kiss that was filled with love, longing, and a sense of homecoming.
It was possessive, as if he was staking his claim on me, and yet it was also healing, mending all the broken pieces and bringing us back together in a moment of sweet, passionate connection.
I melted into it. I lost myself in it. I found myself in it.
When it finally broke, he rested his forehead against mine and said, “Is this real? After all these years, Billy Joel, are you really mine?”
“Yes. I’m yours, I’ve always been yours.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his mom’s ring, and got down on one knee.
“What? What are you doing? Why do you have that?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I just thought I should bring it. I knew you didn’t want kids, but I told myself if you asked about the girls, if I thought for a second that you might be happy with us then I’d fight for you.
I’d fight to stay married to you. So, Billie Joel, I know we’ve done this very backwards, we had a wedding first, sort of, and then we got married and now I am on one knee asking will you make me the happiest, luckiest man in the world and continue to be my wife? ”
“Yes, yes I will!”
Adam slid his mom’s ring on my finger, cupped my face and kissed me. Then he stood up and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder, l like he did when we were kids. I giggled as the divorce papers fell to the ground. He bent down and picked them up.
“You can throw those away,” I told him.
“Nope, I’m gonna burn them.”
I was still laughing as he carried me to the car. “Where are we going?”
“Home Mrs. Knight. I’m taking you home.”
THE END
Thank you for reading The GARTER TOSS Agreement. If you enjoyed Billie and Adam's story, you're not going to want to miss Birdie's story coming this summer in The BEST MAN Backup plan.
Until then if you haven't read Olivia and Ben's story in Love in Fine Print make sure to check check it out.