Chapter 64 Lexi
LEXI
Aday later, I stood on the west side of Prospect Park for the Spring Bloom Festival. Evie and other kids ran around with face paint and glitter in their hair. Local musicians took turns on a small pop-up stage, and booths sold everything from candles to lemonade.
I had come mostly for Evie, but also to keep myself distracted from thinking about Jonah’s absence.
Anne stood next to us, watching over Evie and helping me feel safe now that we were in public.
Jonah’s car was parked in the distance, and a member of his security detail stood a few feet away from us, discreetly scanning the crowd.
The scent of kettle corn, and grilled arepas drifted through the air.
It had been a few days since Jonah had left for Wyoming, and phone conversations were a miserable substitute for having him around in person.
After his visit to Wyoming, Jonah had disappeared to meet his friends, Alex, Sean and the others, and even though I knew he was in New York, I hadn’t seen him all day.
Evie gave me a few flowers she’d picked off the ground, and ran back to Anne. It was a sunny day, and families were everywhere and music played in the background. It should have been perfect.
And maybe it would’ve been if I hadn’t been trying not to think about Jonah for the hundredth time today.
Then I felt him before I saw him. The people around me had gone quiet, and I looked up.
Jonah stood about twenty feet away, completely out of place with his dark jacket, his expensive shoes, and his gaze locked straight on me.
My pulse pounded as I took a few steps forward to get a better look.
His face lost some of its tightness. “Lexi,” he said loudly enough for me to hear across the distance.
A tear rolled down my cheek as he strode towards me. The flowers in my hand fell to the ground, but I barely noticed. My focus was on Jonah, and people parted to let him through.
He was, obnoxiously, the tallest, most handsome man out here, and my heart felt like it was about to burst with happiness after seeing Jonah again.
“You look … surprised,” he said, when he reached me, his voice finally audible over the festival noise.
“Well,” I whispered back. “I should have known a surprise entrance like this was exactly what a megalomaniac billionaire would do to get my attention.”
His lips twisted into a wry smile. “We meet after a couple of long days, and the first thing you want to do is curse me?”
A mirroring smile threatened to take over my lips, and I fought it down. I nodded. Duh. “I had to bite back so many curses in the past few days because you weren’t around to appreciate them. This one just slipped out.”
I’d been such a fool. The past few days, my chest had been feeling so hollow and my brain fuzzy. Now, it was as though that vacant spot was shrinking and my brain was clearing up.
His expression heated me up, his eyes never straying from my face.
“Well, go on then,” he said, taking my hand in his and pressing a kiss on the back of my hand.
My heart swelled while he did that. “I know things have been difficult lately. I know that ever since that article came out, people have been sending threatening letters to your old apartment. I know that Evie and you were occasionally followed by strangers who simply wanted to hurl insults at you.”
I inhaled a sharp breath. “Sasha told you, didn’t she? I’m going to kill her—”
“Don’t,” he muttered. “She’s got a fiancé who might murder you if you hurt her, and—”
“You’d avenge my death?” I asked hopefully. “I could rest in peace if I knew that you would suffer in anguish for a reasonable amount of time after I passed.”
His eyebrows rose, and I answered him without him having to ask, “Twenty years should be fine.”
He turned sideways, his head dipping as he grinned.
“Watch out,” I warned him. “This little reunion of ours will not go well if you laugh so heartily at the idea of suffering once I’m dead.”
“I wasn’t laughing at that, my love,” he said, eyes back on me. Eyes that were twinkling, might I add. “I was thinking about how much I’d missed you.”
I inhaled. “I only went into work once, to speak with HR, the entire time you were gone. Thankfully, Stacey understood and let me work from home because I was too scared to take Evie out, too scared of what people would say about her and us.”
He stepped close, his hand reaching up to cup my cheek. “It’s okay,” he said. “All I see is a mother protecting her child at all costs. Shutting the world out to keep her safe, and it’s what my mother didn’t do for me. I love you to death for taking care of Evie first.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry, Jonah. I truly am, that you had to quit your job because of me.”
“Well, I’m not,” he said, this thumb grazing my lips. “I’m relieved, actually. Because when I was faced with the idea of losing you or my job, the choice was pretty obvious.”
I drew in a deep breath while his fingers stroked my hair.
“But what about your Dad? He’s not going to be happy about this.”
“Lexi,” he said, looking changed somehow. “You were right. I’m walking away from Dad and Cora for good. I don’t need them anymore. You’re my family, Lexi. You fill in everything that’s been missing for me.”
That made me look up at him. When I did, my traitorous hands went up around his neck as though they knew they belonged there even if my brain didn’t.
“I’m guessing your meeting with you Dad didn’t go over so well?” I asked.
He nodded. “Did you invite him over to the birthday party?”
I nodded, feeling rueful.
“No wonder …” Jonah trailed off, but he gave me a sad smile. “It’s not new.”
“I know,” I said, my voice catching a little. “But I thought maybe … if I reached out, he would show up. That it would mean something to him to be there for you—”
“It means something to me,” he said, his throat moving as he swallowed. “You even trying.”
“I just didn’t want you to look around a room full of people and still feel like someone was missing.”
He leaned in closer. “I didn’t. Not really.”
“But he’s your dad, Jonah.”
“I know,” he said. “And I’ve spent a long time wanting him to show up, in ways big and small. But now I’m done expecting it. I’ve got you.”
My throat burned. “I just wanted to fix it.”
“You did,” he said, cupping my cheek. “You fix things by being here. By seeing me.”
I leaned into his hand, feeling the warmth of him, the steadiness. His lips moved to my cheek and oh so dangerously close to my mouth.
“I love you,” I said before I could second-guess it. “And I don’t want you to get used to people not showing up for you.”
He smiled, that rare, honest smile that made my heart ache a little, even as my lips demanded to do less talking and more kissing. “And I won’t. Not anymore.”
He pressed me closer to him, trailing kisses on my temple as he spoke.
“I know you hate big, flashy things in your life. I know you hate uncertainty and instability. But I want to show you that I love you. More than my job at Altika, more than my miserable family who always tried to pull me down. I’m letting both of those go, Lexi, because I want you more than them.
And if there’s anything else in my life you want me to let go, just give me the word.
Because I can’t go another day without you, Lexi. I love you.”
His words clearly carried further than intended, because I heard the stunned reactions ripple through the crowd, and quite a few audible gasps.
Everything about this moment felt right. Perhaps it was finally understanding what I’d been missing and how different Jonah was from anyone else. But everything came down to one thing: he was a man I could spend the rest of my life with.
“Now, that’s how you confess your love to someone,” a woman from the crowd muttered. “You’d better take him back, lady, or I’m claiming him,” she called just as I stood on tip-toe.
I looked back at Jonah as the world seemed to stand still. The music, the festival, and the city, all of it faded away, leaving just the two of us in that moment.
“He’s taken,” I called out over my shoulder to the crowd before crushing Jonah’s lips with mine.
The crowd erupted into cheers as Jonah kissed me back, to more whoops and cheers from people and one snide comment. “Damn, I was hoping he’d be available after.”
Then I melted into the kiss, fighting a grin back.
When we finally broke apart, I laughed, overwhelmed by the sheer joy and love that I felt for Jonah.
“Jonah!” came a delighted squeal, and suddenly Evie was running toward us, her hands still dusty with pollen from the flower booth. Anne followed behind her with a knowing smile.
Jonah broke away from me just long enough to scoop Evie up in his arms, spinning her around as she giggled. “There’s my favorite girl,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“I missed you so much!” Evie declared, wrapping her small arms around his neck. “Mom said you went to see your daddy, but I knew you’d come back to us.”
“Always,” Jonah said firmly, his voice thick with emotion. He looked at me over Evie’s head, his eyes bright. “I’ll always come back to my girls.”
Jonah shifted Evie so he could wrap his free arm around me, pulling us all into a tight embrace. “My family,” he murmured against my hair, and for the first time in years, I felt completely whole.