Chapter 20 #2
Stella looks around at all of us—her chosen family, her work crew, her support system. When her eyes find mine again they’re bright with unshed tears.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispers.
“Say you’ll accept it,” Arden encourages. “Say you’ll stop trying to keep that Corolla running with prayer and stubbornness.”
She laughs—music that always makes my heart skip. “Gertrude’s not that bad.”
“Stella,” Parker says seriously, “last week you had to hit the dash three times to get the radio working.”
“And the air con only works if you jiggle the handle,” Rhys adds.
“Plus, it makes that weird grinding noise when you turn left,” Robert chimes in.
“Okay, okay,” she laughs, holding up her hands in surrender. “So she’s seen better days.”
“So?” Arden prompts, dangling the keys. “What do you say?”
She takes a deep breath, looks at the car one more time, then faces us. “I say… thank you. All of you. For this, for believing in me, for making me feel like part of a family.”
The cheer that goes up from the group could probably be heard three blocks away. Stella takes the keys with shaking hands and unlocks the car to explore the interior.
“Leather seats,” she breathes, running her hand over the upholstery. “And it smells like… new car.”
“Take it for a test drive,” I suggest. “See how she handles.”
“Will you come with me?” she asks, and warmth floods my chest.
“Try and stop me.”
Inside is as impressive as the outside—clean lines, modern tech. Stella adjusts the seat and mirrors with the care of someone handling something precious. When she starts the engine, the purr makes her moan.
“Oh, this is beautiful,” she says, easing out of the car park. “So smooth. So quiet.”
“Good acceleration too,” I point out as she merges into traffic. “V6 engine, rear-wheel drive. She’ll handle well in all conditions.”
“You really helped choose this?”
“Arden asked what you’d like. I said you’d appreciate quality engineering over flashy extras. Something reliable but not boring.”
“And red because it matches my personality?”
“Red because you’re passionate about everything. Fierce when you need to be, warm when someone needs comfort. Red felt… right.”
She glances at me, something soft in her expression that makes me want to tell her to pull over so I can kiss her senseless.
“I love it,” she says simply. “I love that you thought I deserved this. I love that you know me well enough to choose the perfect car.”
We drive in comfortable silence for a while, enjoying the ride and each other’s company. When we head back to the workshop, I can see that Stella’s still processing the magnitude of the gift.
“Jake?” she says as we pull into the car park.
“Yeah?”
“This feels like a life I never thought I’d have. A job I love. People who care about me. A man who sees me for who I really am.” She turns to look at me, and her eyes are bright with emotion. “Sometimes I can’t believe it’s real.”
“It’s real,” I assure her, reaching over to take her hand. “And you deserve every bit of it.”
“Do I, though? I was just making coffee and drifting through life. Now I’m running a business, driving a BMW, and in love with the most incredible man I’ve ever met.”
“Stella.” I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “You didn’t become amazing when you started working at Doc’s. You were always amazing. You just finally found a place where people could see it.”
She blinks back tears, battling the compliment. It still floors me that someone so professionally confident can doubt her own worth.
“I love you,” she whispers. “So much it scares me sometimes.”
“Good scared or bad scared?”
“Good scared. The kind that means it matters.”
Back inside, hand in hand, I think about how much my life has changed since that night at Grumpy’s.
I thought I was content with my simple existence, work, mates, the occasional meaningless hook-up.
Stella showed me what I was missing. She showed me what it means to want to be better, to build something lasting, to love someone so completely that their happiness becomes more important than your own.
The guys are waiting for us when we get back, clearly eager to hear about the test drive.
“Well?” Chase asks. “How does she drive?”
“Like a dream,” Stella replies, her face glowing with happiness. “Smooth, responsive, powerful. Everything I never knew I wanted in a car.”
“Just like Jake, then,” José razzes with a wicked grin.
“JOSé!” Stella shrieks, her face going about the colour of her new car.
“What? I’m just saying, you seem to have a type. Fast, reliable...”
“I’m going to kill you,” she threatens, but she’s laughing.
“You’ll have to catch me first,” José calls, already bolting for the back.
Watching her chase him—heels, work clothes, laughing like a kid—I’m struck again by how perfectly she fits into our little work family. She’s professional when she needs to be, but she’s also fun and warm and completely, utterly ours.
“She’s good for you,” Arden says quietly, appearing at my elbow.
“I know.”
“And you’re good for her. I’ve never seen her so confident. So happy.”
“She deserves to be happy.”
“So do you, mate. So do you.”
As the day winds down and we pack up, I watch Stella carefully gather her things, still sneaking glances at the car through the window. She’s trying to play it cool, but joy radiates off her like sunshine.
“Ready to head home?” I ask when she steps out of her office.
“Ready,” she confirms, then pauses. “Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For today. For everything. For seeing me.”
“Always, darl. Always.”
We walk out to her new BMW together and I think about the future we’re building: the talks about marriage and kids; the easy domesticity we’ve fallen into, the way; how she’s become such an integral part of my life that I can’t imagine life without her.
I used to think love was a chemical reaction—a temporary madness that faded with time. But this—what I feel for Stella—is deeper, something permanent. This is the kind of love that builds foundations, that creates families, that lasts.
And watching her slide behind the wheel of her new car, her face bright with happiness and possibility, I know—with absolute certainty—this is just the beginning of our story.