Chapter 42
Val
“Val, you have a visitor,” Stella says over the phone.
“I do?” I never get visitors at work. There’s a time or two I’ll be called to occupy someone who has to wait for one of the agents, but that’s it. No actual visitors.
“Yes. Should I send him to your office, or do you want to come up front?”
Him? “Um, you can send him to my office.” I don’t need the whole place staring at me. My blinds have been closed all day because cramps hit me out of left field, and avoiding prying eyes means I can lie down on my sofa as needed.
I want to curl up there now with a warm rice sack right where it hurts. Instead, lo-fi Christian music flows from my computer desk and over-the-counter pain meds keep me from breaking into tears. Now’s not the time to let Aunt Flo win. I rise to my feet because I should be hearing a knock soon.
Right on cue.
“Come in,” I call out.
My boyfriend strolls into my office, smelling like fresh soap and the cologne that makes my senses swim.
“Jabari, what are you doing here?”
He walks right up to me, taking my hands in his. I’m not sure when I moved from behind my desk or how he pivoted to meet me at the last second. I stare into his brown eyes and blink, surprised by the intensity shining there.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
He traces a finger from my temple to my chin. His gaze roams my face like he’s cataloging every single feature.
My heart picks up speed. “Jabari?”
A slow smile curves over his handsome face, and I know. Somehow, my boyfriend sees every single feature of mine. Tears well up, and I press a hand to my stomach.
“How?”
“God is absolutely amazing, Val.”
A sob escapes, and I launch myself into his arms. He can see!
My mind reels at the news, so I squeeze him even tighter as the implications take weight.
After a moment, I pull back and place my lips against his in celebration.
This has to mean good things for his future.
He wasn’t officially cut from the team, so maybe the playoffs are still within his reach.
And now he’ll be able to glimpse every smitten expression on my face.
I jump backward, eyes wide.
“Sunshine, you okay?” Jabari’s voice is husky.
Just the right tone to elicit goose bumps, but suddenly I’m worried about my appearance. I run a hand over the top of my hair and slide it downward toward the ends.
“Don’t.” Jabari stills my hand. “You look beautiful. Your outside perfectly matches your inside.”
My cheeks heat with the sentiment. “Are you just saying that?”
“Of course not.” He pulls me into a hug. “You’re beautiful, Val. I hope you won’t change how comfortable you are around me just because I’ll be staring at you as long as I have sight.”
A watery chuckle escapes my lips.
“You don’t need to wear more makeup or dress a certain way.” He stares down into my eyes. “I love you just the way you are.”
Will my heart burst from the happiness? “I love you too, Jabari.” I bury my face into his chest and try to sniff back my tears. I’m so happy right now.
“Can you go to lunch with me?” he asks.
“Mm-hmm. But I don’t want to leave your arms.” He’s better than any heating pad.
As if to prove me a liar, a sharp cramp hits me, and I hunch over with a groan.
“Val?”
“Cramps,” I gasp.
“Aw, Sunshine.” He leads me to my chair, and I sink into it. “Why are you still at work?”
I shrug. For the life of me, I can’t remember why I insisted on staying when Jackie and Fran both urged me to go home. “Glutton for punishment?”
He laughs. “How about I get you your favorite soup and take you home?”
“That actually sounds wonderful.”
“We’ll watch your favorite movie too.” He grins.
Tears spill down my cheeks. “You’ll be able to see it.”
“As if I won’t be staring at you the whole time.” Jabari’s thumb wipes a tear away.
Joy fills me. Jabari helps me to a stand, then grabs my jacket while I take my purse out of the drawer. I place my phone in the middle pocket, then head toward the door.
Before we step out of my office, Jackie walks in and stops short. “Oh. I didn’t realize you have company.”
Discomfort fills me. These two haven’t been in the same room in a month. “Uh, yeah, Jabari convinced me to go home.”
“Glad someone could.” Jackie offers a stiff smile.
Is reality as tense as my imagination is making it out to be?
“Promise I’ll take good care of her,” Jabari says.
Jackie stares straight at him and nods. “I know you will.”
She sounds sincere, and a glimmer of hope shoots through me. Maybe everything really will work out for good. Heat pricks my eyes.
“Girl, don’t cry.” Jackie shoos me. “Go home. You know you just want to eat egg drop soup and watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding for the thousandth time.”
Jabari arches his brow at me. “Is that your not-feeling-well remedy?”
“It is.”
He chuckles. “Then let’s go. I’ll order the soup in the car.”
I love how accommodating he is. I also love how Jabari remembers so much about me.
As if each new tidbit is valuable and worth storing in his memory.
We’ve shared so much about ourselves in our daily conversations.
He always has my best interests at heart and actually cares to hear what I have to say.
He’s continuously made that evident even since the beginning of our friendship.
As I buckle myself in, I turn to my boyfriend. “Are you going to tell me the whole story?”
“Honestly, I thought you almost figured it out when we were with Mr. Warren.”
“Wait! You’ve been able to see since then?” My stomach drops to my toes.
“No, no. That’s when it started changing for me. For a brief second, well, maybe a few seconds, I saw you clearly. I thought I was hallucinating after that, but then I had another moment when my vision cleared.”
I can’t look away. Every single word feels like a miracle, and I don’t want to miss a bit of it.
Jabari shares about his medical imaging, how he was afraid to hope, and waking up this morning able to view every single thing in his room.
“Unfortunately, that means I even saw how bad my beard looked.”
“Is that why it’s even now?”
His head bobs up and down. “Needed to look good for my girl.” He winks at me.
Oh man. Is he going to use his charm on me? Because he was devastating already. I’m not sure I can handle this uber-confident version.
He pulls into the driveway leading to my parking garage, and I give him the code to enter.
“Chinese food should be waiting for us according to the tracker.” He waves his phone at me.
“Oh good. I’m ready to eat.” I study him while we wait for the elevators. “Will you stay with me, even if I fall asleep?”
He laces our fingers together. “Do you want me to?”
I nod.
“Then I will.” He places a kiss on my forehead.
Jabari is the first boyfriend I’ve had who doesn’t run away screaming when I start talking about cramps. In fact, he’s the first boyfriend I’ve had who’s jumped at a chance to take care of me.
We say nothing more until I’m sliding my shoes off and padding down the hall toward my bedroom. “I’m going to put on some sweats,” I call out.
“I’ll set up the movie and food.”
I close my bedroom door and quickly go to my dresser. My favorite sweats for this time of the month are at the very bottom. The fact that they’re old Warriors sweats is a bonus.
After changing, I pad out to the front, where Jabari’s laid out the food on the coffee table. My favorite movie is already queued up and ready to go.
He pulls me close. “How are you feeling?”
“Like roadkill.”
“Eat your soup, then you can rest your eyes.”
“Okay.” I settle on the cushion next to him. “Have you ever seen this movie before?”
He presses play. “Nope.”
“I think you’ll like it.”
And I’m right. He’s chuckling not too far into the movie.
The soup warms my insides—a cure for all ailments, in my opinion. When I put the bowl down, Jabari pulls me into his side and smooths my hair back from my face.
“This okay?”
“Perfect.” I bury my face into the crook of his neck and close my eyes.
“Val,” a soft voice murmurs.
“Mm?” I struggle to open my eyes. Why would I when the pain has finally stopped and I’m perfectly warm?
“I think I should get going.”
That’s Jabari’s voice. My eyes spring open as it hits me that I fell asleep. I glance at my watch and groan. “It’s nine at night?” My voice squeaks.
He chuckles. “Yeah. I would’ve left sooner, but Fran said you’ve had a rough week at work.”
“I’ve been putting out fires left and right.” I groan. “Sometimes I want to quit.”
“Yeah? What would you do instead?”
“Actually . . .” I stop. Do I really want to tell him something I haven’t shared with anyone else?
“What? You can tell me,” he encourages.
“I want to open a nursery.”
“For plants?”
I nod.
“You’d be perfect for that.”
Except I don’t have the guts to do it.
“Let’s pray God shows you when to take that leap.”
I lean over and press a kiss to Jabari’s cheek. “Thank you.”
He stands, then gently pulls me up. I follow him to the foyer area. Before he can reach for the door handle, I wrap my arms around his back and squeeze. “Thanks for taking care of me.”
“Anytime. You know I’ll be here for you unless I’m at an away game.”
I laugh. “You text more when you’re away, so you’re here in spirit.”
He kisses me gently. “I’ll always be here for you.”
“Love you.” My heart trips over the words, giddiness flowing through me.
“I love you too.”
When I spin around after locking the door, Fran is standing in the hall.
“You two are too cute.” She grins.
“He’s the best.”
“He told me the good news.”
“I still can’t believe it.”
“Will he play again?”
“Hopefully Friday.” He told me the coach’s plan earlier.
“Oh, I want to go. Though I’m not sure this nausea will allow me to.”
Poor Fran has finally begun to experience morning sickness. “Are you throwing up too?”
“Sometimes.” She unwraps a ginger candy. “These help, so here’s my nightcap.”
I remember something she’d shared the other day. “Is Derrick still calling?”
“Yeah. He wants to meet up.”
“Do you think he’ll propose again?”
Fran shrugs, a look of uncertainty clouding her gaze. “I hope not.”
“If you want to talk to him but don’t want to be alone with him, I’m happy to go with you. Anything you need, Franny Fran.”
“I might take you up on that, Val pal.”
I hope she does. I don’t know how she feels about Derrick. She says she’s over him and that he’s toxic, but does she have the strength to turn down a proposal twice when it would fix some obvious problems? I pray so. If not, I’ll stand beside her and help her not go back to that life.