Chapter 9 – Jasper Bright
OKAY, REALLY WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?
JASPER brIGHT
Stumbling in the door, I gasp and slam it closed. It’s so fucking cold that I can’t feel my fingers anymore.
I cleaned up the driveway as best as I could considering that the snow was coming down just as fast as I got rid of it.
Peaches meets me at the door and yaps, glaring at me. Grinning, I sink to my knees and lift her up. “Sorry, girl. I know that’s a cold damn wind. I didn’t mean to get you so cold.”
I set her down and she glares harder at me running around in a circle.
A creeping unease hits me when I realize that the house feels empty and cold.
“Merry? Where are you?” I slam into the parlor but she’s not there and when I run out of the room and upstairs to her bedroom, knocking on the door, nobody answers.
I open it and my heart sinks to my feet when I see the suitcase is gone. All her things are gone.
She’s gone.
“What the hell have I done?”
But nobody answers me and that’s when I realize that if she’s gone, I can’t go on. I don’t want to do the show without her. I don’t want to live through one single day without her.
And I sent her away. She ran because of me.
I grab my coat and hat and stumble out the door, jerking to a stop when I see her car. The door is open and the light is on but when I look inside she’s not there either.
I can barely see the slight outline of her tiny footsteps heading out of the yard and towards town.
Running like a wild man, I stumble after them, screaming her name over and over into the wind and snow.
It feels like forever but I finally see a dark figure trudging through the snow way ahead of me. I lift my hand and scream.
“Merry! Please, baby! Turn around! Come home!” I’m an idiot.
My feet tangle with something and I wince as I go down. Her suitcase glares at me with accusing eyes. I don’t bother to pick it up. I need to get to her.
I get to my feet and race after her, the snow pulling at my feet, the wind and snow pulling my words away as I scream for her.
I finally catch up with the shambling figure ahead of me and grab her arm, jerking her around to me.
Her shimmering eyes, wet with tears glare at me. “Wh-what do you want?”
“What are you doing? Trying to kill yourself?”
“What do you care?”
“I care, dammit! I shouldn’t because I’m not good enough for you. You deserve so much more. But I can’t let you leave. I love you, Merry. I love you so damn much. It almost killed me when I saw you were gone.”
Her swimming eyes stare up at me and a single tear trickles down her perfect, pale cheek. “You wanted me gone.”
I reach down and tug her up tight against me, shuddering as I feel her shivering. I almost lost her. The best thing that ever happened to me.
“I was an idiot. I can’t let you go. I love you. I hope that one day you could love me as much as I love you. But until you do I’ll spend every day showing you how much you mean to me.”
“I love you too, you crazy man.”
I close my eyes and pull her tight. “Then I’m even more of an idiot.”
Her frozen lips turn up. “I didn’t say it.”
“You didn’t need to. Now let’s get you home and warmed up. I don’t intend to lose you to pneumonia either.”
I lift her up into my arms and she wraps her arms around me, shivering. I kiss her ice-cold lips and stumble home. It feels like no time at all because she’s here. She’s mine. I’m going to make sure that she never leaves me.
Stumbling through the door, I set her on the ground and deftly take her wet, cold coat off of her. Kissing her gently, I leave her there. “I’m gonna get some blankets and then we’re gonna sit by the fire and get you warmed up.”
I jog upstairs and gather what I need then race back downstairs. She hasn’t moved and she’s leaning against the wall waiting.
I lead her to the parlor in front of the fire and strip her, then myself, wrapping both of us in the blankets and sit us in front of the fire.
She turns her nose into my throat and I smile when her breath whooshes across my skin, the scent of peppermint clinging to her and I close my eyes, clinging to her.
Our breath slowly settles, perfectly matching each other. I lean down and kiss her gently. “I love you so much, angel. I’m an idiot and I can’t promise I’ll never be an idiot again. But I promise that if you tell me that I am, I’ll do my damnedest to change for you. I’d do anything for you.”
Her pale eyes look up at me, glistening with happy tears. “Just love me. That’s all I need.”
“Done.”
I hold her tight and listen to her breathe, feel her settle into my arms where she belongs and now, now I know that I have a person, a forever.
“I love you, Merry. You’re my person. Forever.”
“Same, Jasper. Same.”