Chapter 26
Jesse
Ella and I had dinner plans tonight, but she woke up with a nasty head cold.
Said it was probably something she picked up at work.
Still, I wasn’t about to let her tough it out alone.
On my way over, I swung by a place on Main and grabbed some chicken noodle soup.
Figured I’d surprise her with a chocolate lava cake too, if she’s got the appetite for it.
The door’s unlocked like she said it would be, so I let myself in. The apartment is quiet and dark. I head to her room to see her curled up in bed, eyes closed, her head almost fully covered with the blankets. For a second, I think she’s asleep, but then her eyes blink open and she sees me.
“Hey, sweetheart.” I hold up the bag of food. “I brought you something if you’re hungry.”
She sits up and slips out of bed. She’s in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Definitely doesn’t look like herself. Her color is off, her eyes are heavy, and her nose is red.
“I’m not, but I know I need to eat,” she mutters and takes the bag from me after a quick hug. I follow her to the kitchen and she sets everything out to decide what she wants first.
“Lava cake?” she asks, opening the container and looking at me with a small grin.
“I know you usually like them, but it’s fine if you don’t tonight.”
“Maybe after the soup,” she says, pulling a spoon from the drawer. Her movements are slow as she sits down at the counter. Eventually, she brings a small spoonful to her lips.
I sit beside her in the other stool, just watching her. She’s quiet, focused on the bowl like it’s taking all the energy she has left.
“I’m sorry you feel like crap.” I know she’d been looking forward to tonight just as much as I was, with it being our first Valentine’s Day together since we were kids and all.
But if I’m being honest, I’d been looking forward to tonight for a little bit of a different reason.
My hand brushes across my jeans to feel the ring in my pocket.
I went and got it the day after she told me she loved me back, in the airport.
I’m not wasting any time. She wants it all, she’s gonna get it all. As soon as possible.
Even though my plans of proposing got ruined, I still brought it with the intention of following through. However, after seeing how out of it she seems, it may not be ideal.
“Can we still reschedule?” she wonders, sipping the broth.
Lifting my hand up to her back, I rub small circles. “Course.”
She takes another sip and rests her head on my shoulder. “I love you for this, thank you,” she murmurs. I swear I’ll never get tired of hearing those words roll off her tongue.
After she finishes eating, we find ourselves back in her room. The TV is so low in volume, I almost think it’s muted at times. My body curled around hers, the blankets up over us, she’s shaking from the fever, her breathing uneven through the sniffling.
“Did you take anything?” I ask, feeling helpless.
She mumbles, “No.”
“Babe.” My tone is soft but firm. Is she serious? She’s a nurse. She takes care of people all day but doesn’t take care of herself?
She shifts, turning her whole body toward me. Her legs tangle with mine, and she tucks her arms between us, searching for warmth.
“I thought I’d just sleep it off,” she says, like it makes sense in her head.
“You can still do that with medicine. I’ll get you something.” I sit up. “I’ll be your nurse,” I joke with a kiss on her head before leaving for her bathroom.
I find a bottle of Advil in her cabinet and read the dosage before I grab her a glass of water too.
“Here.” I hand it all over as she sits up.
“Thanks, babe.” I watch her throw the pills in her mouth and wash them down with the water. “You know you shouldn’t be here with me, you’re gonna get sick,” she threatens, and I laugh.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.” I climb back in bed with her.
She lays down facing me, I pull her into my arms, brushing my lips against hers in a soft kiss. She giggles against my mouth, and I smile. Knowing how congested she is, I pull back to let her breathe.
“I wish I didn’t feel like this right now,” she groans.
I nuzzle my head beside hers, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. “Me too.”
She rolls over, facing away from me now. I snake my hand over her waist, to make sure she stays against me. Her fingers lace together in mine. I feel so at peace being with her like this. Aside from her being sick, it’s perfect.
Less than ten minutes later, she falls asleep. I can tell by the way her breathing changed and her body relaxed. I close my eyes with the intention of a cat nap but doze off within just a few minutes.
* * *
When I wake up, the apartment is nearly pitch black, the only light coming from the soft glow in the kitchen.
I feel surprisingly well-rested but I don’t think much of it, assuming it’s still early, maybe just past 10 p.m. or so.
But when I glance at my phone, my breath catches when I see it’s 6 a.m.
“Crap,” I mutter under my breath as I slowly pull my numb arm from under Ella. Sleeping in the same position all night does that to you.
I carefully get off the bed, adjusting myself. My shirt is bunched up and my jeans are twisted around my ankles. Then my heart stops when I remember the ring.
I reach into my pocket, my fingers brushing against the warm metal. I’m relieved when I feel it’s still there.
Walking around the bed, I kneel down in front of Ella to tell her I’m leaving, hoping I don’t wake her up completely. I just don’t want her to think I ditched her.
“Sweetheart.” I run a hand over her hair. She doesn’t feel hot anymore which is good. Her eyes flicker open. “It’s six in the morning.” I laugh softly. “I’m gonna head out.” I kiss her forehead and stand.
She sits up. “Wait. No,” she insists. “Why don’t we go get breakfast or something?”
“Don’t you feel like crap?”
She pauses. “Not as bad.”
I contemplate my day; I don’t have much going on. “Sure. Let’s do it.”
She smiles, climbing out of bed. “We spent another spontaneous night together …” she says with a small laugh, knowing full well last night’s intentions were completely different than the first one.
“I didn’t mean to crash here.”
She walks over to her closet. “I know. But it’s fine.”
I clear my throat to say something back, but she cuts in. “You get a ring on my finger and we can spend every night together, you know?” Her smile is cute and playful.
My body stiffens slightly. Joke’s on her—that ring is in my pocket, and if she hadn’t been sick, it would be on her finger already.
I grin back at her. “That right?”
“Well, I guess two technically,” she corrects with a shrug and slips on a pair of socks.
My mind races, spinning with the thought of what might happen if I did it right here. How caught off guard would she be? Would she care that it’s not in some beautiful, picturesque place or professionally photographed?
I glance at her, but then I look deeper, really look. There’s something in the way she’s smiling, the warmth in her eyes, that makes my chest tighten.
She catches me. “What?”
I reach into my pocket. My hands are shaky already, but I manage to grab hold the very small yet very expensive diamond ring, not pulling it out of my pocket to reveal it yet.
I reach out my other hand. “Come here.”
Her face blanks as she hesitates but still places her hand in mine, and I pull her closer to me.
“What?”
I can’t help but grin, looking down for a moment as I try to collect my thoughts I’ve already rehearsed a hundred times. Whatever those were have completely left my memory. I’m left with this lump in my throat instead and tears threatening to emerge.
“What’s going on?” she whispers, trying to see my face. When I look at her, the color of her cheeks changes as she sees the emotion I’m showing.
“Ella Kate.” I pull the ring out of my pocket, lowering to one knee, I hold it up between us. “Marry me.”
Her eyes grow wide, softening and glossing over with tears in seconds. Covering her mouth, she lets out a breathy sigh that turns into tears.
Unable to speak, she just nods her head yes and attempts to pull me up off the floor to kiss me, her lips trembling against mine as the tears continue to fall. My heart rate steadies, switching from nervous to excited.
She pulls away from my kiss. “Are you serious?” she whispers, her voice thick with emotion.
Her tears are wet on my cheeks as I pull her close. “I have loved you since I was sixteen years old. Yes, I’m serious.”
My words make her cry more. I bring her hand up and slip the ring onto her finger. My hands are shaking as I push it into place.
“Jess, it’s beautiful.”
“You make it beautiful.”
She blushes, staring at it still. I laugh softly, feeling the weight of everything settle in. She wraps her arms around me again, and I rest my head on top of hers. My heart is starting to slow now.
“Shall we still go have a celebratory breakfast?” I ask.
Her face brightens. “Yes!”
“Then we should go back to my place and tell my family. They didn’t know I was doing it.”
“What?!” Her eyes are wide with shock.
“They knew the original plan was to ask after our dinner, but then you were sick so I told them I’d figure out another time.”
“Oh, well, then yeah, they’ll be so surprised!” She smiles and grabs a heavy flannel jacket to throw over her sweatshirt.
“We can call your parents too.”
She looks to me. “Did they know?”
“You think I wouldn’t have talked to your dad? El …”
“You talked to my dad?!”
“And mom. Yeah.”
“When?!”
“When you got back from Texas.”
Her face is pure shock as if she’s piecing things together. “Wait. LH. My dad? Larry Hayes? That’s who you were texting and calling?!”
Taken back, I cross my arms but keep my tone steady. “Were you on my phone?”
Her face turns red and she sucks in a breath.
“Ella.”
“You were being really secretive with it, I was worried.”
“When?”
“The other week, you left it on the table while you showered and I—”
“Do you think I would cheat on you?”
“No.”
“Then what were you looking for?”
She shakes her head, rubbing her temples. “I don’t know. I just felt—”
“Like I was cheating?”
“No. I don’t know. I guess a little part of me was worried, yeah.”
She tucks her hair back and shifts her footing. Her gaze drops to her fingers.
“I hate that.”
“It’s not you. It’s just a universal thing. Boyfriend hiding his phone, wonder what it is. You know?”
“Why didn’t you just ask me?”
“I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “What would you have said?”
“I would’ve told you the truth.”
“You would’ve come out and said it was my dad, that you were asking for my hand in marriage?” She crosses her arms.
“No. I would’ve just said it was your dad,” I take another breath. “And you can go on my phone, babe. I have nothing to hide, but that’s not the point. The point is, I’m never going to lie to you. Ever.”
“Okay. Well then, I’m sorry.”
“Just promise me that next time, if there’s a next time, you’ll just talk to me?”
“I promise.”
“Good.” I peck her cheek with a kiss.
When we get outside, I open my truck door for her. The smile she wears puts me on such a high, feeling every bit of happiness as this new chapter of our lives starts to unfold. A chapter we used to dream about is finally going to play out.
As I slide into the driver’s seat, her hand finds mine. Feeling the ring in our grasp will take me a second to get used to, but I squeeze it before bringing it up to my lips to kiss.
“I love you,” I remind her.
She smiles. “I love you.”
Today, I thank God for second chances, for the grace to find our way back to each other, and for the future that’s now ours to create together.