Chapter 29
BILLIE
The meeting ends pretty soon after our reunion.
As soon as reality hits me, I’m embarrassed about the fact that everyone’s watching us, but I also know that everyone’s been secretly rooting for this too.
The news of me and Jacob breaking up has not been a quiet thing, and there were a bunch of people who thought that we could be great together.
For weeks, I’ve been trying to disagree with those people in my mind, to insist that it never really meant anything.
But now I have my arms wrapped around his chest, breathing him in all over again; the belief that it was over seems more distant than ever. It seems barely possible to believe that I let him go at all.
We don’t say much as we watch the people file out of the town hall.
We just have our arms around each other, holding each other close, breathing each other in.
I have so much that I do want to say to him, that I should say to him, but I don’t want to do any of that while anyone’s overhearing us.
We’ve already shown way too much public affection for the day.
As soon as everyone’s gone, Jacob turns to me and kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry,” he says again.
I swat at him, brushing my hand over his arm teasingly. “Stop apologizing.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles.
I fix him with a stern look. “I already know that you’re sorry. You’ve just proven to me how much you mean it. You don’t have to keep saying it.”
He nods slowly, his face flushed from embarrassment. The last thing I need is his groveling. I know he means it. He’s just going to have to believe me that I mean it too.
From the corner of the room, Briggs clears his throat. “If you two love birds don’t need me…” he stammers. “I’ll leave you to it.”
I can feel the blush on my cheeks rising again. Jacob chuckles and nods. “We’ll be okay. Thank you. We can leave if you want. Do you need to lock up?”
Briggs shrugs. “I usually do, but who’s going to break in here?”
We all chuckle awkwardly.
Jacob and I stare at Briggs. He stares at us. We’re waiting for him to leave, but not quite knowing how to say it politely. We all stand and stare, time grinding to a halt under the awkward atmosphere.
Finally, Briggs clears his throat and bids us goodbye, awkwardly ambling away and closing the door behind us. As soon as we’re both alone for real, we burst into laughter. “You sure you’ve missed this place?” I ask.
“I’ve never been more certain of anything,” he says.
I can’t help but kiss him again. This wonderful man. This ridiculous man who’s the father of my baby. I need to figure out a way to tell him. At least I have some faith that he’s going to want to stick around now.
“Jacob,” I start.
“Let me show you something,” he says, interrupting me.
“Oh, what?”
“Come with me.” He offers me his hand, and I frown. “I promise you, it’s not scary,” he says. “You’ll like it.”
I narrow my eyes but take his hand. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“You’ll see.” He grins and gives me a wink.
He leads me out the door, and we turn left away from the town. We walk for a while in silence, and as the buildings thin out, I ask, “Did you really do it?”
“Do what?”
“Give the town back to us? Like you promised?”
“I wasn’t lying to you when I said I would,” he says softly, with the same earnestness as he did those weeks ago. This time, I can see it for what it is. The truth. He has honest eyes and a sad smile, and I squeeze his hand.
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” I say quietly.
“I get it,” he says. “I didn’t exactly do the right thing. I don’t think I would have believed me either. I should have been better to you, to all of you.”
“You’re going to make it up to me now, though, right?” I say.
He nods, squeezing my hand in return. “This island is yours, all of yours. If anyone else ever tries to take it, I’ll be first in line to stop them.”
“My hero,” I say sarcastically, pressing the back of my hand to my forehead as if I’m swooning.
He laughs at that. “I missed you every day while I was gone. I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he says.
“Me too,” I confess quietly.
“You did?”
“Don’t sound so surprised!” I laugh. “I really, really tried not to. I wanted to be angry with you. I was angry with you, but what we were building together before you left, how we felt… that was real.”
“I’m glad you think so,” he says, giving me this small, sad look like he still can’t quite believe I’m really here with him, that I really want to be.
“Of course I do,” I say firmly. “Jacob, I…” I start again, but he grinds us to a halt before I can piece the words together.
Triumphantly, he stomps his foot. “Here we are!” he says, gesturing at a wide-open plot of land.
“What do you mean, here we are?” I scoff. “This isn’t anything.”
“Yes, it is,” he insists. “Or at least it will be. It’s my future home.”
I fix him with a withering look. “You’re not going to build a house. Seriously?”
“I am too. Well, not personally, but I’m going to pay for people to build me a house. And before you start, yes, I’ll make sure that they’re aware of all the environmental impacts, and I won’t do anything unsafe or bad for the island, and I’ll pay the fairest wage possible. And—”
“You don’t have to justify it,” I interrupt, rolling my eyes.
“If you’re going to walk on eggshells around me for the rest of my life, it’s going to get annoying real fast.” He opens his mouth, grimacing in embarrassment, but before he can grovel again, I add, “I’m just surprised you want a new build.
That’s all. I would have thought you’d want something with a bit of history. ”
He shrugs. “I want a fresh start for me. And for you. If you want it. I’m not forcing anything on you. But my door is open to you, always, and I would love it, if you wanted to…”
“I would move in with you.” I chuckle. “Those weeks when you were living in my house, they were some of the best weeks of my life. I can’t wait to spend more of my time with you. And before you start, yes, I mean it. I’m not going to lie to you, Jacob.”
“Good.” He smiles, the wind catching in his hair, ruffling it. The sun shines gold across his face, glinting in his eyes and highlighting him like he’s glowing. He’s beautiful. I can’t believe I ever thought this would not be his natural environment. He looks like he fits so well.
“Jacob,” I say quietly, taking both of his hands. He hums in question, still staring at the land as if he’s planning out all of his future decorations. “I have to talk to you. Listen to me.”
He cocks his head slightly to one side. “I’m listening. What is it?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Ominous.” He frowns.
“It’s nothing ominous, really,” I laugh. “It’s big news, and I’m not certain how to tell you.”
“Just say it,” he says, his gaze coming to settle on my face, our eyes meeting. “I don’t think we can have any more surprises today.”
“Well… this house of yours that you’re planning to build…” I take a deep breath. Just say it, I command in my mind. Just say it! “I hope you’re going to have space for a nursery.” The words slip out, hanging between us. No going back now. “Because it’s not going to be just you and me.”
“What?” he says, his face crumpling in confusion.
“I… I’m pregnant,” I say, sparing him the pain of having to use his own brain to decode my words. “I’m pregnant. With your baby.”
“You’re what?” he says, his face suddenly lighting up in a grin.
“You’re pregnant with… I’m going to be… we’re going to…
oh, my God!” He lets out a whoop, picks me up in his arms and spins me around.
I squeal as he does, gripping onto him for dear life, my heart leaping with the same joy as his.
“We’re going to be a family,” he gasps as he puts me down. “A real family.”
“A real family,” I echo. “And you do want—”
“Of course I want,” he interrupts before my doubt can even take shape.
“I want you, Billie, more than I can tell you. I want our baby. I want us to be happy. I let you down once, and I’m going to do everything I can to never let that happen again.
Our baby is going to grow up on this island, just like you always dreamed. We’re going to be happy.”
“Happy,” I echo, tears filling my eyes for the thousandth time today.
“Happy,” he repeats. He lets his hand come to my belly and embraces me once again, squeezing me so tightly that I feel like he might never let go. If he never did, I don’t think I’d complain.
Then he releases me and grins sheepishly. “But for right now… well, I have all my stuff on the yacht, but I don’t have a place to stay. And I never want to go back to the inn again. I was hoping that, uh…” He leaves the question hanging, but it’s obvious what he wants.
I laugh and take his hand. “Of course, you can stay at mine. I don’t know if we’ll have space for all your stuff, though.”
“Won’t know until we try,” he says with a grin and a hopeful look in his eyes that I can’t resist.
“All right.” I laugh. “Let’s go and try.”
With that, he squeezes my hand again, and we head back into town on the island that is going to be our home for the rest of our lives.