Page 121 of Make Her Mine

I look across the table again and find him watching me. This time I wink at him. Then I turn to his little sister. I prop my chin on my hand and give her what I assume is a goofy, stupid-in-love grin. “Harriet Ginger Riley, I am going to marry your big brother.”

She grabs her mimosa glass, dings it against mine, then tips it back, downing the drink at once. Then she crosses herself.

I laugh. “Are you praying for me or for Jefferson?”

“For Sapphire Falls. They are not ready for the gaggle of little overachievers the two of you are going to unleash on them.”

All that does is make me grin even bigger. And my stomach to swoop even harder.

God, Jefferson and I are going to have the best kids.

Brunch continues, with everyone in high spirits. The food and conversation are amazing.

But it’s over too soon. Graham and Ginny are leaving from here to go to Omaha to the airport.

We all linger in the parking lot as long as we possibly can.

I hug them both tightly and try my best to hold back my tears. But, as usual, they fall as soon as their car doors shut.

However, unlike usual, this time two big strong arms wrap around me from behind and pull me back against a warm, hard body.

Jefferson hugs me as we watch them drive out of the parking lot. In my ear he asks, “What do you need?”

I shake my head. Nothing specific. I know from experience that time is all that actually makes it better.

Instead of pressing, he puts me in his truck and takes me to his house. There he takes me up to the bedroom. He takes my clothes off, but instead of trying to distract me with sex—and for a moment, I thought he would, and I was not opposed—he pulls out a soft, worn t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. He dresses me in the comfortable clothes, even knotting the shorts at my waist with a ponytail holder. Then he leads me back downstairs, settles me into the corner of the couch, turns on the television, and pulls up one of my favorite thriller movies. He hands me the remote and disappears into the kitchen.

One of the cats strolls into the room and jumps up next to me on the couch.

Okay, that’s a very nice additional perk to being here at Jefferson’s.

I pause the movie when I smell the popcorn.

I’m crying by the time he carries the bowl of spicy popcorn and two root beers into the living room.

“Shit,” he says when he sees my tears. He sets everything down on the coffee table quickly and sinks down next to me, reaching for me. I immediately climb into his lap, and he wraps his arms around me.

“I thought this would help.” He kisses the top of my head.

I bury my face in his chest. “It does.”

“Are these tears I’m going to have to learn to decipher?”

“Yes.”

His warm chuckle and his hand cupping the back of my head soak into me, and I take a deep breath.

I blink and the tears are over. My friends left today. But I had an amazing time with them and there are lots of amazing times ahead. And I’ve got Jefferson. I’m happy. Content. My life is here. So is his. Theirs aren’t. And…that’s okay. It’s not perfect, at least by my definition, but mine isn’t the only one that matters. And it’s all still really good.

“The movie and popcorn and everything are wonderful,” I tell him. “For future reference.”

His arms tighten around me. “Noted.”

The cat moves in closer, curling up next to Jefferson, against my leg. He reaches out a hand and strokes the cat’s head and I feel like purring a little too.

I reach for the bowl of popcorn, settling it in my lap, but not moving off of Jefferson. I point the remote at the TV, but don’t press play. “Please also note that I will also need to be distracted from my sadness by sex later.”

“How do you know that? Do you have sex every time your friends leave and who do I need to kill for helping you through all of that in the past?”

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