Page 82 of Fight for Me
She cleared her throat nervously, and her eyes darted from the paper to his face as she started to read.
“Once upon a time, a king and queen were given a magic music box. Inside, the queen found a tiny ballerina, plated with gold and polished to a shine. ‘What a lovely gift!’ she exclaimed, but when she turned the key, she was met only with silence. ‘Oh, dear! The dancer is broken. She is good for nothing; take her away!’ she ordered, and the box was set upon a shelf.
“Years passed, and whenever someone opened the box, the dancer would stretch her golden limbs to the sky and wait. But the music never came. ‘She can’t dance,’ the people said. ‘What good is a ballerina who can’t dance?’ And they shut her away, closing her into the darkness again and again. The dancer’s beautiful face began to change, until finally, she looked as unhappy as she felt inside.
“Then, one day, a boy opened the box and gazed down on the golden girl inside. He turned her key and, as she’d expected, nothing happened. But instead of casting her aside, he began to sing. At first, the ballerina stayed motionless, her frozen feet locked in place. But then, something incredible happened, and for the first time, the tiny girl began to dance.”
Jake forgot about the cold, listening in rapt attention as Lexie described a girl who blossomed, learning to dip and spin as she was meant to do, and who waited each day for the boy to appear.
“He was patient and kind, and even though the girl was a little bit broken, he didn’t seem to care,” Lexie read, her voice cracking on the last words, but she cleared her throat and kept going. “Over time, he became her friend, and then he became more, and then one day, she realized he was everything she’d ever wished for and that she loved him more than she’d ever thought she could love anyone.”
A tear rolled down Lexie’s face, and this time, Jake felt himself drift forward and wipe it away. Still, Lexie kept reading.
“There were so many things the girl wanted to tell him, but she didn’t know how. She wanted to tell him he was her favorite part of every day, that he was worth fighting for, and that he was always,alwaysmore than enough. But as it was, he was a real boy, and she was only a pretty trinket in a box—a plaything without a voice. So, one night, she pushed open the lid of her box and looked up into the sky beyond her shelf. She found a falling star, and she wished, harder than she’d ever wished before, and in the morning, when the boy returned, the little golden girl was gone.”
Lexie stopped, looking up at Jake again, and he reminded himself to blink.
“Where did she go?” he asked, his voice rougher than he’d expected, and a hesitant smile spread across Lexie’s face.
“She’d wished to be human, and she was right there, waiting for him to find her. Because falling in love might be an accident, but living in love is a choice, and she chose to be with him, if he would have her,” Lexie whispered, her eyes full of something Jake had waited a long time to see.
He slid his hand around the nape of her neck and rested his forehead against hers in a motion that felt as natural as breathing. Again, his words wouldn’t come, but this time for an entirely different reason.
“You are worth fighting for, Jacob,” Lexie said in a soft voice meant only for him. “I’m sorry it took me so long, but I’m choosing you, if you’ll ha—”
But Jake didn’t let her finish. Instead, he stopped her words with his mouth, pulling her close and letting her fill the hole in his heart—a hole where only she would fit. He took his time, exploring all the landmarks he knew by heart. It may have been a long time coming, but he’d been right; Lexie had been his all along. Finally, he pulled back and framed her face in his hands.
“I love you,” she breathed.
Jake’s grin spread like wildfire, threatening to burn the whole house down around them.
“Say that again,” he urged.
Lexie pushed up on her toes and pressed another soft kiss to his lips.
“I love you, Jacob Tanner. More than I ever thought I could.”
Epilogue
(Four and a half months later)
“Why won’t youtell me where we’re going?”
Jake smiled as he raised Lexie’s hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
“You still don’t know how to be surprised, do you?” he asked, taking his eyes off the road long enough to catch the way she pursed her lips in an attempt to hold back a laugh. Jake shook his head fondly and turned to watch the road again as they headed north, Cypress Valley’s last residential neighborhoods fading away behind them.
“You said we were going to dinner.” She waved her hand toward the cornfields passing by outside. “Thisdoesn’t look like dinner.”
Jake chuckled but kept his eyes on the road, watching closely for their turn. “Just trust me, Lex. Have I ever disappointed you?”
He glanced over just long enough to see her soften, her shoulders relaxing against the seat as she looked out her window.
“No,” she admitted quietly.
“Okay, then,” Jake teased, squeezing her hand where it now rested beneath his on the gearshift. He casually ran his thumb along the backs of her fingers, feeling his stomach flip when he got to her ring finger. This might be the last time he’d ever hold her hand when it was bare.
He sure hoped so.
