Page 38 of Our Sweet Destiny
“I’ll get him some water,” the woman said as she rushed off.
Jade knelt before him. He felt her hands on his knees, heard the worry in her voice. “What is it? Do you need a doctor? What can I do?”
One of her hands moved to his back, and she rubbed gently up and down, soothing the raging panic that had engulfed him. He breathed in deeply and out slowly until he was sure he could handle whatever it was that was going on.
“Rex? Is it a panic attack?” she asked.
He shook his head, desperately wanting to speak but not trusting his voice. He clenched his fists and jaw repeatedly, until finally, his chest loosened and his breathing returned to near normal. He lowered his hands as the woman handed him a glass of water.
She locked her eyes with his. “This is how it happens,” she said. Then she shook her head. “I’m just really out of practice. Had I known, I would have been more tactful.”
“What are you talking about? What happens?” Jade asked.
Rex reached for her hand. He had a feeling that this time, he needed her strength.
The woman touched Rex’s shoulder. “Dear, are you related to her?”
He nodded. “Her third son. I have four brothers and a sister.” A lump lodged itself firmly in his throat, and the more he tried to swallow past it, the damper his eyes became.
She looked at Jade. “Sometimes I just get a sense of something, and I’ve learned to just sort of go with it. But this type of connection hasn’t happened in so long that I didn’t expect it, and I surely didn’t completely connect it as a coherent thought until I saw him falter.”
Jade rose to her feet. “I still don’t understand.”
The woman took her hand. “What I’m about to give you is from his mother, dear. It was meant for the two of you.”
“But how?” Jade looked at Rex.
He pressed his thumb and forefinger against his eyes, wiping the tears from them. He blinked away the dampness. “I felt it. When we were walking outside, I knew. Something came over me, and there was no doubt in my mind what it was. Jade.” He rose to his feet. “Remember when I told you that you were the woman I never knew I was looking for?” Before she could answer, he said, “It was true. When we were walking toward the store, I knew without a doubt that you were the one woman for me. I can’t imagine going through each day without you.” He took her hand in his, trying to bite back the rush of emotion. It was too soon to say the three words that he felt so strongly, but he looked into her eyes and he knew no amount of time would ever be enough. “I’m falling in love with you, Jade.”
The woman smiled, and he watched Jade swallow…hard.
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s been only a few days, and it’s crazy, especially given what’s going on with our families. But I know it to be true, and I have no idea how to explain how I know, because it’s as crazy as what just happened here.”
Jade hadn’t said a word, and he knew he’d blindsided her, but he wasn’t going to lie to her, and not telling her how he truly felt was a lie. He had to trust his instincts.
Rex lifted his damp eyes to hers. “This is fast and really impetuous.”
Jade laid her hand on his wrist, narrowing her eyes, looking at him so seriously that for a second he thought he might have acted too soon. In the next breath, she said, “And so right.”
All the best moments of Rex’s life crashed together in that moment, and they fell away, as if they’d never needed to exist, because that very second, when Jade became his, was the only best moment he would ever need.
He scooped her into his arms and kissed her with every bit of love he’d never felt before. Jade came away flushed and clung to him like she never wanted to let go.
He turned to the woman and held out his hand. “May I?”
She handed him the box, and touched his hand. “Adriana was a very special person.”
“Thank you.” He opened the box with shaking hands. Inside, there was a charm and two silver chains. He picked up the little charm and held it in his palm. The silver sparkled beneath the fluorescent lights.
“Do you know what that is?” the woman asked.
“It looks like two bodies intertwined,” Jade said.
“It’s the dance of two lovers,” the woman and Rex said in unison.
She continued. “Everything in their lives was meant to keep them apart, and against all odds, they found their way to each other. When they did, they danced. The myth says that after dancing”—she took the charm from Rex’s hand—“their souls became one, and from that moment on, they lived within each other, no matter if they were together or apart.” She drew the charm apart and looped one silver chain through the charm of the naked woman and one through the charm of the man.
“That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” Jade said, just above a whisper.
Rex wrapped the chain with the man around Jade’s neck and hooked it beneath her hair. Then Jade did the same for him. They stood that way for a long time, their eyes saying all the things that their voices were just not up to producing:I love you. I’ve always loved you. I am yours.
