Page 136 of A Heart Worth Finding
“I’m gonna load this in the truck,” Brent said, lifting Jessica’s large suitcase off the ground like it weighed nothing.
And she supposed, to him, it probably did.
“Show off!” Berkley yelled after him. “You know it’s got wheels, right?”
“Don’t care!” Brent shouted back, and Berkley rolled her eyes as she continued to strap Brooks into his car seat.
A moment later, the squeaking and hum of the garage door opening echoed into the house, followed by Brent yelling, “Hey, Jess? Can you come out here for a sec?”
“Sure!” she shouted back, shooting Berkley a confused look. Her sister simply raised her hands in the air as if to say,I have no idea.
When Jessica reached the garage, the interior was lit only by the faint glow from the light affixed to the garage door motor.
“Brent?” Jessica said, searching for her brother-in-law.
“Jess,” a male voice said from behind her, but it didn’t belong to Brent.
Slowly, Jessica turned toward, going utterly still when she took in the man before her.
“Surprise,” Jack said, giving her little jazz hands.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…I really can’t do this right now, Jack. Saying bye to my family is going to be hard enough. I thought we did this last night. I thought we agreed—”
Her ramblings were cut off when Jack wrapped his arms around her shoulders and crushed her to his chest. “You’re cute when you ramble,” he said.
“What are you doing here?” she repeated, pulling away and putting a few feet of space between them.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Like hell you are.”
Jack hooked his thumb over his shoulder, where Brent was hauling an overstuffed hockey bag up the driveway. With a wink at Jessica, he tossed it into the bed and disappeared inside, pointedly closing the door behind him.
“It’s already done,” Jack said with a shrug.
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, Jack, but I can’t let you do this. I can’t be the reason you give up on your dreams.”
Jack closed some of the space between them, only enough so he could reach out and cup her chin in his hand, lifting it so her eyes met his.
“Listen to me very carefully, Jessica Daniels,” he said. “I know you can’t and never would ask me to do this. You think you’re doing the noble thing by giving me this out. But let me tell you something—my dream isyou. It’s always been you. Every day of that week in Mexico, every mile and memory and moment until the day we reunited, and every single second since.It’s always been you. And I’d be the dumbest fucking man in the universe if I let you walk away again.”
“When did you decide all of this?” she asked, unwilling to acknowledge everything he was saying. Not yet.
“Last night at the party,” he said. “Which, by the way, you really should text Asher and tell him thank you.”
“Asher?” Jessica asked, confused.
“It’s a long story,” Jack said. “I’ll tell you on the plane.”
Those words cracked something inside of her, and she reached for him, settling her hands on his chest. “This is real,” she said. “I’m not dreaming. You’re really coming.”
In response, Jack raised his hand and placed his palm over Jessica’s heart.
“This?” he said, pausing to let it beat against his touch. “This was a heart worth finding, a heart worth waiting for, and a heart I would go to the ends of the world to keep. To make sure it’s always beating in time with mine.”
“What about Scranton?” she asked, though her eyes welled with tears at the truth she already knew, already saw in every single line and slope of his face. She couldn’t help it; this—him being here—was too good to be true.
“Fuck Scranton,” Jack said, smiling and raising his hand to cup her cheek when Jessica choked on a laugh. “I can play hockey anywhere. Butyouaren’t anywhere.Youare going to Russia, so I’m going to Russia.”
