Page 48 of A Heart Worth Finding
“Why is that funny?” Jack asked.
Nadine swept her white hair out of her face and held up her hands. “Oh, I’m sorry, dears. We didn’t mean to offend. It’s just…we got married two weeks after we met.”
“What?” Jessica blurted.
“When we were in our early twenties, we met on vacation, like you two did,” Nadine said with a wink. “And I just…knew. The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was it for me. And I’d do whatever I could to keep him.”
“Lucky for her, I felt the same,” Marc said. Nadine swatted at him, but Marc caught her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it, and her smile softened.
“That was fifty years ago,” Nadine continued. “We’re back here celebrating our anniversary.”
Jessica’s heart swelled, and she chanced a look at Jack, only to find him already staring at her, each and every one of her thoughts and feelings echoed in his eyes.
“You two have that same look about you,” Marc said. “Absolutely crazy about each other.”
“Didn’t your families think you’d lost your minds?” Jack asked, tearing his gaze from Jessica’s.
“Oh, definitely,” Nadine laughed. “My father tried to forbid me from seeing him, so I threatened to run away and never speak to him again. He came around after that.”
“That’s…so brave,” Jessica said quietly.
“It’s easy to be brave with your soulmate,” Nadine said, staring affectionately at her husband. “When you know, you know, and we knew. There wasn’t anything stopping us.”
Jessica sniffed, surprised to find her eyes welling with tears. She turned her head away from Jack and swiped at them. Once she’d composed herself, she said, “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”
“We got really lucky,” Marc said. “I have a feeling y’all will, too.”
Jack squeezed Jessica’s hand, and as Jack and Marc steered the conversation away from love and soulmates toward fishing and whatever else men talk about, Jessica turned her attention inward.
Like every little girl, Jessica had grown up believing in fairytales, wishing for Prince Charming to come sweep her off her feet like Cinderella. But at some point along the way, life happened, and pessimism set in. Somewhere, she stopped believing in those things, and wishing they were meant for her.
Maybe it was growing up with a sister who was six years older, and watching Berkley suffer through love and heartbreak, hookups and breakups, paving the way for Jessica, that pulled the rose-colored glasses from Jessica’s eyes. Maybe it was simplygrowing up.
Did she think she and Jack had something special? Of course she did. Whatever she had with him was unlike anything she’d experienced before, even if there wasn’t a lot to compare it to.
But did she think this thing between them was enough to go the distance? And she didn’t simply mean the longevity of their relationship. No, she meant the literaldistance. When they went back to the States, when she returned to Michigan and he to Pennsylvania. How long would they last when they had to survive on FaceTime and phone calls, texts to check in and the occasional cross-country visit?
Jessica’s mind spun, and she gave herself a little shake. She didn’t want to think about this now, to let her thoughts swallow her whole and ruin this perfect evening.
“You okay?” Jack whispered when Marc finally gave him a breather from the conversation.
Jessica simply nodded, afraid that opening her mouth would send all of her thoughts spewing into the universe.
Thankfully, she was saved by the boat’s crew weighing anchor in open water.
A sound system crackled to life, followed by a man speaking.
“Thank you all so much for joining us for tonight’s sunset cruise,” the disembodied voice said. “Sunset is about fifteen minutes off, so find a spot along the port side and get ready for the most magical night of your life. After the sun’s gone, we’ll dock on Isla Mujeres for dinner.”
Jessica gasped and spun in Jack’s arms to face him. “You didn’t tell me there would be dinner…on an island!”
“I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“Where exactly is this Isla Mujeres?”
“There,” Marc said, stepping up next to them and pointing off to the right.
And sure as shit, an island rose out of the water on the starboard side. Jessica must’ve been so wrapped up in her doom spiral that she’d completely ignored her surroundings.
