Page 93 of Then Came Love
Chapter Twenty-One
SEPTEMBER BLEW INTO Pleasant Hill with cooler temperatures, painting everything in its path in vibrant fall colors. Jordan rushed around her office gathering her things an hour earlier than usual, excited to go home and watch London’s Fashion Week with Jax. They’d bought new sketch pads and pencils, and they were going to make all the goodies her family used to make. It would be another first for them. She loved their firsts.
She picked up the card he’d had delivered along with a bouquet of daffodils earlier in the week, after she’d run two miles straight for the first time on their morning jog. The front of the card was white with I’M SO GLAD YOU ARE MY PERSON written in black above a big red heart and two smaller pink hearts beside it. She opened it and read what he’d written. MY BEAUTIFUL SWEETHEART, ONE DAY YOU’LL FIND THIS CARD TUCKED IN THE BACK OF A DRAWER, AND WE’LL STILL BE HAPPILY IN LOVE. FOREVER YOURS, JAX.
She set the card back on the desk, thinking about how much her life had changed. Thanks to Jax, she was getting stronger every day in every way. The insecurities of being with a man who had cheated on her had finally faded away, and although the search for Casey felt like a roller coaster, with new leads that looked hopeful then turned to dust, and there were times she broke down in tears feeling like she’d never get any answers, Jax was always there to remind her it was okay to be sad or angry and to hold her until she was strong enough to carry on. The phone call about the girl who had escaped from the cult had led Reggie on a wild-goose chase. The man was untraceable and had been using a fake name, and Sully hadn’t turned up anywhere. But Reggie continued to follow up on every lead, no matter how far-fetched, and he made sure the search for Casey didn’t fall out of the spotlight. This week he was chasing down a trucker who two guys claimed they’d seen with a girl who looked like Casey a couple of weeks ago.
“Knock, knock.” Ari Lexington stood in the doorway holding a Tupperware cake container and wearing a bright blue three-piece suit over a black crewneck.
“Well, don’t you look handsome. Big date with Bess tonight?”
“Yes and the Knotty Hookers, which I’m not thrilled about. They’ll flirt with me all night, and I don’t want my Bessie to get the wrong idea.”
Jordan smiled. “They finally wrangled you into dinner?”
“Thanks to you, they wrangled Bess into watching London’s Fashion Week with them, and Ruth said if I wanted to join them, I had to dress the part. Now, I don’t know much about fashion, but my great-niece took me shopping, and she said this would be perfect. I don’t know about the shirt. I was brought up to wear collared shirts.”
“That shirt is perfect. I’m so glad you’re all going to watch together. You’ll enjoy the show, even if you don’t know much about fashion. Did you make a cake for dessert?”
“No. This strawberry shortcake is for Jax.” He handed her the cake carrier.
“For Jax? What’s the occasion?” Jax had met several of the residents over the last couple of months when he’d come to pick up Jordan for lunch, or stopped in to say hello, and he and Mr. Lexington had gotten along fabulously.
“He makes you happy, and I don’t know how many people are thanking him for that, but I wanted to.”
Jordan got choked up. “Mr. Lexington, are you trying to make me tear up?”
“No, but I want you to know that we’re all pulling for you two. Even if you did inadvertently rip me off from a night alone with Bessie.”
She set the cake on the desk and hugged him. “Thank you for always thinking of me.”
“Rosa used to say that good people are easy to love and impossible to forget. You’re a good person, Jordan, and Rosa would have loved you.”
That made her feel good all over. “I’m sure I would have loved her, too.”
“Well, I’d better get going. Enjoy the show tonight.”
“Thank you. You too.”
When Jordan finally left the office, cake in hand, and was settling into her car, her phone rang with a call from Jax. “Hi, handsome. I’m just leaving work.”
“Great. I’m running a little late from my meeting, and I left something important at my office. Would you mind stopping by and picking it up? Glenna knows where it is.”
“Sure. I’ll stop on my way home. See you in a little bit.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He told her he loved her every morning, every time they talked on the phone, and every night before they went to bed, and she knew she’d never tire of hearing it, or saying it.
She drove to his office, humming to the songs on the radio. Glenna was elbow deep in files behind the front desk when she arrived. “Hi, Glenna. Jax asked me to stop by and pick up something he left here. He said you’d know what it was.”
“Yes. It’s in the showroom. Would you mind grabbing it?”
“Not at all.” She hurried into the showroom and found Jonathan and a pretty blonde.
In one hand, Jonathan held a gorgeous white silk sleeveless knee-length dress with a fitted bodice that was embellished at the back with distinctive cutouts and a low neckline. The waist was cinched, and the full skirt had two rows of black lace cutouts. White elbow-length gloves with black lace cutouts on the forearms were draped over his other forearm, and in his hand was a gorgeous pair of Christian Louboutin heels. Jordan’s thoughts stumbled. That was a dress she’d designed.
“Good evening, mademoiselle,” Jonathan said. “It will be our pleasure to help dress you tonight.”
“Jax had my design made?”
“Yes, and don’t worry—it has your name on the label.”
Tears sprang to her eyes.
“Get those tears out now, sweetie, because this is Sarah Whiskey, the hair and makeup guru I told you about, and once she works her magic, you won’t want to mess up your makeup.”
“Hi, Sarah. Thank you. I can’t believe Jax did this.” She tried to blink away her tears.
“Love brings out the best in all of us,” Sarah said. “We should get started so you’re not late.”
The next forty minutes passed in a whirlwind. The dress fit perfectly, and Jonathan was a riot, giving his two cents as Sarah did Jordan’s hair, which, as Jonathan suggested, she wore in an updo with a few tendrils framing her face. Glenna, Emiko, and Roberta came in to watch as Sarah worked her magic, and she told them about her three young children and her husband, Dr. Wayne “Bones” Whiskey. Jordan was shocked to learn that she’d escaped abusive parents and an abusive relationship and that she’d been pregnant when she’d met Bones.
