Page 65 of Reclaimed Dreams

Chapter20

42 years ago

“Just do it, you idiot. Get it over with.”

Dom twitched his hand nervously in his pocket. He’d spent half an hour in his car just trying to get up the nerve to get out. He knew he was late and that she’d be waiting, but his feet felt like he’d walked through freshly poured concrete and forgotten to scrape.

Once he said what he needed to say, everything would change. He didn’t want things to change. Weren’t they happy? Hadn’t the whole job thing worked out? Why the hell was he even thinking about messing with a good thing? And yet change was coming, and he’d never been one to back down from a challenge.

He steeled himself for the hardest conversation of his life.

He sat next to Jo on the bench, still struggling to find the words he needed to say.

“Hi, babe,” she said. “You okay?” She pressed a hand to his forehead. “You don’t look so good.”

He didn’t notice he was bouncing his knee until she shifted her hand to still it. He took that hand in his, marveling at how small and precious it looked in his work-roughened grip, and squeezed it three times, their secret code for “I love you.” She squeezed back four times to say “I love you too.”

“Why are you still dating me?” Dom blurted into the awkward silence between them.

“Um, because I love you? Did you miss the squeezes, silly?”

“But why?” He shifted away from her on the bench and angled his shoulders so that he could look directly at her. He needed to see her face when she answered. “Why do you love me? You could have any guy on this campus. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you with this teaching thing. You are so smart and confident, not to mention beautiful and kind and sweet and…I just can’t figure it out. I’m just your average construction meathead.”

“Yeah, but you’re my meathead,” she teased, but he shook his head. He couldn’t let her joke him out of this. When she spoke again all traces of laughter were gone from her voice. “Let me get this straight. You can’t figure out why I’m with you?”

He nodded, his heart in his throat, choking off his words.

“I think I fell for you that first night when I kicked your ass at pool. There you were, this big, strong guy, but instead of the bluster and outrage I’d been expecting, you laughed and came back for more. You surprised me. You weren’t afraid to lose to me.”

“You’re wrong. I’m terrified of losing you.” Dom dropped his head and muttered, still not understanding.

“That’s not—”

Jo stopped and gripped his face in her hands, forcing him to look her in the eye.

“Babe, I’m right here. And I’m going to stay right here. Why? Because I have never felt so respected, so cared for, so loved as I have in the last year and a half. You’ve supported my dreams and made me part of yours. We make a hell of a team. Dom, you think I could have any guy on this campus? You’re right, I could, but I don’t want them, because they aren’t you.”

Dom leaned forward until their foreheads touched and he let out the breath he’d been holding. “I needed to hear you say that. I didn’t realize how much, until I walked over here with this ring in my pocket.”

He leaned back to pull the little black velvet box that had been taunting him for weeks out of his front jeans pocket and was rewarded with a gasp from Jo.

“Dom, is that…”

“My dad gave me one piece of advice about choosing who to marry. ‘Aim high,’ he said, and I listened. I will probably never understand why you fell in love with me or why you chose to stay. You deserve so much more than I can offer you right now. All I can promise is to never stop trying to give you more. More laughter, more security, more adventure, more love… Josephine Bertelli, I love you like crazy. Will you marry me?”

Dom thought his heart was going to beat right out of his chest while he waited for her answer. The blood pulsing in his ears made it almost impossible to hear her response. Almost.

“I’ll think about it.”

Dom barked out a laugh, and the vise in his chest loosened. The first time she’d said that had been after what he considered their first date. She’d said it to him again and again over the course of their relationship when she was going to say yes, but wanted to make him sweat a bit first.

She put a finger on her chin and mimed deep thought, fighting a grin, and he hauled her onto his lap and kissed that smile right off her face. When they came up for air, he was breathless and she was serious.

“Of course I’ll marry you. I love you, Dom. I can’t wait to see the life we’ll build together.”

Dom slid the small diamond ring on her finger. He’d wanted it to be bigger but his overtime hadn’t covered as much as he’d hoped. “I love you too, Jo. I know it’s not much, but someday—”

She cut him off with another kiss. “It’s perfect, and I love it. Because I love you.”

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