Love Like You've Never Been Hurt, page 29
“Honestly, I hadn’t,” laughed Missy. “He wouldn’t show any of us. You had to see it first.”
She looked at Jack and he shrugged. “Laura was the only one to see it and she kind of had to.” He nodded to where Laura sat at the far end of the table next to Dan. Emma met her eyes, hoping to make up for being so rude earlier.
“It’s beautiful Laura, you are very talented. Thank you. I asked Jack how you came up with such a unique design.”
Laura smiled back at her warmly. “Oh, the design was all Jack. He knew exactly what he wanted, right down to the cut of the stone.”
Emma looked up at him in surprise. “You?”
His eyes crinkled as he gave her the smile she had come to love so much.
“I’m a man of many talents.” As he said it he held her closer and she felt him hard against her, reminding her of another of his talents. She met his eyes and laughed.
“So you keep proving!”
“You came up with that all by yourself?” asked Holly, amazed. “How?”
“I guess I know what I like and I know how to get it.”
Emma felt his arm tighten around her. “I can vouch for that,” she said, making them all laugh again.
Missy was still examining the ring. “It’s spectacular.” She looked at Laura, “I don’t know how you do it. The craftsmanship, the petals. You’ve set each one so perfectly.”
Laura laughed. “Yes, all eleven of them according to my cousin’s strict requirements. No working with even numbers or anything to make my life easier.”
Pete looked at Jack, “This should be good. I know the way you design. Every detail is crucial, so there has to be a reason for eleven petals”
“It didn’t have to be eleven,” said Jack, pretending to be absorbed in examining his fingernails.
Laura laughed again. “No, that’s true, it could have been nine or fifteen, just as long as it wasn’t unlucky thirteen or, worse still, an even number of them.”
“Come on,” said Pete, “spill it, Benson. Why did it have to be an odd number of petals?”
Emma looked at him intrigued and he surprised her by giving her a quick kiss. Then he looked at the others, gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes.
“OK, then. I’ll tell.” He looked around the table, “Ladies, you’ll love this and sorry guys, but you’ll probably think I’m a sad sack.”
“Now I really have to know,” laughed Pete.
Jack looked at Holly and Missy. “OK, what did you used to do with daisies when you were a little girl?”
“Make daisy chains?” asked Holly.
He shook his head.
“Oh, I know. The old ‘he loves me, he loves me not’,” said Missy.
“That’s it!” said Jack grinning at them. Holly and Missy stared at him blankly while Pete groaned and Emma snuggled a little closer, not understanding either.
“Think about it,” said Jack. “You pull off the first petal and what do you say?”
“He loves me,” said Emma.
He turned and kissed her and his “Yes, he does Baby,” had them all laughing.
“Come on, people! Think this through. If there were an even number of petals then it would end on ‘he loves me not’!” He wrapped both arms around her, “And that will never be true.”
“Oh my Lord!” exclaimed Laura. “And I thought you were just being picky.”
“I was. But with very good reason.”
Emma felt tears prick her eyes again. He kept on surprising her with the depth of his thoughtfulness. She would never have come up with that herself, but she could well imagine that at some point she would have played the childish game with her ring. If she’d done it at a time when she was ready to run, what conclusion would she have drawn if the ring had told her ‘he loves me not’?
The realization of just how well he understood her and the lengths he would go to shifted something deep inside. She looked around at the others and knew what she had to do.
“Ladies,” she said, “would you mind coming up to the house with me?”
“Sure, what do you need?” asked Missy as she and Holly rose from the table.
“You too, please.” Emma smiled at Laura, who hadn't moved.
As Emma went to stand herself, Jack pulled her back down to his lap. “What are you up to?”
“Something I need to check on.” She smiled and kissed the little frown between his brows. “We'll be back in little while with Gramps. In fact, would you guys do me a favor and stand up when you see us bringing him down here?”
“Of course,” said Pete. “Are we singing Happy Birthday?”
“No, we're saving that for later. I have a gift for him that I'd like you all to see.”
Jack watched as Emma walked up to the house. He was pleased to see her link arms with Laura, the two of them smiling and talking as they went. Had it really only been a few hours since he'd thought he had lost her completely? Now she was wearing his ring, making friends with Laura, and promising to think about marrying him! He knew it would take time, but patience and persistence were his specialties! He finally believed they would get there. One day she really would be his wife.
“Congratulations, Bro!” Pete broke into his thoughts. “You weren't kidding about the Benson persistence, were you?”
“I had my doubts for a while there though, Pete. I thought I'd screwed it all up! Thanks for helping nudge her along.” He looked at Ben, “And thank you. For last night, as well as today.”
“No worries,” smiled Ben. “I'm glad to see it working out for the two of you.”
“Me too,” added Dan.
“Are you going to be my Uncle Jack now?” asked Scott.
Jack smiled at him, he really liked the kid. “I hope so, Scott. Some day soon.”
He was surprised to see Dan put an arm around the boy's shoulders and say,
“We'll have to find a way to make that happen, huh Scott?”
Damn! Was he imagining it or was Dan talking about taking an entirely different route to making him Scott's Uncle? He'd been so caught up in everything with Emma, he hadn't been paying so much attention to his little brother – and Missy! He'd have to talk to him about that.
Right now wasn't the time. He could see Emma and Gramps up on the porch. The old guy took her arm as they came down the front steps.
“Come on guys,” said Jack as he stood up. “She's bringing Gramps.”
Pete came to stand beside him as Emma and Gramps started down toward the dock, picking their way through the crowd followed by Missy, Holly and Laura.
Emma was surprised how confident she felt holding on to Gramps arm as they walked down to the little dock. Jack stood there waiting, Pete at his side, both of them smiling, just as she'd imagined. Ben, Dan and Scott stood off to one side, the sun shining brightly on the lake behind them. It looked like the wedding she had dreamed of, the man who loved her waiting as Gramps walked her to him. The closer she got, the happier she felt. When she had imagined this scene, the cold fingers of dread and doubt had crept in, but that was in her mind. Her fears were only real in her mind. She'd learned that much today. Once she got out of her head and into her life there was only happiness, she understood that now. In her life, if she allowed it, there really could be happiness – happiness and love with this wonderful man who was offering her another chance at them. She only had to be brave enough to take it.
With every step toward the dock, Emma became more sure of what she was about to do. As she stopped in front of Jack she smiled at him. Gramps let go of her arm and turned to Holly grinning.
“See, she brings me down here 'cos she says she's got a gift for me and she's so lovestruck she's forgotten I'm even here!”
“Oh, I've not forgotten,” smiled Emma.
“Well, where is it then?” Gramps looked around.
“It's right here,” she said as she wrapped her arms around Jack's waist and looked up into his eyes.
Gramps cocked his head to one side, looking puzzled. Jack closed his arms around her, looking mystified himself. He made her feel so safe. If she'd needed any final encouragement for what she was about to do, she found it in the love that shone from his eyes as he looked down at her.
“What do you mean, Em?” he asked.
“I mean, YES, Jack!”
“Yes?”
“Yes, I will marry you!”
He crushed her to him and found her lips with his own. Even as she was lost in that kiss she could hear Gramps give a little whoop as Missy, Holly and Laura all squealed with excitement.
When Jack finally let her go, the others crowded around them with hugs and slaps on the back. Gramps was practically dancing with delight as Jack shook his hand one more time.
“We did it, son! We did it!”
Jack still looked stunned even as he grinned from ear to ear. The two men she loved most in the world were happier than she had ever seen them. She herself felt only happiness, the doubt and fear that had haunted her all her life were gone. She could do this. With Jack she could do it. She really could love like she'd never been hurt.
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Love
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Table of contents
Chapter One
Chapter-Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter-Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
SJ McCoy, Love Like You've Never Been Hurt
