My body tensed. I worried about what kind of job his old boss would have for him, and why Cash hadn’t immediately turned the offer down. “Did he tell you what kind of job it would be? Is it like what you used to do?”
He rolled into me, pushing me onto my back, and hovered above my face. “He did tell me…but until I know if I’ll take him up on the offer, I’m keeping it to myself. You still haven’t given me an answer about school, so I can’t even entertain the idea of work until you’ve informed me of your plans. I told you I’d help with Aria, and I refuse to let a job interfere with that promise.”
This was yet another topic of conversation with my mom and Bryn. I didn’t complete my degree because of my responsibilities as a mother to Aria, but the more I delved into that, the more I realized I hadn’t gone to school for the right reasons in the first place. I went to escape, to have an excuse to be away from home. The degree never mattered, and honestly, I’d never looked that far into the future to even figure out what I wanted to do with my life. And now that I finally had a real chance to complete what I started, I lacked the enthusiasm, because my reasons for attending no longer mattered.
“I would love to go back and graduate—if for nothing else but to show Aria that I did it. But I haven’t been able to pull the trigger quite yet. There hasn’t been a single reason big enough to push me forward. So you shouldn’t let my choices interfere with yours. If anything, my mom will be here to help with Aria if I sign up for classes. Plus, if I do decide to attend, it will probably be on a part-time basis.”
“Regardless…I’m not making that call until we have our agreement finalized.”
I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved his chest. “I’m still working on it, okay?”
“Take all the time in the world, babe. Just know I’m here for you. I’ll wait as long as you need. But please keep in mind I’m not a spring chicken anymore. My biological clock is ticking, and there’s no telling how much longer I have to make babies with you.”
“You don’t seem to have much of a problem in that department.” And he didn’t. If I’d let him, he’d be inside me at least fifteen times a day. “But before we worry about that, there’s so much more to figure out first.”
“Speaking of…I know I brought it up last week, but you’ve been a bit busy, and I haven’t wanted to pressure you into anything. Have you decided where you’d like to spend Thanksgiving?”
His parents had invited us to spend the holiday with them in Georgia. At first, Cash had turned down the offer, explaining how my mom was living with us and she was still recovering from a fractured hip. It’d been over six weeks since her surgery, and every day she became a little stronger—both mentally and physically. So I assumed his hesitancy was more about either bringing her with us or leaving her behind than it was her recovery. Which had been my main reason why I hadn’t given him an answer yet. Even though his parents had included my mom, I still felt reluctant to agree. Now, Thanksgiving was a week away, so I had to make up my mind soon. I was running out of time.
“I’m not sure if my mom is up for that.”
“Stop making excuses, Jade. I’ve talked to her, and she said she’d love to go. I think she’s getting a little stir crazy here. I mean, the only time she gets to herself is when she’s in her room.” Cash had long since started referring to my old bedroom as my mom’s, and his as ours. “She has all of us up her ass twenty-four-seven. Plus, she seems really excited to meet my parents.”
“Do you want her to come with us? Or are you just saying this for my benefit? I know having her here can’t be easy for you. You’ve been amazing over the last two weeks, but I’m scared you’ll wake up and ask for your house back.”
He laughed before lowering his mouth to mine. Whispering against my lips, he said, “I love you, Jade. And I love having your mother here. She’s welcome to stay as long as she’d like. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Aria surrounded by people who love her unconditionally and getting to watch you heal.”
My heart soared. “Okay. Then let’s go to Georgia.”
“What’s the chances we’ll have an agreement in place before we leave?”
I wanted nothing more than to give him the paper I’d scribbled on, adding my own desires and thoughts, but there was one thing holding me back, and it was something I wasn’t ready to discuss with him yet. I needed to process it and possibly talk to Bryn or my mother first.
“I can’t make any promises. But I can tell you that I’ve been working on it, and you’ll get it as soon as I have everything sorted out.”
“Can you at least tell me what parts are holding it up?” The worry in his tone weighed heavily on my chest, and I wanted more than anything to make it go away, to ease his mind and settle his heart.
“Most of it is the college part. But rest assured that I love you, and I’m not going anywhere. There’s a lot on that list that I want more than my next breath…I need you to know that. My hesitation has nothing to do with being with you. I swear.”
“So what you’re saying is…you want to skip to all the good parts, like having babies and getting married,” he teased, yet it was obvious he’d meant it. “I think we should practice a little more so you can fully wrap your mind around a future with me.”
And with that, he filled me with all the love I could’ve ever dreamed of.
25
Cash
Thanksgiving with my parents wasn’t at all like I’d expected.
My mom monopolized Aria, spoiling her rotten—even more than I did—and she really took to Lindsey. They both seemed very fond of one another and created a familial bond over the three days we were there. My dad was smitten with Jade, and told me any chance he could that I needed to “lock her down” before she got away. In a rare show of openness, he talked about the early days with my mom, and how terrified he was that she’d wake up one day and realize there was someone better out there for her. Not that he thought I wasn’t worthy of Jade, because he did. My dad thought the world of me and never gave me a reason to doubt how proud he was or how much he believed in me. Yet he saw something in Jade—probably the same thing I had from the very beginning—and knew how devastated I’d be if she wasn’t in my life.
But Jade was quiet, soaking it all in. At first, it worried me, although the more I paid attention, the more I recognized the complete love, awe, and satisfaction in her eyes. She hadn’t finished tweaking the agreement I’d proposed, nor had she told me what was holding her back from accepting it.
But after returning from Georgia, I surmised it had something to do with family—mine or hers, I still wasn’t sure.
“So my mom really liked that condo you picked out.” We were in the grocery store; I pushed the cart while Jade compared the labels. It had kind of become our thing. Aria was at the house with Lindsey, which gave the two of us a little bit of time alone. “I’m actually surprised. I didn’t think she’d find anything she liked well enough to buy.” She basically spoke to the shelf, not looking at me at all.