Brent snorted and backed away from the fridge, bottles of beer in his hands. He walked over to the island and passed them out, setting one in front of his wife, his sister, and his sister-in-law in turn. Berkley, though only two weeks postpartum, had opted to bottle feed Brooks.
“It was hardly against your will, Berk,” Brent said, sliding onto the stool next to her.
“You basically guilted me into it by buying tickets for all of us. How was I supposed to say no to that?”
“It was three years ago! You gotta let it go at some point.”
“Never,” Berkley whispered to Jessica, who giggled in return.
Secretly, Jessica lived for nights like this, when the family was gathered in one place and they simply relaxed, playing games or watching movies, sharing a few drinks and talking about nothing and everything. Her final semester of college was winding down, and school had become a whirlwind of endless deadlines, all-nighters in the library, and hardly any sleep. And that was just her. She didn’t know how Jack was doing all of that on top of practices and preparing to play for—hopefully—a national championship.
It was a Wednesday night, and even though both Jessica and Kenzie had a ridiculous amount of work to do before school was over, they were taking a long weekend to go to the Twin Cities to watch the boys play in the Frozen Four. Tomorrow, the Spartans would take on Harvard in the first semi-final game. If they won, they’d play the winner of the University of North Dakota and Princeton game on Saturday in the title game.
“Why are you even whining about missing this?” Jessica asked her sister. “You’re going to be living and breathing hockey when Brooks gets older.”
“If I let him play,” Berkley said, shooting her husband a devilish smirk, one that told Jessica they’d had this same argument before.
“Hewillbe playing, whether you like it or not,” Brent said.
“What if he doesn’t want to?”
Brent scoffed. “Please. His dad isBrent Jean,” he said, gesturing to himself. “He’ll want to.”
As if he knew they were talking about him, Brooks, who had been fast asleep upstairs, let out a squawk through his monitor, and Berkley rose to her feet.
Brent stopped her before she could move too far. “Don’t,” he said. “Hang out here. I got him.”
Without argument, Berkley dropped back into her seat and brought her bottle of beer to her mouth.
“Let me tell you what, girls,” she said after downing a long swig. “Don’t ever marry or have babies with a man who doesn’t worship the ground you walk on.”
Jessica and Kenzie shared a look before they both burst into belly-aching laughter.
When they finally composed themselves, Jessica said, “That’s a good joke coming from you, the girl who tried to throw her entire relationship away because her boyfriend was doing just that.”
Berkley frowned, and tears gathered along her lower lash line.
“Shit, Berk,” Kenzie said, reaching out to rub Berkley’s back. “We didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Berkley said with a sniff. “I cry all the time now. But you know, when it comes to your relationships, do as I say, not as I do. Because you’re right, Jess. I almost threw away the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and the chance at living this life”—she waved her arm around the house to demonstrate—“because I was too damn stubborn to let someone help me. Hell, I was too stubborn to evenaskfor help. I’m just thankful Brent fought for us when I couldn’t. Who knows where we’d be otherwise. But in order to make a relationship work, both sides have to be willing to compromise. Brent and I learned that the hard way.”
Jessica nodded solemnly, reaching out to grab her sister’s hand and give it a squeeze.
Stubbornness was a trait both Daniels sisters shared, as was the need for complete independence. And Jessica had been thinking more and more lately about her future.
What she had with Jack was more than she ever could’ve imagined for herself. Their story was the kind normally found in romance novels or movies, and its rarity made it all the more magical.
But Berkley’s words stuck in her mind. Compromise. Fighting for each other. So far, Jessica hadn’t done either of those things. When it came to her career, she’d been laser focused, unwavering in her desire to move to a foreign country and start her life there. Was she making a mistake by not being willing to bend even a little bit? Jack was arguably the most important thing in her life, but she also hadn’t busted her ass the last four years to throw it all away for a guy—even if he was the best man she’d ever known. Even if their relationship was everything to her.
A phone buzzed on the marble counter, pulling her from her reverie, and Jessica looked down to see it was hers.
Confused as to who would be calling her at nine p.m., she picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Jessica?” a woman asked in heavily-accented English.
“Yes?”
