“I better go. Let me know if you need my help again.”
“I will.” Evan shook my hand and pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back and chuckled.
“Is this because we’re talking about feelings? Should we paint each other’s nails now?”
Evan laughed and shook his head. “It’s because I’m glad it’s you. Ellie and my godson deserve the best.”
I strolled out of Taylor’s Flooring and stepped into my truck. Once I closed the door, curiosity got me, and I opened the first letter.
To whom it may concern,
I’m Ellie’s husband, Jack Jr’s father, and at the time you’re reading this letter, ghost extraordinaire.
If Evan handed you this letter, it must mean you’re a keeper. Ellie moved on and found someone she could love, even though she insisted left, right, and sideways that she wouldn’t.
So why the game of Post Office from beyond the grave? I wanted to tell you a few things.
You may have noticed, that sweet girl is as stubborn as a midget mule. Worse than that probably. She will never tell you when she’s tired or sick. She’ll just keep going until she collapses. She sacrificed everything so I could meet the son we wanted so damn badly. I’m asking you, above all else, please take care of her. She won’t make it easy. She’ll shrug you off, so you’ll have to be sneaky about it. After a lifetime of putting everyone’s needs before hers, she needs someone who exists just for her. She deserves that. I hope Evan’s judgment was right and that person is you.
My son doesn’t know who I am other than pictures and stories. Even though he’s only a baby at the time of this letter, I know everything about him. I see the pure joy and love in his eyes every time I hold him. I watch him trudge down the hallway like a drunken sailor as he learns to walk, full of heart and determination. Teach him what he needs to know, what only a father can tell him. Toughen him up but try to make sure he doesn’t get hurt. Protect him in a way that I can’t. I mean, who the hell knows, maybe I can protect him a little bit. Ellie made me watch that movie where Patrick Swayze was a ghost enough times. But he needs a dad—a real, living and breathing one. You’ll be the only father he knows. I pray you’re up to the task.
Hopefully, you have a ring on her finger, and you’re about to start a life together. But if I know my girl, she’s still being a pain in the ass.
You should realize the fact she’s with you at all shows how much you mean to her. I made her promise to find someone to love, and she fiercely refused. Please don’t give up on her. She’ll come around. Ellie deserves grand gestures, theatrical proposals, all that shit they pump chick flicks with. She’s a hopeless romantic at heart. Losing me may have clouded that, but it’s too much of a part of who she is for her to lose it completely. Love her enough to bring it back out.
The other letter is for Jack. Give it to him on a big day in his life as a man. I leave it up to you to choose what day. He is—for all intents and purposes—your son now, but I want him to know he was born to a father who adored the shit out of him and was proud of the man he knew he’d become.
Jack was an amazing kid. Ellie did a wonderful job raising him, but good was just who he was. He deserved a father who loved him, and I wanted that job in the worst way. I wasn’t sure exactly when Jack became mine, but as it was with his mother, there was no going back.
My other request for you is that Ellie can’t know about this letter or Jack’s. I’ll let you take the credit for knowing how to handle her, and let me have one last, private secret with my son.
Thank you for taking care of my family. Now, they’re yours.
All the best,
Jack
“I will,” I promised as I folded the letter and stuffed it into my pocket.
In the few times I’d met Jack, I liked him. He was a stand-up guy and funny as hell. But I could never be the man he was. He did something I could never find the strength to do. How would I ever prepare to let Ellie go? There was only one way anyone lucky enough to have her could—if he had absolutely no choice.
Jack never had to worry about me being up to the task. I lived and breathed for Ellie. Since the moment I met her, she had me in a way no one else ever did—or would again. That was why I was willing to take anything she wanted to give me. Now, that wasn’t good enough—any less than all of her never would be.
Driving away from the curb, I had a new purpose. It was time to claim my family.
Life was too short to wait.
“I’LL HAVE TOhave a birthday glass of wine for you this year, little sister.” Kate raised her glass with a wink.
I pursed my lips at my sister. Kate and Paige insisted on taking me to a trendy bar-restaurant for my birthday. A long tunic and maternity ‘skinny’ jeans didn’t cover up my big belly. Dressing up as I finished my second trimester was a daunting task. My ankles tended to swell toward the end of the day, along with my stomach.
“You can have a sip if you want,” Paige said, waving my sister off. “I had a glass of wine once in a while. Doctor said it was fine.”
“Evan let you do that?” I gaped at Paige.
Paige burst out laughing. “Evan was why I needed the wine. During both pregnancies, he drove me up the wall. I wasn’t allowed to doanything. When I was pregnant with Lucy, he wouldn’t even touch me.”
“You’re kidding,” Kate squinted at Paige.
