The rabbi placed the glass wrapped in a napkin on the ground. “Go ahead, Mike. You know what to do.”
He stomped on it, hearing a satisfying crunch under his feet.
“Mazel tov!”
He and Rachel kissed and faced their guests.
“I love you, Rachel. I always have.” He kissed her again, deep and hard, to the delight and whistles of the crowd.
“I love you too, honey.”
Forever. It sounded like a damn good plan.
~ * ~
Jordan and Luke
One week later
Luke placed his bag in the overhead compartment of the plane. “Do you want the window or the aisle seat?” He glanced over his shoulder at Jordan standing right behind him.
“Aisle is fine. That way I can lean on your shoulder.” Jordan winked at him.
“Darlin’, you can lean on anything you like. Keep taking me back to Paris, and you can have anything you want.” They sat, and Luke relaxed. It had been a hectic day. They’d first had to drop Sasha off at Gage’s house, which meant a trip early in the morning to Brooklyn. He’d offered to watch her since everyone else either had cats or wasn’t home. Then Luke had wanted to stop at Esther’s to see his mother. It still seemed bizarre to Luke for everyone to be together, but strangely comforting in a way. He often found himself reaching for the phone to call Tina during the day to check on her or to say hello.
They’d had her over to dinner several times, and she and Jordan surprisingly hit it off, as Jordan, with his natural charm, made her feel completely at ease and had her laughing at his jokes and cooking with him in the kitchen. He, Ash, and Brandon had all decided to participate in family therapy with her, and after learning more about her brutal life with Munson, Luke slowly was letting go of the past.
Life, as he knew it, was good.
The flight attendant appeared at their seats.
“Champagne, water, or something else to drink?”
Before Luke could answer, Jordan spoke. “I’ll take champagne and so will he.”
Luke elbowed him. “What if I didn’t want that? Maybe I want something different.” The flight attendant smiled at him when he looked to her.
“Do you want something else, sir?”
Luke groused, “No. Champagne is good. Thank you.”
Jordan snickered. “I knew it.”
“You’re such an ass.” He pretended to read theWall Street Journalhe’d brought with him.
Jordan kissed his cheek and brushed his fingertips along Luke’s jaw. “But you love me, right?”
Luke put the paper down. “Of course I do.”
More than ever. He’d never imagined the life he lived now, filled with friends, family, and so much laughter; it sometimes scared him. Finding Brandon was the greatest joy in his life. Now that their mother lived with Esther, he couldn’t imagine anything making his life any better than it was at this moment. He was on his way to Paris with the man he loved, flying first class, and staying in a luxury hotel in the center of Paris for a week.
When they got to Paris, he planned to tell Jordan his surprise. He knew how much Jordan loved the country; some of his favorite weekends were the trips they took to Pennsylvania to go antiquing or fishing. Growing up in the country, Luke had never had a chance to appreciate it, but now he looked forward to their planned getaways from his hectic, soul-draining job. He’d had his eye on a little piece of property in one of the small towns they passed often, with a pond and a garden in the back. Jordan would frequently remark on what a nice weekend retreat it would make.
Two weeks ago he’d bought it and planned to surprise Jordan with the deed on this vacation.
What more could he want?
They took off on time and within half an hour were already being served their first snack. Jordan had become unusually quiet, accepting the dish of nuts from the attendant. Perhaps it had been a long day for him as well.
