“I want you to meet the people who changed my life.”
Jacob and Marcus whisper to each other as we make our way up the front steps to greet them.
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Jacob says, shaking my hand.
“Yes, so glad you’re here. Jacob has been a busy little bee, running around getting ready,” Marcus adds.
“Jacob loves hosting shit,” Jasper says.
“What can I say? I love being the hostess with the mostest,” Jacob admits with a wide grin.
Jasper rolls his eyes. “Did Marcus teach you that one?”
“Maybe,” he mumbles, before inviting us inside. “Let me take your jackets.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jacob lean in close to Jasper. “He looks confused. I thought you were going to tell him before you came,” he says in a hushed tone.
“I didn’t have a chance to. Don’t worry, I have it under control.”
Marcus snorts, and Jasper gives him the death stare.
“Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes. Why don’t you show Olly around while we finish up?”
Jasper nods, taking my hand and leading us out of the foyer, which opens into a massive living room.
To the right is a staircase, and to the left is an open-concept kitchen where Marcus and Jacob are now standing, pretending to chop things… with an upside-down knife.
There’s a large TV hanging over the fireplace in front of a big comfy couch. The way the house looked when we pulled up was nothing like the feel of the inside. Warm and cozy.
The walls are covered with personal photos, beautiful art, and… Matthew. Oh, how my heart breaks for them. You can feel the love that fills this house for him.
Everything is stunningly beautiful, and I’m glad I decided against my dressiest flannel shirt in exchange for my nice button-up.
“Wow,” I gasp.
Jasper chuckles as we make our way over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the backyard, which features a beautifully lit pool accented with elegant fairy lights.
“Come on,” Jasper says, opening the sliding glass door and leading us outside. The night air is cool, but not freezing. I can smell the salty sea, and in the quiet, I can hear the crashing waves.
“This is one of my favorite spots,” he says, walking to the patio railing overlooking the pool and lounge area. “I used to come out here when I was having a breakdown and just watch the reflections dance in the pool. It always created a calming effect within me. Much like you do,” he says, looking everywhere but at me.
Moving to stand next to him, I ask, “Jasper, did you live here?”
“Yes, starting when I was sixteen.”
His soft fingertips brush my hand before he threads them through mine, still not looking at me.
“I was sent to The Matthew House two days before my sixteenth birthday. Well, technically, it wasn’t called The Matthew House yet.”
I suck in a sharp breath, turning my head to look at him. “Two days? What happened?” I all but whisper, emotion lodged in my throat. If I asked any louder, my voice would crack.
“I bounced around a lot in the foster care system, always for some reason or another. My last family decided they were moving to England. They didn’t want me enough to take me with them. I don’t even know if they legally could. But to a fifteen-year-old, it didn’t matter.”
“But still, to just abandon you. I don’t know how anyone could even contemplate doing that.”
He squeezes my hand. “That’s what makes you so fucking special, Olly. And you proved that with Mazie. You run a very busy diner along with working really hard to open your own bakery.”
He finally turns to look at me. “You could’ve easily said, ‘I have too much going on, and I can’t take her.’ But you didn’t. You put your own life and dreams on hold to make sure she was cared for. And it’s because of you she’s going to end up in a loving home. That girl is going to be smothered with love.”
