She jerked back from the papers, bumping her head on the bottom side of my desk. “Ow!” she cried, cradling her head. “I didn’t see you there, Bryce.”
I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for her answer, holding back from checking on her. “Why were you digging in my trash?” I demanded to know. Even though it was stuff meant to go to the dump, it still felt like a major violation.
“I dropped my earring while I was cleaning,” she explained. “I was thinking it might have gotten wrapped up in one of the papers.” She gathered them up, putting them in the big trash can on her cleaning cart. “I’m sorry. It’s just that they were my mother’s earrings, and I don’t want to lose one.”
I studied her for a moment—that made way more sense. Especially with an earring missing from only one of her ears. I must be getting paranoid with the Daybreak Dominion’s last attack.
“Is your head okay?” I finally asked, allowing myself to worry for her again.
“I mean, there’s going to be a bump, but I can still make the wedding.” She gave me a cheeky smile.
I shook my head at her. “Can I help you look for it?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a quick shake of her head. “I’m not even sure how long it’s been missing.”
“I’m sure one of the cleaning staff will find it,” I assured her.
She gave me a small shrug before taking her cart and pushing it away from my office. “See you at the diner later?”
“See you there,” I replied.
Once she was gone, I set my computer on my desk, making sure that it was password protected, then closed it. Then I left, going downstairs to the back entrance where Gen and Jada were already waiting in the truck. Jada looked cozy, sitting with a throw blanket over her lap and talking animatedly with Gen.
As I got in and buckled, their conversation stalled. Gen put in her headphones, listening to a podcast, giving Jada and me a semblance of privacy for the drive to our rehearsal dinner at Woody’s Diner in my hometown. Jada curled herself under my arm, saying, “I keep thinking about you growing up in Cottonwood Falls.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Like all these people knew you as Bryce Madigan, farm kid. Now you’re getting married as Bryce Madigan, billionaire. Like, will all these old ladies in town pinch your cheeks and tell me they’ve known you since you were in diapers?”
The tips of my ears got hot. “Maybe a few.”
She quieted for a moment. “Do you ever wish you could go back and just be... like, a normal guy? You know, work in some IT basement?”
I chuckled. “Sometimes.” Then I sent her a crooked smile. “But a girl like you never would have noticed me back then.”
She rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. “Bryce.”
“I practically had to beg you now.”
Her laugh made me melt. “It was bad timing is all.”
“I’m just happy we’re here.” I reached for her hand, twining our fingers together. We’d only been together a short while, and yet, we’d worked through so much already.
“I know I keep saying this, but it’s your last chance to back out,” she reminded me. Then she winced. “Oof.”
“What is it?” I asked, my heart picking up speed. “Are you okay?”
“Just baby girl practicing karate.” She gave me a cautious look. “Want to feel?”
I nodded, desperate for this life, this family–our family–to feel more real, like something that wouldn’t slip through my fingertips at any second. Carefully, she lifted our linked hands, placing my palm against her stomach. She looked at me tentatively, and I watched her, waiting. Wondering what it would feel like this time. Before, it had hardly been a little ripple against Jada’s stomach.
A stronger movement pushed through her skin. “Oh my gosh,” I whispered, amazed. “Was that our first high five?”
Jada giggled, and the sound made me even happier than I already felt. I leaned in and kissed her cheek and then rubbed my palm over her stomach again. “That’s our girl,” I whispered.
Jada was so quiet, I looked up to check if she was okay. But then she took my face in her hands and kissed me, slowly. Tenderly. I wished this moment could have lasted forever, just the two of us, learning each other. What we liked, what we craved. We had all the time in the world to figure it out, but very little time to be truly alone.
I savored our conversation, our time together, until Gen spoke up, saying, “We’re at Woody’s Diner.”
