“Hey,” he says, pulling me to stand beside him. They all turn to say hello and Whitney screams.
“Jamie!” She rushes toward me and wraps me in a hug. “What are you doing here?”
I look up at Mike. “I live here,” I tell her, never taking my eyes off him.
“You live here?” she repeats.
“Yeah. You see, there’s this great guy who was willing to give up his legacy for me, and I decided to follow him home.”
“What about your dream job?” she asks hesitantly.
My eyes are still locked on Mike. “Dreams change.”
“I can’t believe you’re really here.” She hugs me again.
“Come on now, it’s time to eat,” Aaron says, pulling Whit away. “Let her breathe, baby.”
“Welcome home, sweetheart,” his dad says, passing us to get to his spot at the head of the table.
“Do you need any help?” I ask his mom.
“No, dear, this is a celebration for you, to welcome you home. You go sit. I’ve got this under control.”
Mike squeezes my hand and leads me to my chair. Within minutes, the table is full of chicken and dumplings. His mom winks at me and I can’t help the laughter that bubbles out. This is my life, my extended family, and I couldn’t be happier.
Dreams change and love grows. Life gives you twists and turns, and it’s all up to you how you handle the curves. Me, I gave in to the attraction of a kind southern man who showed me what it was like to be loved with everything in him. My dreams changed and so did his, and together we formed a bond, a love like no other.
And it all started with some good old southern attraction.
It’s been six months to the day that Jamie moved home. I will never think of it as anything but just that, her moving home. Since then, we’ve settled in. Liv and I share duties at the bar and it’s thriving. Jamie got a job at the local attorney’s office and she loves it. It’s a small firm, much like the one she worked at with Mr. Warren in Chicago, and it suits her. She comes home to me every night. On the nights I’m at the bar, she stops in and we have dinner together in my office. I couldn’t be happier.
Well there is one thing….
I look at the clock. It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting on the front porch, waiting for her to come home. I talked Whitney, Olivia, McKinley, and Lexi into taking her shopping. I needed her out of the house for a couple of hours. David and I just got back from our super-secret mission. Not really secret, just from Jamie.
When they pull into the drive, the girls are all laughing. Jamie’s carrying a few bags, which is good. The girls made it believable. She waves goodbye, and McKinley beeps her horn as she pulls out of the drive.
“Hey, babe.” She bends to give me a kiss.
“How was shopping?”
She holds up her bags. “I bought a few things for work. I got you a couple shirts too.”
“Sounds like you had a good time.”
“We did. Liv said no dinner this week?”
“Yeah, Mom and Dad had something going on.” I keep my answer vague. I asked them to not do dinner. Instead, if all goes well, we’ll be meeting them out tonight with the rest of the gang to celebrate.
“Let me take those for you. Then I have something to show you.”
She looks at me skeptically like she knows I’m up to something. Of course she can see right through me; she’s the only one who ever could. Taking her bags, I leave them on the kitchen table and hand her the blindfold. “Here, put this on.”
“What?” she laughs.
“I have a surprise for you.”
She shakes her head with a bright smile and slides the blindfold over her eyes.