Page 11 of With This Wish

Billie rolls her eyes at me again. “Dude, you have no idea who this JJ person is. It could be a friend or a cousin. Hell, maybe it’s a girlfriend of hers and they’re just hanging out.” She lightly punches my arm. “Don’t give up yet.”

After a couple of deep breaths to calm my nerves, I nod and decide she’s right. No need to be defeatist about anything right now. Clinging onto the small bit of hope my best friend just gave me, I look around the square and come up with a plan. “Okay. Okay, yeah. You’re right. I will save the theatrics until I know more.”

“Good idea.” Billie looks around the space with a grimace. “This would be a hell of a lot easier if I had more to go off than your description and could see in the near dark. I know it needs to be dark now to make the lights coming on a bigger deal, but can we have a little something to help me out here?”

The music stops and a woman approaches the microphone. “I think they’re starting the countdown soon,” I tell Billie, letting my eyes gaze at the people around me. “Let’s split up and meet over by the fountain after the lights come on.”

Billie sighs and tosses her empty cup in a trash can. “Okay, but if I get eaten by a bear or kidnapped by a killer lumberjack, I am totally haunting your ass,” she informs me. The look on her face is serious as she turns and walks away.

As I navigate the crowd, the fountain comes into better view, and I have the brilliant idea to make a wish in order to find Maya. It’s a ridiculous thought, but I am desperate and the last wish I made came true. Something extraordinary did happen. I met Maya and fell head over heels in love with her in less than twelve hours. When I get to the brick border of the fountain, I reach in my pocket and pull out a quarter. “Maybe more money means more luck,” I say to myself before closing my eyes, making my wish, and tossing it into the fountain. Please let this work, I think as I blink my eyes back open. When I do, I look across to the other side of the water and see Maya with a sad smile on her face as she does exactly what I just did. That was fast. My eyes are glued to her as I watch her make her own wish. When her eyes open, she goes to turn and I react instantly. There is no way I am losing her again. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I shout her name. “Maya,” I call over to her. She looks around but doesn’t see me, so I do it again as I move around the side of the fountain toward her. The countdown to the lights has started, so it’s hard to be heard over the crowd, but I will go hoarse from trying if it gets her to look my way.

When her eyes finally see me, they widen and she shakes her head and closes them before opening them again, like she doesn’t think I’m real. A laugh bubbles out of my chest because I know the feeling. Seeing her again feels so surreal, the dream I’ve wanted for so long finally becoming a reality, that it’s almost too good to be true. The countdown ends and the twinkle lights come on just as I reach her, causing us both to squint in the light for a moment before staring at each other again. “Maya,” I breathe out, drinking in the sight of her.

“Oh my God,” she whispers. We stand there for a moment, our smiles brighter than the lights above us. We say nothing and do nothing but stare, drinking in the sight of the other person we’ve been separated from far too long. Maya looks the same, just the tiniest bit older. She isn’t wearing any makeup, not that she wore much before, but I prefer seeing her this way. I get to see all of her with nothing to block my view of her natural beauty. Words form in my brain, words that ask how she is, how she’s been the last three years, and if she wants a future with me because the moment my eyes met hers again, I knew I wasn’t leaving until we figured something out.

“Mommy, Mommy,” I hear called out from nearby, but I ignore it in favor of staring at the woman in front of me.

Maya’s expression changes from one of disbelief to one of panic, and the words I had yet to release stay bottled in my brain. “Oh, no,” she breathes out. Suddenly, she turns from me and squats down just in time for a small child to run into her arms and pat her cheeks with his thickly gloved hands. “Hey, sweetheart. Did you have fun with Caju?”

“Lights, lights,” the little boy says. His arms reach up into the air the moment Maya stands. After a moment, he yanks off his hood, tossing it back away from his head. “No like.” When he looks over at me, a hesitant expression appears on his face.

Anything else going on around me after that doesn’t register because time has seemed to stop completely. Now that he isn’t hidden behind that puffy hood, I can see more of the little boy that sits comfortably in Maya’s arms. He has porcelain skin dotted with a couple of freckles on the bridge of his nose, but it’s the color of his eyes and hair that have my heart racing. His eyes are the same blue as mine and his head is topped with curls the same auburn shade as my own. They hang just past his ears, and I want to laugh hysterically that we even have the same damn haircut. He looks about two years old, and after some quick mental math, I confirm what I knew the moment he looked at me. I have a son.

A low whistle sounds from next to me and I glance over to see Billie, gripping another cup of hot chocolate, her eyes wide with shock. “I think it’s time for those theatrics now,” she says out of the side of her mouth.

When I look back over to Maya, she’s biting her lower lip and holding onto her son, our son, protectively. “Hey, Jake,” she says shakily. Her voice sounds exactly as I remember it, though now there’s a hint of trepidation in her tone. Her eyes flick to her son and back to mine. “So, we should probably talk.”

Yes, we probably should. Instead of saying that, I rush over to the nearest trash can and vomit.

Chapter Nine

Maya

Each time I pictured running into Jake again, which was quite often over the last three years, not once did I imagine that the first thing he would do would be to bolt over to a garbage can and toss his cookies. I suppose the reaction isn’t totally out of left field, but I always thought if we saw each other again, I could introduce him to JJ slowly after explaining everything and seeing if he was even interested in being a part of our lives. Of course, that plan went out the window as soon as JJ called for me and rushed over. The moment Jake laid eyes on JJ, he knew he was his father. It was plain from the expression on his face. Understandably, he’s in a bit of shock. Still, I always dreamed the moment we were reunited would be a lot more pleasant, with smiling and laughing and, well, a lot less puking.

Carter comes to my side, his eyes pulled together in concern. “Everything okay?” he asks, looking back and forth between me and Jake, who is wiping his mouth on the back of his hand and walking back over to us.

“Sure. Nothing crazy at all, except, you know, Jake is back. So there’s that,” I say, my voice hollow. As I watch the man I fell instantly in love with coming back over, excitement and apprehension flood into me in equal measure. Jake looks the same, only slightly older with shorter hair and a little more stubble than the last time I saw him. Instead of a faded college hoodie, he’s wearing a sweater with designer jeans and a leather jacket. He’s obviously successful, and while I’m happy he has done well for himself, I’m a little bitter because of just how much we’ve had to stretch every dollar for the longest time. He didn’t know, I remind myself. But knowing that doesn’t take away the exhaustion from the struggles we’ve been through.

“Shit,” Carter whispers, drawing my attention over to him. His expression shifts from concern to protectiveness, and I feel him inch a little closer to me, acting like a shield for JJ and me.

When Jake is back in front of us, his face looks devoid of color, though that’s better than the odd shade of green it turned just before he threw up. The woman next to him hands over her hot chocolate cup and he nods at her before taking a small sip. I hadn’t really noticed her before now, too caught up in what was happening, but as I look at her, I can see she is easily one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Her olive skin is blemish free, her dark-brown hair falls in cascading waves, and her chocolate-brown eyes look soulful and kind. An ugly sense of jealousy rushes through me at how gorgeous she is and how easily she and Jake interact. Sharing food, standing close. I should have known a guy like him wouldn’t stay single for long.

The four of us stand around awkwardly for a moment, Jake’s eyes on me and JJ the entire time before finally, the woman with Jake pierces the silence. “So…” she says, drawing out the word while she rocks on her heels. “This is kind of wild, huh? I mean, wow.” God, even her voice is smooth and honeyed, and I feel the stab of jealousy once more. She offers her leather-gloved hand over to shake, and I shift JJ over to my left hip and grab it. “I’m Billie.”

The tightness that’s been in my chest loosens slightly as I realize who the woman is. During the night we spent together, Jake spoke of his best friend and how they grew up like siblings. Still, even knowing the woman in front of me isn’t with Jake necessarily, it’s still hard to put that jealousy to rest. “It’s nice to meet you, Billie.” I withdraw my hand and wrap it around my son. “I’m Maya, and this is JJ.”

When I look over at Jake, he has a look of relief on his face. “That’s JJ,” he breathes out. “I thought maybe you had … gotten married or…” he trails off, shrugging a shoulder.

“No,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. “Are you…” I can’t even finish the words, my eyes flicking to Billie in silent question. Just because they were best friends doesn’t mean they couldn’t be more now, a thought that has me feeling nauseous and wanting to take my own little trip to the garbage can.

The stunning woman next to Jake sees this and snorts. “Oh, hell no. He’s like my brother and he’s basically been celibate since he left this place,” she confesses, causing Jake to shake his head at her. “Seriously, it’s been pretty dire.”

“Billie,” Jake warns, looking more annoyed with his friend than angry that she’s divulging his secrets. The fact that he is as single as I am makes me ridiculously happy, though I am sad that he might have spent the last three years as lonely as I have. “Ignore her. I try to.”

I look over at Carter to see him giving Billie a strange, almost speculating look. Before I have time to try and decode that, though, JJ shivers in my arms and I immediately feel guilty. “I’m so sorry, sweetie,” I tell JJ as I replace his hood and hold him closer. My eyes move back to Jake and Billie. “I have to get him out of the cold and off to bed.”

Jake nods and looks at me, a hopeful expression on his face. “Can I … can I come?” His voice wavers, but his eyes shine with desire to be with us.

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