Page 85 of Write Me For You
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor—I could barely believe it.
“I love you,” June whispered, and even those three words sounded more important somehow.
“I love you too,” I said and kissed her lips. I ran my hand down her side, over her silk slip, and said, “Just so you know, if I were at full health, I would be devouring you right now.”
“Oh, I believe it,” she said and giggled. I laughed too. “I adore your dimples.” She ran her fingertips along them, then yawnedagain. “I don’t want this night to end, but I don’t think I can stay awake much longer.”
“Before you sleep,” I said, and reached for my bedside drawer. I just hoped June’s parents had put my wedding gift in the same place I’d had it in my old room.
Luckily, they had. I pulled out the picture that I’d had framed. It was wrapped in white. June struggled to sit up, but when she finally did, I handed her the picture.
“I didn’t get you anything,” she said, worrying her lip.
“You gave me you, Junebug. That’s more than enough.” I tapped the frame. “Open it.”
June carefully opened the package of the picture I’d drawn for her. She gasped when it came into view and her eyes filled with tears. “Jesse…” she said and ran her fingertips over the glass front. She turned to me with a sad smile. “Our dream.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I couldn’t give you it in this life. Maybe it’s in our happily ever after, I don’t know. But I wanted you to have it some way, even if it was just in picture form from my imagination.”
June held the frame to her chest and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she looked at me and said, “It’s exactly how I see it too.”
My heart was full to bursting as she leaned down and kissed me, holding the sketch to her chest.
June took hold of my hand. “We’ll have this in some way, baby. In heaven, this dream awaits.”
“I know,” I rasped out, and kissed June’s fingers as she fell asleep. When she was deeply asleep, I took the frame from her hands, so it wouldn’t break. Looking down at the picture, I closed my eyes and saw it in my mind’s eye—us, sitting on our porch swing, the view from our home’s back door. Our heads were close together, and we were older. Before us wereour children and grandchildren, playing in the back yard as we watched on.
It was June’s biggest dream.
I’d had to give her this too. I’d had to give her one more dream, even if it was just etched in pencil.
I would have given her the world if I could.
But I’d had to settle for giving her my last name, and that was a dream come true in itself.
CHAPTER 30
June
Jesse and June’s Happily Ever After
“How are you feeling?” I asked, as June looked out of the car window. The bookstore had sent a car for us—how fancy. The weather was bright and warm, and the sun was blazing in the blue sky.
June wore a floor-length, fitted, sleeveless green dress which made her eyes look like dark chocolate swirls. I was still staying in the hospital, but as of last week, my latest test results had returned as “no evidence of disease.” I had only a few weeks left of my treatment, and soon, I would be out and fully considered in remission.
I couldn’t believe it. After months and months of chemo and immunotherapy, sickness and June never leaving my side, we’d gotten through it.
I was exhausted, a little weak and sore, but I wasn’t going to miss this event for anything in the world. June turned to me and took a deep breath. She still wore her dark hair in a bob, and she looked beautiful. But then, she always was to me.
“I’m beginning to regret my choice,” she said, lips twitching in nerves. I kissed the back of her hand. Her skin had paled a little with anxiety. “What if no one turns up? What if the event is a bust?” she said, panicked.
“Junebug,” I said, shifting closer to her on the back seat. “Look at me.” She did, and I cupped her cheek. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply at my touch. “Our story has millions of reads online. I’m pretty sure you have no idea what you’ll be walking into.”
Her eyes opened wide.
“Not in a bad way, baby. But in a good.” I kissed her forehead, her short bangs tickling my nose. “I’ve read the comments on every chapter you post.”
“You have?” June asked. She had stopped reading them long ago, when the sheer number of people reading her words made her more terrified than not. This was our story she was writing. The story of us had we not made it out of Harmony Ranch. It was special to us, and it made June feel vulnerable. She was determined to protect that Jesse and June with everything she was. She adored them. We adored them—we were them. We held them tightly in our hearts. She didn’t want anyone’s comments to hurt them in any way.
