Page 92 of His Best Friend's Baby

He wanted them to heal each other.

“What are you doing here?” Julia asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and this time her stern expression was believable.

So believable that all the easy words tied themselves in knots and all he managed to say was, “Caleb Gomez is on my couch.”

“He is?” Julia asked. “He’s okay?”

“He’s pretty beat-up and in a lot of pain, but, yeah, I’d say he’s good.”

“That’s great.” She stared at him and he stared back for a long breathless moment. He wanted her to understand why he was here.

“Is that why you’re here?” she finally asked.

“No.” He nodded. “I mean, sort of, but it’s not. No.”

She leaned against the doorframe. She clearly wasn’t going to ask him in. He hated having this conversation in the hallway, but she wasn’t giving him an alternative.

“I want to start over. Brand new. Like you’re opening that door in Germany all over again.”

She sighed. “Why? What would be the point?”

“We’re the point. You and me and Ben. We deserve a new start.”

“I’ve started so many times, Jesse, I can’t even keep track anymore. I don’t want a new start.”

Well, that stopped him in his tracks. “Okay, how about a middle? We deserve a new middle.”

“A new middle?” She laughed. “Who are you?” She looked over his shoulder. “Where’s the old Jesse?”

He grabbed her hands. “He’s gone.”

She eyed him carefully, taking her time and he let her right in. He let her look at all the scars, the ugly things he’d kept hidden, even the boy he’d forgotten he still had in him. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he told her.

Finally after a long moment, she bit her lower lip. “I can’t let you into my house only to have you decide you can’t do this in a few days or weeks.”

“I won’t.” He shook his head.

“How do I know that?”

“Because I love you,” he whispered. He pulled on her hands. She resisted briefly and then stepped toward him. “And I love your son. You love my sister and my niece. And you love me.” He smiled at her. “We’re a family, that’s how you know. We’re the family you traveled around the world to find. And you’re the woman I’ll wait for, forever, if I have to.”

“But San Diego—”

“I’m here.”

“But you don’t like this town—”

“It’s growing on me.” He smiled.

“I’m not joking, Jesse.”

“Me, either. I’m staying right here. I’ve got a journalist on my couch and a garage to rebuild and maybe a business to start. I’m going to help my niece and fix things with my sister. I’m going to help Ben grow up, teach him how to whittle. I’m going to give you more babies and watch you grow old. That’s my plan.” Tears bloomed on her eyelashes and multiplied until they toppled down her cheeks. “But—” he swallowed “—I know we have to go slow. You need a chance to figure things out on your own. You’re just getting your feet under you. Maybe in a week, a month, you’ll decide that I’m not right for you. That you don’t love me like you thought—”

She threw herself into his arms, stopping his words and his air supply. “Never,” she whispered. “Never.”

He held her close, hoping he could absorb part of her. Some of her molecules, a bit of her beauty and grace. One of her smiles, so that he could carry her with him all the time.

“So what are we going to do?” she asked.

“Well.” He leaned back and brushed some of her blond hair from her forehead. “First I think we’ll see if Amanda can babysit next weekend and I’m going to take you to the movies. Maybe get some fried chicken.”

“A date?”

He shrugged with one shoulder. “If you’re lucky I’ll take you up to the rock quarry and let you make out with me.”

“If I’m lucky?” She laughed and it echoed like bells around his whole life. She rained kisses on his face. “I think we’re both pretty lucky.” She sighed in his ear.

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