Page 58 of Binding Their Hearts

Henry moved on to her calves, painting a cascade of relaxation with his fingers. “People plan, and God laughs.”

The universe, maybe. “I’m not sure I believe in God anymore.”

“Regardless.” Henry plucked away her mulishness and scattered it to the winds. “It’s a proverb. Yiddish. Victor often intoned it with a weighty sigh when an evening unexpectedly went awry.”

“My dad calls stuff like that a kick in the head.” Like the time they’d gotten a flat miles from anywhere and stood staring at it, arms folded, heads shaking, her copying his every move. She couldn’t have been more than five or six—young enough that Ollie hadn’t come along. He’d tousled the neat braid Mom had put in her hair. Guess it’s time you learned to change a tire. Gonna need those strong arms of yours. She’d flexed her biceps. Schooling all the boys on the monkey bars at recess, ain’t cha.

Henry hummed a few bars of something jazzy. “From the song?”

“What song?”

Sliding her feet from his lap, Henry held up one finger.

Jay nuzzled the fluttery spot beneath her ear. “Now you’ve done it.”

Hardly a minute of rummaging in the cabinet below the stereo, and Henry put on a record. The low static hum of the turntable gave way to an old-timey swinging beat with a blast of horns. Spinning with a bow, Henry extended his hand toward them as he mouthed the words.

Jay propelled them both off the couch, and she danced her prickly fear into giddiness. They would make their own destiny, the three of them.

As they spun to a stop, Jay hurried over and lifted the needle from the record. Henry kissed Alice’s forehead. “We have weathered every storm the universe has sent our way. Trust that if we fall, we’ll rise together.”

“Because we love each other.” Closing her eyes, she sank into his embrace. Tried to let herself trust in his permanence, in their permanence—in the promise that happiness wasn’t a rug waiting to be yanked out from under her.

“Because we love each other,” he echoed. He half pulled away.

Jay filled the empty space before her frown could even form. “I don’t know what we’re doing, but I love you both too.”

“Alice is taking a nap while you and I go look at houses.”

“She is?”

“I am?”

“I did keep the both of you out all day yesterday.” He had, but the trek had been more than worth losing a lazy weekend day. “And awake quite late the night before.”

Worth. Every. Minute. For those kinds of reasons, she could catch up on sleep when she was dead.

“If I stay here, I’ll be mentally rehearsing arguments to have at work tomorrow. I’d rather go along.” Even if they didn’t find a single house they loved. Blinking owlishly, she mugged for her men. “Besides, I can’t be avoiding the people and things I love for my whole life.” She winked at Jay. “I hear I’m supposed to be securely attached.”

Chapter twenty-seven

Henry

Denying Emma her request to meet with them Monday evening would have been impossible, despite their busy schedules and her cagey reticence in elucidating the purpose for the gathering. The commitment ceremony occupied a space on the calendar less than two weeks away; she might have had any number of reasons for asking Henry to meet her at the club and to bring Alice and Jay with him.

At seven thirty, with his pets’ growling stomachs quelled by appetizers though not yet dinner, she raised a hand in greeting from the entrance as he pulled the car up to the curb. Before he could cut the engine, she darted across the sidewalk and slipped into the backseat beside Jay.

“Straight ahead, Henry, if you would.” In the rearview, her voluminous wrap swirled around her as she twisted and fastened the seat belt. “I do apologize for derailing your usual weeknight. We’ve not far to go, but it’s a bit chilly and dark for a walk.”

The very essence of November: thirty-four degrees and full nightfall nearly two hours past, with a sliver of a crescent moon in the sky. He rejoined the flow of traffic, his senses attuned to the oddity of her presence in his vehicle. If her purpose had centered on his classes or other plans for the club, meeting there would have sufficed. If the wedding plans, Jay possessed all the necessary authority to make decisions. But she’d asked for the three of them. “Is this something related to the ceremony, Em?”

“Hmm, we’ll see.” She waggled a flat hand in a see-saw motion. “I don’t want to prejudice your opinion. The club was simply a convenient meeting place. Alice, Jay, greetings—it’s lovely to see you both. Left at the corner.”

Beside him, Alice might have been amused or bemused by Emma’s hijacking of control—or by his allowance of it. The traffic commanded too much of his attention to thoroughly investigate, and Jay’s whispers to Emma after their exchange of hellos commandeered the remainder.

“—sure it’s all set?” Jay’s furtive glances at the front seat failed utterly to help him conceal his conversation.

“I’m certain. Daniel is handling—”

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