What Happiness Looks Like (Promises) (25 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

JOELY

Trying to catch her balance, Joely leaned back against the wall. “Don’t buy this house for me.”

Jake squinted at her. “Why not?”

Black spots formed in front of her eyes and she tried to blink them away. She was painting murals for Kelly’s Designs again and she and Anna had moved into her old apartment complex, this time in a two-bedroom unit. When a local accounting firm hired Jake, he’d gladly paid the tuition for Anna to go to a private school for gifted and talented kids. Things were going along fairly smoothly.

Joely’s friends had even set her up on a few blind dates, but no one made her pulse race. She’d convinced herself that she didn’t get to have it all, but at least she was providing a good life for her daughter. She told herself she was content.

Jake gripped her shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Unable to speak, she shook her head. She couldn’t help but love him, long to be with him. “We’ve tried this before and it didn’t work. Let’s focus on Anna. You live your life and I’ll live mine.”

“I know I don’t deserve another chance with you. But you can’t live your whole life for Anna. You deserve to be happy, too. The great thing is if we’re happy, Anna will be, too.”

Joely looked again at the bronze walls in the giant master bedroom. It wasn’t just the paint that she wanted to change. “I don’t like it here. I don’t want a big house—that’s more your style. I always wanted a little cottage by the water.”

He scanned the room one last time. “You’re right. We don’t need a big house to show everyone that we’ve made it. I don’t need to prove anything anymore. We need a house that wraps around us like a blanket.”

Nodding, Joely bit her thumbnail. Exactly. She wanted to feel cozy, warm, safe.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny velvet box. “I was trying to wait to do this, but. . .” He flipped up the lid to reveal a square diamond nestled between two sapphires, her birthstone. He kneeled in front of her. “Joely Shupe, I love you.”

She covered her mouth with her hands. Her heart galloped.

“You’re the mother of my child and the love of my life.”

She thought about the first time Anna had met Jake, how they’d awkwardly shaken hands. Now Anna greeted him with a bear hug and begged him to carry her on his shoulders. She thought about Jake teaching Anna how to play chess and how to swim. She thought about how he’d been there the night Anna had gone missing in the woods then replaced her tire in the pouring rain. He’d changed, he really had.

He tilted his head upward so he could see her face. “Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

She thought about how he no longer reveled in the attention of other women—how he’d dismissed the bikini-clad vixen in the hotel swimming pool. She thought about how back in college he’d embraced her artsy circle of friends, made her laugh, slung his hands around her shoulders and sung “Piano Man” with her.

And now. The three of them fit together so perfectly. Joely, Anna and Jake. They were family.

She swallowed. This was so unexpected. So crazy. So wonderful. He was “The One” for her. She’d always known it. Now he finally knew it, too.

She pictured Anna jumping up and down when she told her. Her hands fell from her face. She started to hold out her trembling fingers. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this.” She stopped herself. “But . . . no.”

His expression fell. “What?” He rose to his feet, red-faced, clearly embarrassed. “I thought we’d honeymoon in Europe. See the art museums like you always dreamed of. And if you want, AJ can come, too.”

Maybe she did deserve to have it all. She sucked on her lower lip. “That sounds great, but you haven’t seen me at my worst. Lupus is fickle. It robs me of entire days, weeks, months. Sometimes I can hardly move. You’d have to take care of Anna
and
me.”

He nodded and brushed the wrinkles out of his pleated pants. “I will. I promise.”

She inhaled deeply. She wanted to believe. “Keep the ring.” Looking into his blue eyes, she touched his cheek and rubbed her thumb against his tiny scar. Her hands were still shaking. She kissed his disappointed lips. “Ask me again in six months.”

He shoved the ring back into his pocket and turned away. His hand pulled through his dark blond hair. Clearly, he was flustered, maybe angry. He was a man used to getting what he wanted.

She couldn’t see his face. Did she just blow it? God help her, she loved him. But she owed it to Anna to make sure he was committed this time. ‘Til death do us part, not ‘til things get a little rough.

Knuckles cracked. He pulled out his BlackBerry, bent his head over the screen.

She peered around his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I’m putting it on my calendar for exactly six months from now: ‘Ask Joely to marry me’.”

She laughed and playfully pushed him. “You’re such a geek sometimes.”

He tucked the device back into his shirt pocket. “I’m warning you, you’d better say yes next time. My ego can only take so much.” He grabbed her hand. “Now let’s go find a cottage where we can hang your paintings—not some overpriced, over-rated splattering that doesn’t even look like anything.”

“It’s called a Jackson Pollock.” She grinned and nodded. “Let’s find a house that we can call home.”

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Lenfestey, a Midwest Writer’s Fellowship winner, studied communication at Purdue University and counseling at Indiana University. Her first novel,
A Sister’s Promise
, was one of the top-selling dramas on Amazon. This is her second novel and she is busy writing her third. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys speaking to readers at libraries, conferences and book clubs. She would love to hear who was your favorite character and whom you’d like to see in the next book.

Visit her webpage at karensnovels.weebly.com to vote

and check out her semi-humorous “Thoughts on Motherhood” blog.

You can also follow Karen Lenfestey on Facebook, Twitter and GoodReads.com

1. With whom did you hope Joely would end up? Did it change as the book progressed?
   
2. Anna’s birthday wish was for her dad to love her. Do you remember anything that you wished for as a kid?
   
3. What should Jake do to try and make-up to Anna for the years that he’s missed?
   
4. Joely’s fortune cookie predicted that her past would determine her future. In what ways are we destined to repeat our pasts? How have you made sure you didn’t repeat yours?
   
5. Joely worried that her presence caused conflict in Kate and Mitch’s marriage. Under what circumstances would you welcome a sibling to live with you?
   
6. Did you feel that Joely complained about her life too much?
   
7. In what way did Kate’s and Joely’s ages impact their actions? How are you different than you were ten years ago?
   
8. Kate struggled with having a crush on Evan while she was married to Mitch. Is it sometimes better to keep a secret from your spouse?
   
9. Should Kate have done more to help Evan?
   
10. Who was your favorite character and why? (Register your vote at www.karensnovels.weebly.com)