“At last!” Jesse declared. “I’m finally getting the recognition I deserve!” The playful cockiness was back in his voice. He had been so tired, emotionally and physically, and had more still to endure, but just knowing the cancer was being defeated was enough to get him through the bad days.
We all laughed, and Emma turned to me. “And you, June? Have you said yes to the bookstore?”
My eyes widened, and I snapped my gaze up to Jesse.
Emma smirked, knowing damn well I hadn’t told Jesse of the invite.
“Junebug?” Jesse said, confusion in his voice. “What bookstore?”
I scowled at my friend, who just shrugged nonchalantly. I sat up and faced Jesse. “Our alternate love story, the one that’s been doing well online?—”
“More than doing well, Junebug,” Jesse interrupted. “It’s a sensation.” He supported my writing 100 percent. When he relapsed, I’d paused in writing for a while. In the story, Jesse and June had just been told the treatment didn’t work and that there was nothing more that could be done. I had stopped writing the next chapters because I didn’t want to even entertain Jesse not making it through. I couldn’t write of him dying in my book when we didn’t know the outcome of his treatment in this life.
But Jesse being Jesse had made me promise to keep going, telling me that the story made him even more determined to heal. And he echoed what the story version of June had said—he wanted the wrinkles, the gray hair, the laughter lines.
He told me the story made him want to live.
But I hadn’t entertained any of it yet. It seemed too crass a thing to do when Jesse was in this hospital, fighting to live.
“Junebug?” Jesse pushed. “The invite?”
I sighed in defeat. “The bookstore wants me to do a meet and greet with the readers of our book.” Jesse’s eyes lit with excitement. “There’s a literary agent who wants to meet with me there too. To talk about my future in publishing.”
“Are you joking? That’s epic, baby.” I smiled at his excitement, but he tilted his head to the side, studying me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted you to focus on getting better.”
Jesse put his hand on my cheek. “Watching the love of my life get the acclaim she deserves will help me get better. June…” He shook his head. “The story is of us. Of all we’ve been through—are still going through—to get our happily ever after.” He nodded determinedly. “We’re going to that meet and greet.”
Tears built in my eyes. “We?”
Jesse kissed me and pressed his forehead to mine. “We. You think I’d miss my Junebug being told what I already know—that you’re perfect and deserve all the praise that’s coming your way?”
A retching sound came from beside us. We turned to see Chris pretending to puke. “Guys, please,” he said. “I’ve just gone through a breakup. Can we cut it with the lovey-dovey shit?”
I laughed and Emma pushed him on his arm. “He’s just jealous that no one on the planet thinks he’s perfect.” She rolled her eyes, then looked at me again. “So that’s a yes to the bookstore?”
“What,” Chris said to Emma, “are you her manager now or something?”
“Maybe one day,” Emma said, shrugging. We’d joked about it, but in all seriousness, I would trust no one more than my best friend to do this with me.
I turned back to Jesse. “You’ll be strong enough to come?” I worried my lip. “Your immunity is low, and I don’t wantyou getting sick. I…” Fear rushed through me. “I would never forgive myself if that happened.”
“Then make it so the meet and greet happens when Jesse is done with treatment and is stronger. There’s no rush. The bookstore wants you when you can make it,” Emma said. When I’d told Emma about the invite and the interested agent, she had taken over all the correspondence. She was a business manager in the making.
“There,” Jesse said and wrapped his arms around me. “That’s settled. You’ll do it.” Nerves accosted me, but they eased when he said, “I’m so proud of you, Junebug. So proud.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, a blush creeped up my face. But the truth was, without Jesse, there wouldn’t be a story. It was falling for Jesse at Harmony Ranch that showed me what love really was. His love gave me the ability to transfer us onto the page.
From the day we met, it was Jesse and June against the world. It still was. His achievements had been mine and mine were his.
“Right,” Chris said, and whipped out his cell. “Pizza all around?”
“Pizza all around,” Jesse said, dropping another kiss to my head.
JESSE
Jesse and June’s Happily Ever After
