“How long is he going to be out there?”
“I don’t know, Mom,” I said. “I don’t know.”
Chapter Seven
When I opened our front door the next day, it was to a frigid morning and Jesse sitting calmly on a camp stool with a mug of coffee.
He jumped up when he saw me and reached for a big to-go cup of steaming Starbucks coffee beside him.
“I already got you your favorite so you don’t have to stop. A London Fog for you, m’lady.”
He handed it to me pinky-up, like he always had, with a smile twitching at his face.
I had heard the same teasing joke so many times and it always made me laugh, so I wasn’t able to stop my lips from curving up.
So he didn’t get the wrong idea, I bent and took a sip of my drink. It had been made with lavender syrup, just like I always asked for.
When I looked up he was down on one knee again, and this time the little box was popped open so I could see the ring.
Choking on my drink, I could barely believe my eyes.
It was absolutely massive, just an enormous damn rock in there, a pear-shaped monstrosity sparkling up at me like the opening of some pirate’s loot.
“I love you,” my ex said. “And I want to marry you.”
I dragged my eyes away from the ring to look at his face—craggy with stubble now.
“If you love me so much, why did you break up with me? Why would I trust you won’t do the same damn thing if I took you back?”
He flushed.
“It’s so shitty and stupid that it’s embarrassing. After I got signed, all the guys were talking about what I’d get now. Like I could buy a mansion, tons of sports cars, designer everything. And of course, I could get any pussy I wanted.”
His voice trailed off.
“And I was so fucking fat-headed after getting signed that I broke up with you and I got any pussy I wanted and started dating Taylor too. And then. . .it wasn’t what I thought.”
“What a heart-rending cautionary tale,” I said caustically. “I wonder how much pussy it took for you to finally decide you were bored and would rather go back to the girl who penned your dentist appointments in the calendar because you always forgot.”
“No, Josie!” he cried in a panic. “It’s not like that! It’syouI miss. And it’s all because ofyouthat I made it to the NHL. I never could have without your support.”
But I was already moving down the steps.
“Go to practice, Jesse,” I said.
“I’m going to keep asking you,” he called after me. “Again and again.”
“I hope you saved the receipt,” I yelled back at him, then walked to work wishing I had just kicked the coffee cup from his hand and gotten it myself.
When I arrived at school, I was hoping for at least eight or nine hours ofnotthinking about my ex.
But alas, it was not to be.
I headed for our crappy copier in the Teacher’s Lounge to get some math sheets ready, when Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Macduff both ambushed me, their faces split in ear-to-ear grins.
“Josephine, you willneverguess what happened!” Mr. Macduff caroled.
“Josephine, you haveneverseen such a beauty!” Mr. Montgomery cried at the same time.
