Page 31 of Reclaimed Dreams
“You want to hear about the blue sheep who stole my car keys and went for a joyride?”
Jo burst out laughing. God, she loved a man who made her laugh. She loved this man who made her laugh. She couldn’t wait until she could tell him back.
“No, you idiot. I am one semester from graduation. I’m thinking about what comes next. What do you see in your future?”
“Hmmm, well, I’ve got the construction gig. It pays good, and I’m learning loads. Not like you are in college, but on the job. But Tony and me, we’ve been talking about starting a business together someday. We don’t know when or how, but I know we’re gonna make it happen. Valenti Brothers…” He waved a hand in front of him as if he could already see the sign in lights.
“I believe you. Is that all you see in your future?” she prodded.
“I see a family, lots of kids, a house with a yard. You know, the usual stuff. What about you? What do you see in your future?”
Jo looked up at the stars and poured out her heart.
“I want to travel the world and see everything I’ve only read about in books. I want to go on adventures. I want to watch sunsets over mountains and beaches in faraway places. And then I want to come back home and teach. I don’t think there’s anything I could do more important than that. I’m going to be a great teacher, the kind who gets hugs and letters on her desk and who opens minds and hearts. Then maybe retire to the country for more sunsets and wine.” Jo spun out her plans for the future, shapes she could see emerging from the blank fog of her future. No one else could do that for her.
“You’ve thought about this a lot.”
“Um, yeah. Isn’t that what college is for? Thinking about what you want to do and then learning how to do it?”
“I guess that makes sense. I wouldn’t know. Never went to college. Never even been on a plane, and never will if I can help it. Is that all you dream about?”
“You know, the usual stuff, a family, kids, a house with a yard. A home built around love. I want that too. Maybe not right away, but yeah, I want kids.”
Jo bumped her shoulder against him, and Dom just grinned and nodded. Jo pressed on.
“You know, Dom, in a few months everything is going to change. I’ll be done with school and looking for jobs. ”
“Hallelujah!” He chuckled. “If I had to keep driving up here every two weeks to see you…”
She hated bringing the mood down, but she had to be realistic with him. She didn’t want this to end, but she also had to think about her future. “Dom. I don’t know where I’ll get a teaching job. I’m applying all over.”
The big man next to her went silent for a long moment. Had she pushed too far? What if he said he wasn’t willing to move? What if this was the beginning of the end? Panic clutched at her throat while she waited for him to say something, anything.
“I hadn’t thought of that. I just assumed you’d get a job nearby.”
“I’ve applied at the local districts, but I’m also looking at LA and Seattle,” Jo said softly.
“Well.” Dom turned and took a deep pull from the bottle of wine before he spoke again. “Do they build houses in LA and Seattle?”
Jo let loose the breath she’d been holding, and her shoulder relaxed into his chest again. “They do.”
“Then we can figure this out. Let’s not borrow trouble right now, but if it comes down to it, we’ll decide together.”
“What about opening the business with Tony?” Jo voiced the fear that bloomed in the darker corners of her mind. Was his bond with his brother stronger than this fledgling relationship they had? Would he put his family first?
“We’ll have to turn it into a West Coast franchise.”
Jo chuckled at Dom’s bravado. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head and mumbled into her hair.
Jo sat up abruptly, nearly knocking skulls with him. “What did you say?” She had to ask, afraid her ears were hearing what she wanted to hear from that mumbled mess.
“I said…” Dom sat a little straighter and looped an elbow around his raised knee until he was looking her straight in the eye. He hauled in a deep breath and started again. “I said I love you, Jo. We’ll figure this out. I’m not going to lose you.”
Giddy laughter rattled around in her chest, bursting joyously from her mouth as she tackled him to his back. She was grinning like a fool and quite possibly glowing from the heat flowing through her veins, but she didn’t care who knew it as long as the man beneath her did.
“I love you too, Dom. And I’m not going anywhere without you.”
She took his mouth with hers in a messy, tangled kiss. She couldn’t stop grinning long enough to do it properly, but it accomplished what it needed to, turning words into action, sealing this vow between them. When Dom rolled her, settling his weight on top of her, the kiss took a different turn. Hotter. Needy. This big, gruff man loved her, needed her. And he’d said it first.
Jo couldn’t feel the cold breeze off the ocean. She didn’t care about the wine spilled on the blanket or the sand getting everywhere when he moved his hands to her hair. Her senses were consumed by love for this man.
Only the loud cheering from their friends by the fire broke through the magic of the moment, but she couldn’t be mad. She loved and was loved in return, and wasn’t that a marvelous thing?
