Niki
Winter was almost here in up-state New York. It was cold in Jimmy’s small house and, being from California, I wasn’t used to this sweater weather. I missed wearing flip flops but Jesse and I came for the Thanksgiving holidays, so I had to make the best of it. We were all sitting at a beautifully decorated table for Thanksgiving dinner. The last time we had all been together was four months ago, in Las Vegas, for Kenny and Emily’s wedding and it had been almost a year since Jesse and I returned home from Italy, and the trip that nearly broke our love for each other. Jesse had a tough season racing with the Yamaha team but, overall, Coach and everyone else was pleased with his performance and after winning four of his races, he had been signed on with Yamaha for three more seasons. That is what he had hoped for in the beginning, so he was happy with his career.
We had just sat down to eat when Jimmy and his wife, Sarah, began to squabble. Sarah was pregnant again, almost nine months, and was due to give birth right before Christmas.
Jimmy tapped his fork on the wooden table, making a noise to get everyone’s attention. “Sarah and I have an announcement.”
We all paused and turned to listen.
“We are buying a bigger house.”
“That’s great, Jimmy. You’ll need it,” Kenny said with a chuckle, and everyone nodded, murmuring similar sentiments.
“Yep, that’s right. We’ll need it if we’re going to have four kids.” He raised his eyebrows and wiggled them.
“Four kids? You’ve gotta be crazy. I’m not ruining my figure for four kids. After breast feeding four kids, my boobs will be so saggy, I’ll have to go to Florida every morning just to pick them up.”
Sarah, as I recalled, was always in a grouchy mood near the end of her pregnancy. But then, from the looks of her bulbous stomach and swayed back, who wouldn’t be? Jimmy, on the other hand, appeared to be enjoying fatherhood. I looked over at him as he screwed a sippy cup lid on the baby’s drink and set it on the tray of her high chair. The baby sat close to Jimmy, giving Sarah a wide berth.
“Four kids—” Sarah shrieked, launching into a rant and berated Jimmy, who took it with a smile. “You try popping these puppies out of your body! I’ll tell you what, you want four? How about you give birth to the next two. Deal?”
Jimmy knew the next thing out of his mouth would just spur her on, so he intentionally razzed her about it. “No way. That’s a woman’s lot in life, you know, cook, clean, have the babies. Sorry, dear, you married a caveman. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
“Like hell I am.” She jokingly tossed a dinner roll at him and he leaned away as it glanced off his shoulder. “I have news for you. I don’t need you anyway. I’m secretly having an affair with the mailman. He’s going to come for me, any day now, and take me away in his helicopter to his expensive mansion, where he likes to tie me up in a red room and do naughty things to me. This baby is going to come out with red hair. Or maybe...”
“Hold on, Sarah, I think you’ve been reading too many books lately. Our mailman doesn’t have red hair.”
“Oh Jesus, Jimmy can’t I have a little fantasy in my life?” She winced in pain and placed her hand on her lower back. I ran and got a small pillow from the couch and tucked it behind her back.
“There you go, Sarah. Maybe this will help.”
“Thanks, Niki. Just wait, some day you will get to have this kind of fun, too,” she remarked sarcastically.
I smiled and caught Jesse looking my way. His eyes danced with humor and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was. I glanced down at my hand and took my seat again next to him. I pursed my lips and said, “We have an announcement, too.”
The conversations ground to a halt and all eyes were on Jesse and me.
Jesse blurted out, “We’re moving to New York.”
Emily’s eyes widened and she said, “What? I move to California and now you’re moving to New York?”
Kenny had a strange look on his face that Emily was quick to notice. He didn’t say a word and just kept shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. She turned to him and said, “You knew?”
With a shrug, Kenny said, “Yeah. Jesse told me they were moving a couple of days ago so I could look for someone to take over for him at Rookies.”
“Why am I always the last to know?” Emily replied. “Jesse, why are you and Niki moving to New York? I mean, will you live here, in Thunderidge?”
I couldn’t contain myself any longer and I had to blurt out my good news. “I got a job—with a famous design company and we’re moving to New York City.” I was practically bouncing up and down on my seat. Jesse reached over and put his hand on mine.
“Yup, I’m so proud of her. She’ll do amazing. This is a really big step for both of us.” He was grinning from ear to ear.
Jimmy stopped chewing long enough to say, “That’s great news, Niki. I’m sure Jesse is right, you will be good at this job.”
As all the others at the table were congratulating me, I bit my lip and threw a sidelong glance at Jesse. He put his arm on the back of my chair and leaned in to kiss my cheek, then whispered in my ear, “Go ahead.”
I took a deep breath and spun the diamond I had been hiding on my ring around so it was facing up.
“Oh, and by the way,” I stuck my left hand out and hovered it over the middle of the table, right above the turkey. “We did this, too.” And I wiggled my fingers, flashing my engagement ring for all to see.
With a hand to her breast, Emily gasped, “Oh my goodness! When did this happen?”
Jesse pulled my shoulder in to his chest in a hug and said, “Last night, when I took her out for dinner.”
Sarah tilted her head to the side and smiled. “Congratulations. I hope you will be as happy as Jimmy and I.”
Kenny continued shoveling food with his right hand and simply gave thumbs up with left hand.
Emily rose from her hair and came to stand behind Jesse and me, to give us both a hug.
“I’m so happy for the both of you.”
I looked around the table at all the smiling faces, a warm glow filling my body as I realized these were the best of times. After all of the ups and downs, the anxiety and the joy, the tears and the smiles, my future was bright and all my plans were coming to fruition. I had learned a lot about myself since I met Jesse. If he hadn’t walked into my life, there’d be no sunshine and I would still be under the control of my father, probably enrolled in law school and miserable. With Jesse at my side, I was free to discover my “inner artist.” Jesse taught me to be myself and not be afraid to take risks in life. I considered myself blessed. Not only did I have my dream job, but I was also going to marry my inspiration, my one true love.
The End
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Other books by Eve Carter:
Deceived 1 – New York (Free ebook)
Deceived 2 - Paris
Deceived 3 - Chloe’s Revenge
Deceived 4 – The Wedding
Breathless – Jesse 1
Fearless – Jesse 2
Pure Temptation – Tempted 1
Coming in the summer:
Raw Temptation – Tempted 2
Deceived 5
Deceived 6
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Eve xoxo