Chapter Twenty-Five

“Oh, hey, Jack,” Delores said as he knocked on the door of Christmas Every Day. A glance at his watch told him it was five thirty. She was carrying a broom as she let him in. “We close soon,” she said. “You need something?”

“I need a card,” he said. “I can pick one out quick.”

“Sure thing. You don’t mind me if I keep tidying up while you look, do you?”

“Go right ahead,” he said. “I’ll just be a minute.” Jack confronted the wide array of cards with all their pre-written sentiments. His head was still spinning from the meeting, jumping from Juliet to his grandmother to the zoning commission decision to…to his mother.

His grandmother had hit him with that out of the blue.

Your mother’s behavior made you close off your heart.

What did his mother have to do with losing Juliet?

She’d been gone for years. Years! The yearning and sadness that had stabbed at him so brutally was mostly just a bad memory now, and he’d long ago learned to live his life without her. Admittedly, he thought of her sometimes, but only with short, quick pangs of regret. But then those would leave and his mind would settle onto other, happier things. He wasn’t a man who dwelled in the past.

But what he’d done had hurt Juliet, and he wasn’t sure if she’d forgive him. Maybe he didn’t deserve to be forgiven.

And maybe he hadn’t forgiven his mother.

But he was going to try on both accounts. In the most courageous way he knew how.

Even in May, the shelves were full of Christmas stationery and cards. But there was a section of all-occasion cards, too, which made Christmas Every Day a quick stop for a last-minute birthday or anniversary.

Jack stood and looked for the for her section. Surely there had to be something here to help him express what he felt.

What did he feel? He closed his eyes, and all he saw was a big, giant void.

A void without Juliet. Long days and nights without her.

He picked up the largest, fanciest card he could find. It had a painted bouquet of roses that popped out when you opened the card. You and I are meant to be, it read. Too…formal.

Another with a puppy. You’re pawesome! It read. I don’t need a special day to think of all the ways you make me happy. Cute, but…this was serious.

There was a little gray cat like Ellie. More cats with sunglasses. Cats batting at Christmas ornaments. Cats being naughty, cats saying You’re purrfect. Cute but…how he felt wasn’t cute. It was…desperate. Anguished.

Cards said I love you, I don’t want to spend a single minute without you, I’m thankful for you. Others had entire poems that went on for ten stanzas.

Some were cheesy. Some over the top. And some were sexy. But none of them were him.

The vacuum cleaner turned off. “Hey, Jack,” Delores said. “It’s about that time, and George is waiting on me to get home and watch The Great British Baking Show with him.”

“Oh, sorry, Delores. Here I come.” As a last-ditch effort, he grabbed a blank card, left a bill on the counter, gave a wave and a thank you to Delores, and left.

…

An hour later, Juliet stood in front of a small crowd in the newly remodeled church basement, with its polished wood floor and newly painted pale-blue walls.

Tessa was in labor, but the doctor had assured her they had an hour. So she’d decided to do her info session after all and then run straight to the hospital.

As usual, her mom, sisters, and Noah had shown up again, too. “Coffee’s better here than the hospital waiting room,” Viv had said. But Juliet knew they had come yet again for support.

“My name is Juliet Montgomery,” she said to introduce herself to the new handful of people who had shown up, a few people she knew from town, and a few new people, too, who must have seen the info session advertised. Which was a little exciting. Not that she didn’t love her family. “I’m a licensed relationship counselor, and I’m here today to talk about toxic relationships.”

Faith waved from the third row, and Juliet gave a wave back. Axl, however, was absent, but she really couldn’t feel too badly about that. Char had promised to come today, but she wasn’t here yet.

Juliet started by talking about all the different kinds of toxic relationships. And the reasons people might stay in them. She talked about self-esteem. And empowerment. And counseling. “Love should never cost you your joy, your peace, your happiness. If you’re always feeling unhappy, if your self-esteem is suffering, if you feel that you’re suffering physical or emotional abuse, disrespect, or being undermined—these are all red flags and reasons to seek help. Are there any questions?”

Faith raised her hand. “I’d like to say something.”

“Sure, Faith,” Juliet said, proud of how she was the first to want to speak out. “Thanks for coming. Go right ahead.”

“I dumped Axl,” she said. “He was my toxic relationship. And I signed up for more individual therapy to figure out why I stayed with him so long.”

“That was very brave of you,” Juliet said.

Faith smiled and shrugged. “Maybe one day I’ll have it together like you.”

Oh gosh. No.

Juliet could just let that go. After all, she was the professional here. But it wasn’t honest. And she felt like she really wanted to be honest. And not present a front to the world that seemed perfect when the inside of her was far from it.

“Faith, I don’t have it together at all. I mean, everyone has struggles, right?” Juliet thought about the past few weeks. How an almost-lost job had led to changes she couldn’t have imagined.

She’d lost Jack, but what had she gained from it all? A lot. She might be devastated by Jack’s loss, but somehow, she knew she was going to be all right. She looked around the room. Her family was smiling and nodding, supporting her as usual. Before she could think too hard about it, she started to talk.

“After my dad died, I had a bout with depression that made me feel different from…well, from just about everybody. When I went back to school, everyone treated me differently. Like I was fragile. Or just…weak for what happened.

“So I started to try to get people to like me. I spent years being a people pleaser to the nth degree. I mean, I was always pretty nice, but then I became…well, really nice. Very helpful. Always volunteering for projects. Always trying to help people. And all of those are good things.”

She looked at her mom, Gram, and sisters. “I think that might be why I hung onto men until I just couldn’t hang on anymore—until I was practically at the altar. I didn’t want to be thought of as failing at something. Or different. Or flawed. And so I tried to blend in.

“And with those guys, I compromised and did everything I could to make things work until I just couldn’t stand it anymore.” She thought of Ryan and the farm. Tyler and his endless enthusiasm. All the things that didn’t seem to fit but she had tried to tolerate. “But now, I don’t want to be like anyone else.” She gave a little shrug. “I just want to be me.”

Being helpful or self-sacrificing was wonderful unless you took it to an extreme—where you could lose yourself trying to please other people.

She’d somehow never felt the need to be who Jack wanted her to be. Maybe because he’d liked her just the way she was. That thought made her a little teary, but she fought through it.

But even with Jack, she’d hid her shame about making bad choices—or she would’ve just told him about Devin. But she didn’t want him to know that she’d gone out with a loser like that.

“Juliet, you’ve matured a lot,” her grandmother called out. “You’re going to be a great therapist.”

“Thanks, Gram.”

“Ms. Montgomery, you’ve helped me so much,” Faith said. “You’ve helped me learn to stand up for myself. And learn to talk about my feelings.”

“Juliet helped me learn to talk about my feelings, too,” someone said from the back of the room.

That voice. Juliet jerked her head up. Jack was standing there, and with his characteristic long-legged strides, began heading her way.

This was probably the most unprofessional info session ever, even more so than the one she’d held at city hall. Good thing Char wasn’t here.

Jack walked up and stood in front of her. “I didn’t think I could talk about my feelings, but I learned that sometimes you have to, because that’s how we communicate with people we love. Words are important.”

The room got very quiet. Jack looked at her with an intense expression that had her pulse pounding loudly in her ears. A million thoughts flew through her mind. He’d come to her info session. Not to save her from difficult people but to talk about his feelings. She couldn’t have imagined that if she’d tried.

He spoke right to her. “Juliet, I knew from the moment I met you that you were going to be the person who challenged me the most, because you saw right through me at what was holding me back. You challenged me to express my feelings, and I’m going to take you up on that in more ways than one.”

He sat down in the empty chair beside her. He shifted his weight and surveyed the room, nodding in that polite cowboy way of his to everyone. She could tell he was nervous because he was nervously tapping his foot, and he kept squeezing his hand into a fist. Then he drew a big breath. “First of all, I’m sorry for thinking I had an excuse for not needing therapy. That was just me being a big old chicken.” He cracked a little smile. “No offense to chickens, of course.”

“But second of all, I’m sorry for getting upset over Devin.” He paused and sighed. “I-I was angry.” Rubbing his neck and looking up at Juliet, he said, “Yeah, I was just plain angry you didn’t tell me about him, and my bullheaded stubbornness was why I didn’t stick up for us.”

Okay, he had her at talking about my feelings, but she let him keep going.

“I never told you this,” he continued, “but when I was in Austin for grad school, I went to see my mother there. She kept me on a string for months, pretending that she wanted to see me. And she finally agreed to meet me, but in the end, she didn’t show. Kept me waiting in this restaurant for hours. So I guess…I need to forgive her. Because…because I think she did the best she could by leaving me with someone who loved me and gave me a great home. Or else I’d just subscribe to the belief that love is hurtful and it’s just easier to close yourself off than to try with people. And…and I don’t want to be that way.”

He took her hands in his and, looking straight into her eyes, said, “You helped me to understand that when you love someone, you’ve got to let them know it.”

Juliet’s heart was pounding wildly. She felt jittery. And hot and cold. Deep inside herself, her soul was jumping for joy. Because Jack was…The One. And he was telling her everything she needed to hear.

She didn’t need perfect, and she didn’t need iambic pentameter poetry. She just needed sincerity and truth. And Jack had got that exactly right.

“And third, I owe you a thank you. You brought the whole town together. You helped people get along and be neighborly, and you helped everyone rally for my grandma. And you helped me to start listening to people and not avoiding coming to know them. Because you’re so full of love. And one more thing.” He handed her a card.

A card? Everything he did was more and more surprising. On it was a cat that looked just like Ellie, staring at a glass ball on a Christmas tree.

She took the card with a shaky hand and opened it.

Then she gazed up at him, a little confused. “Jack, this card is blank.”

He took the card back and closed it. “I know. Because there’s not a card in the world that can express how I feel about you. And there’s no one who can say it for me.” He took hold of her hands and looked into her eyes. And she looked right back into his gentle blue eyes. He shook his head, gave the slightest smile, and gripping her hands tightly said, “I love you, Juliet.”

His hands felt so warm, so strong, so…right. Between her heart pounding and her knees feeling like they were going to give way, she was glad he was holding on to her.

He gave her the slightest nod and faced the crowd. “I love her,” he said a little louder. Then he said, “I’ll tell the whole world every chance I get if you’ll take me back.”

She let out a sob. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Devin,” she said through tears. “The truth is, I didn’t want you to think that I was a terrible judge of men. Going out with him just seemed to prove it even more. But Jack, I learned something about myself, too. I stayed too long with those guys because I wanted to be loved—even if it meant losing a part of myself. I never felt that way with you, though. I feel more myself than I ever have before. And…I love you, too.”

They both stood at the same time. She wasted no time wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a full lip-lock kiss in front of everyone. And he wrapped his strong arms around her and held her tight. His lips were warm, his kisses were perfect, and he tasted like peppermint and Jack and…her future.

When they broke apart, everyone was laughing and congratulating them. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Char, who apparently had been watching from the back of the room. “I’ll expect you to report to work Monday morning,” Char said. “We’ve got a full lineup of clients.”

Oh yay.

“I have news,” Noah suddenly said, holding up his phone.

Juliet froze and exchanged puzzled glances with Jack.

Juliet’s grandmother pressed a hand to her chest. “My heart can’t take much more of this.”

“The baby’s coming,” Noah said. “We have to leave now.”

“Well, I think we’re about done here anyway,” Juliet said. “Thanks for coming, everyone.”

“Good luck to all,” Char said as they headed out. “Don’t forget, Juliet, nine sharp.”

“I’ll be there,” Juliet said, unable to disguise her joy. And this time, she was going to be sure to crack open her rainbow sticky notes.

…

Turns out the baby wasn’t in that much of a hurry to be born.

And good thing Leo had a sense of humor, because Juliet, Viv, their mother, and grandmother were all present for her birth.

Actually, Juliet thought Leo was quite relieved to have a little bit of distraction from all his worry. He seemed to feel every pain, and stress over every contraction, and didn’t rest until he was at last holding his beautiful daughter safely in his arms.

And her sister…well, Tessa was amazing, birthing that baby like a champ. And she only cursed Leo out once.

Little Rosalia Genevieve Castorini, all eleven syllables of her, waved her baby hands in the air in rhythm with her zesty cries, causing a big ruckus, as everyone looked on. Good thing her parents decided to call her Rosie for short. And good thing her name matched her brand new wallpaper.

She had a giant welcome from everyone. Uncle Noah kept taking photos from every angle.

“I think she’s got Great Aunt Alberta’s chin,” Gram said.

“Gram, how on earth can you tell?” Tessa asked.

Their grandmother shrugged. “And she’s got Francis’s eyes.”

Aw. Juliet hoped her brand new niece did have her dad’s eyes. She couldn’t tell at all, but she also knew that this debate could go on for hours. Her gram was the queen of deciding which body parts came from which ancestor.

“She’s as pretty as a cactus rose,” Jack’s granny said. “She’s going to give those two a run for their money.”

“I think she might have the Castorini nose,” Marco said.

“Would you really wish that on her, Marco?” Juliet’s grandmother asked, making Juliet wince. That kind of comment could start a family feud.

“She’s perfect,” Juliet’s mother said judiciously, and no one had any trouble agreeing.

Everyone oohed and ahhed as they watched every little movement, and when Rosie precociously shoved her entire fist into her mouth, you’d have thought a receiver just ran a ninety-yard touchdown.

Even Jack’s eyes grew melty at the wonder of it all. “Hey, baby,” he said in a high-pitched voice. “You love your Uncle Jack, don’t you? I’m going to be your favorite uncle, yes I am.”

Juliet had to admit, the sight of Jack talking baby talk was…pretty surprising. And it punched her straight in the heart. He was like an onion, all these wonderful layers to discover.

“Not so fast, Uncle Jack,” Noah said, elbowing up beside him. “Here comes Uncle Noah, Rosie. Your fun uncle.”

“This is the perfect end to the day,” Juliet said with a sigh a little later.

“Well, yes,” Jack said. His expression told her that it had been quite a day. Lowering his voice, he said, “But…I’m thinking of another way to end this day that might be just as good.”

“Oh.” She looked around the room. “That sounds fun.” Then right there, he kissed her, leaving her breathless and dizzy, and so happy she flung her arms around him and kissed him right back.

“Hey, you two, get a room,” Noah called out.

“Buzz off, Noah,” Jack said, his lips quirking upward. “We’re busy.”

Then, in the midst of everyone they loved, he kissed her again.