Love Like You've Never Been Hurt (37 page)

“Are you all right with this?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I can take it – and I can give
it out too!” She wasn’t about to be heckled by her
friends, no matter how well meaning. Jack grinned as he followed her
back out to the porch. She didn’t get chance to give any of
them a piece of her mind.

“Come here!” shouted Gramps. She went to him and he
wrapped her in a big hug. For the second time today she saw tears in
his eyes.

“Best birthday present I could have gotten.” he said.
They all cheered.

“You too,” he held his arm out to Jack and gave him a
hug as well. “You’ve made this old man real happy, son.”

“I’ve made this not-so-old man very happy too,”
Jack smiled. “And I intend to make that young lady there very
happy for the rest of her life. I couldn’t have done it without
you though, Gramps.”

“Yes, apparently he couldn’t.” Emma tried to
look angry, but she couldn’t manage it, she was too happy.

“Someone get these two a drink,” said Gramps.

Pete passed them a couple of cold beers.

“To Emma and Jack!” Gramps raised his glass.

“Emma and Jack,” they all repeated.

“So,” asked Pete, his eyes gleaming with mischief, “do
I hear wedding bells?”

Emma’s heart sank as all eyes turned to her. She didn’t
know what to say that wouldn’t spoil the moment. She needn’t
have worried, though, as Jack put an arm round her.

“Distant ones,” he smiled. “But they’re
getting closer. I’d like to propose a toast of my own.”
He raised his bottle and smiled round at them, “Here’s to
persistence!”

Everyone laughed, “Persistence!”

Emma let out the breath she’d been holding and raised her
bottle to his. He was smiling down at her they chinked their beers
together. “Persistence, Baby. You’d better get used to
it.”

“I think I’m starting to.”

After they’d sat with Gramps for a while, they left him and
Joe to enjoy their chili and went to join the others who had claimed
the picnic bench down on the dock. The band were going strong and a
growing crowd swayed in front of the stage. Ben shifted up to make
room for them. Jack sat on the end and pulled Emma down onto his lap,
wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Come on then,” said Holly as they sat down, “let’s
see this ring.”

“Were you in on this too?” Emma asked, remembering
Holly’s words earlier about what might really be the biggest
mistake of her life.

“Hey, I’m only the city-girl come visiting, remember,
don’t look at me.”

“Nicely dodged,” laughed Emma as she held out her
hand.

“Oh, Em! It’s gorgeous!” cried Missy.

“No need to act like you haven’t already seen it,”
Emma arched an eyebrow. “I know you were all in on it.”

“Honestly, I hadn’t,” laughed Missy. “He
wouldn’t show any of us. You had to see it first.”

She looked at Jack and he shrugged. “Laura was the only one
to see it and she kind of had to.” He nodded to where Laura sat
at the far end of the table next to Dan. Emma met her eyes, hoping to
make up for being so rude earlier.

“It’s beautiful Laura, you are very talented. Thank
you. I asked Jack how you came up with such a unique design.”

Laura smiled back at her warmly. “Oh, the design was all
Jack. He knew exactly what he wanted, right down to the cut of the
stone.”

Emma looked up at him in surprise. “You?”

His eyes crinkled as he gave her the smile she had come to love so
much.

“I’m a man of many talents.” As he said it he
held her closer and she felt him hard against her, reminding her of
another of his talents. She met his eyes and laughed.

“So you keep proving!”

“You came up with that all by yourself?” asked Holly,
amazed. “How?”

“I guess I know what I like and I know how to get it.”

Emma felt his arm tighten around her. “I can vouch for
that,” she said, making them all laugh again.

Missy was still examining the ring. “It’s
spectacular.” She looked at Laura, “I don’t know
how you do it. The craftsmanship, the petals. You’ve set each
one so perfectly.”

Laura laughed. “Yes, all eleven of them according to my
cousin’s strict requirements. No working with even numbers or
anything to make my life easier.”

Pete looked at Jack, “This should be good. I know the way
you design. Every detail is crucial, so there has to be a reason for
eleven petals”

“It didn’t have to be eleven,” said Jack,
pretending to be absorbed in examining his fingernails.

Laura laughed again. “No, that’s true, it could have
been nine or fifteen, just as long as it wasn’t unlucky
thirteen or, worse still, an even number of them.”

“Come on,” said Pete, “spill it, Benson. Why did
it have to be an odd number of petals?”

Emma looked at him intrigued and he surprised her by giving her a
quick kiss. Then he looked at the others, gave an exaggerated sigh
and rolled his eyes.

“OK, then. I’ll tell.” He looked around the
table, “Ladies, you’ll love this and sorry guys, but
you’ll probably think I’m a sad sack.”

“Now I really have to know,” laughed Pete.

Jack looked at Holly and Missy. “OK, what did you used to do
with daisies when you were a little girl?”

“Make daisy chains?” asked Holly.

He shook his head.

“Oh, I know. The old ‘he loves me, he loves me not’,”
said Missy.

“That’s it!” said Jack grinning at them. Holly
and Missy stared at him blankly while Pete groaned and Emma snuggled
a little closer, not understanding either.

“Think about it,” said Jack. “You pull off the
first petal and what do you say?”

“He loves me,” said Emma.

He turned and kissed her and his “Yes, he does Baby,”
had them all laughing.

“Come on, people! Think this through. If there were an even
number of petals then it would end on ‘he loves me not’!”
He wrapped both arms around her, “And that will never be true.”

“Oh my Lord!” exclaimed Laura. “And I thought
you were just being picky.”

“I was. But with very good reason.”

Emma felt tears prick her
eyes again. He kept on surprising her with the depth of his
thoughtfulness. She would never have come up with that herself, but
she could well imagine that at some point she would have played the
childish game with her ring. If she’d done it at a time when
she was ready to run, what conclusion would she have drawn if the
ring had told her ‘he loves me not’?

The realization of just how well he understood her and the lengths
he would go to shifted something deep inside. She looked around at
the others and knew what she had to do.

“Ladies,” she said, “would you mind coming up to
the house with me?”

“Sure, what do you need?” asked Missy as she and Holly
rose from the table.

“You too, please.” Emma smiled at Laura, who hadn't
moved.

As Emma went to stand herself, Jack pulled her back down to his
lap. “What are you up to?”

“Something I need to check on.” She smiled and kissed
the little frown between his brows. “We'll be back in little
while with Gramps. In fact, would you guys do me a favor and stand up
when you see us bringing him down here?”

“Of course,” said Pete. “Are we singing Happy
Birthday?”

“No, we're saving that for later. I have a gift for him that
I'd like you all to see.”

Jack watched as Emma walked up to the house. He was pleased to see
her link arms with Laura, the two of them smiling and talking as they
went. Had it really only been a few hours since he'd thought he had
lost her completely? Now she was wearing his ring, making friends
with Laura, and promising to think about marrying him! He knew it
would take time, but patience and persistence were his specialties!
He finally believed they would get there. One day she really would be
his wife.

“Congratulations, Bro!” Pete broke into his thoughts.
“You weren't kidding about the Benson persistence, were you?”

“I had my doubts for a while there though, Pete. I thought
I'd screwed it all up! Thanks for helping nudge her along.” He
looked at Ben, “And thank you. For last night, as well as
today.”

“No worries,” smiled Ben. “I'm glad to see it
working out for the two of you.”

“Me too,” added Dan.

“Are you going to be my Uncle Jack now?” asked Scott.

Jack smiled at him, he really liked the kid. “I hope so,
Scott. Some day soon.”

He was surprised to see Dan put an arm around the boy's shoulders
and say,

“We'll have to find a way to make that happen, huh Scott?”

Damn! Was he imagining it or was Dan talking about taking an
entirely different route to making him Scott's Uncle? He'd been so
caught up in everything with Emma, he hadn't been paying so much
attention to his little brother – and Missy! He'd have to talk
to him about that.

Right now wasn't the time. He could see Emma and Gramps up on the
porch. The old guy took her arm as they came down the front steps.

“Come on guys,” said Jack as he stood up. “She's
bringing Gramps.”

Pete came to stand beside him as Emma and Gramps started down
toward the dock, picking their way through the crowd followed by
Missy, Holly and Laura.

Emma was surprised how
confident she felt holding on to Gramps arm as they walked down to
the little dock. Jack stood there waiting, Pete at his side, both of
them smiling, just as she'd imagined. Ben, Dan and Scott stood off to
one side, the sun shining brightly on the lake behind them. It looked
like the wedding she had dreamed of, the man who loved her waiting as
Gramps walked her to him. The closer she got, the happier she felt.
When she had imagined this scene, the cold fingers of dread and doubt
had crept in, but that was in her mind. Her fears were only real in
her mind. She'd learned that much today. Once she got out of her head
and into her life there was only happiness, she understood that now.
In her life, if she allowed it, there really could be happiness –
happiness and love with this wonderful man who was offering her
another chance at them. She only had to be brave enough to take it.

With every step toward the dock, Emma became more sure of what she
was about to do. As she stopped in front of Jack she smiled at him.
Gramps let go of her arm and turned to Holly grinning.

“See, she brings me down here 'cos she says she's got a gift
for me and she's so lovestruck she's forgotten I'm even here!”

“Oh, I've not forgotten,” smiled Emma.

“Well, where is it then?” Gramps looked around.

“It's right here,” she said as she wrapped her arms
around Jack's waist and looked up into his eyes.

Gramps cocked his head to one side, looking puzzled. Jack closed
his arms around her, looking mystified himself. He made her feel so
safe. If she'd needed any final encouragement for what she was about
to do, she found it in the love that shone from his eyes as he looked
down at her.

“What do you mean, Em?” he asked.

“I mean, YES, Jack!”

“Yes?”

“Yes, I will marry you!”

He crushed her to him and found her lips with his own. Even as she
was lost in that kiss she could hear Gramps give a little whoop as
Missy, Holly and Laura all squealed with excitement.

When Jack finally let her go, the others crowded around them with
hugs and slaps on the back. Gramps was practically dancing with
delight as Jack shook his hand one more time.

“We did it, son! We did it!”

Jack still looked stunned even as he grinned from ear to ear. The
two men she loved most in the world were happier than she had ever
seen them. She herself felt only happiness, the doubt and fear that
had haunted her all her life were gone. She could do this. With Jack
she could do it. She really could love like she'd never been hurt.

I hope you enjoyed Emma and Jack's story and getting to know
Summer Lake and it's residents. If you did, please consider letting
your friends know about the book if you feel they might like it too.

Reviews are a great way to help others find new books and authors
to enjoy. If you want to leave me a review at Amazon, I would very
much appreciate it – thank you!

If you have any comments or questions for me, I would love to hear
from you.

You can find me on the web at
http://www.sjmccoy.com/

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Love

SJ

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