Serves Me Wright (Wright #9) - K.A. Linde Page 0,100
poorly. Not to mention, my mom has always kind of ingrained in me that I should keep this to myself. But I’m tired of hiding this big part of myself.”
“Jen,” Julian said, cautiously taking my hand, “I would never judge you for this. Anxiety is a real illness. And I’m so sorry that anyone made you feel like you were less for having it.”
Tears rushed to my eyes. The words I’d always wanted to hear and feared I never would.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He leaned forward, cupping my jaw in his hands, and kissed me tenderly. “You’re a gem, a revelation. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. This changes absolutely nothing with me. It only makes me see the perfectly wonderful, vibrant woman that I’m in love with more clearly.”
I gasped against his mouth, my eyes shooting open. “Love?”
“Yes. Jennifer, I love you.”
My throat closed up, and I thought I was really going to start crying now. “Julian, oh my God,” I whispered. I rested my forehead against his. “I love you, too.”
“God, it’s good to hear that.”
I laughed through my tears. “It really is.”
“And again, I’m sorry. I won’t repeat the mistakes I did to upset you. I want to work to be the man who deserves you.”
“You already are.” I kissed him again. “You already are.”
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me long and deep. “God, I thought I’d lost you.”
“I know. I thought so, too. But I never wanted this to happen.”
“Me neither.” He kissed me again before pulling me to my feet and lacing our fingers together. “You’re mine.”
“All yours.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
So, I kissed him again, glad that I’d found the power of my own truth. The power of being exactly who I was and having a man who loved me for that person and nothing else.
Julian Wright saw the pieces of me, jagged edges and all, and he loved me anyway. Just as I loved him.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
“That’s a wrap!” Campbell called to everyone backstage.
The Wright Vineyard workers cheered at the end of the longest night since harvest. Julian shook hands with the band, rubbing elbows with the record representatives who had come to see the kickoff to Cosmere’s world tour. The fact that it was in the middle of nowhere in Lubbock, Texas hadn’t been their first choice, but it sure as hell helped the vineyard.
Campbell pushed through his admirers to find me and threw his sweaty arms around me. I laughed and hugged him back.
“Congratulations! I cannot believe that you’re about to go out on tour and I won’t see you for months.”
Campbell grinned. “We’ll miss you, Gibson. But I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh?”
He dropped a CD case into my hand. “Signed by the whole band.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered as I stared down at my photograph under the plastic case. “I’m definitely getting this framed.”
He laughed. “You made it happen.”
“We made it happen,” I told him.
He winked at me and then dove back into the fray.
Julian returned a minute later to my side. “Ready to go home?”
“I’m so jittery. I can’t believe this all happened. And look what Campbell gave me.”
Julian looked at it. “You’re such a fangirl.”
“I so am.”
He laughed and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Oh, sultry voice,” I teased. “Someone has a lot of energy.”
“You just said you’re jittery.”
But he took my hand and tugged me out of the back entrance to the barn. We waved at Jordan and Annie as we passed. Piper was standing against a wall, and Hollin was saying something that made her back stiffen. She looked like she always did when he talked to her, like she was this close to stabbing him with something sharp. Blaire wasn’t here at all. She’d already bailed with no explanation. Though I had an idea as to why.
But best of all, Julian’s mom had come for the show. She’d been let out of the hospital the next day when her vitals were back on track. Then she’d spent months doing chemo with a fuzzy mind and a desperate look about her. She’d turned a corner at Christmas, and she was back to her bubbly self. Still wearing a head scarf and promising to find a new man for herself. Annie and I were more into it than the boys, of course.
“Milli or Cornelia?” Julian asked as we approached the car.
With the money from the cover album shoot and the selling of my