thank you. Thank you for giving me the best months of my life. Thank you for taking me in and showing me what a true family is. Thank you for loving me so much that I felt that love from the hairs on my head to the tippy toes of my feet. Thank you for all the hugs, kisses, arguments, make-ups—especially the make-ups—and the way you made me feel like I was the only woman in the world who existed in your eyes.
And last, but not least, thank you for coming to me tonight and showing me once again just how precious love can be. I will bottle this moment up and treasure it for the rest of my life.
I will never forget you.
Forever yours,
Ana
A tear drops on the note as I read over it one last time. I know I need to leave because Jake may wake when he notices something is amiss. Putting down the pen, I rise from the seat and carefully walk towards the door again. Before I open it, I turn my head to look at Jake one last time before timidly shutting the door on my way out.
By the time I get to my room I’m in bits. Acting on autopilot, I go through the motions of taking my make-up off, washing my face, and brushing my teeth. The hotel is deathly quiet now—so quiet that it almost feels like I’m the only one here.
And it’s the loneliest feeling in the world.
I check the alarm clock on the nightstand which reads three twenty-four in the morning. No wonder it’s so quiet.
With that last thought in my head, I climb into bed, welcoming how good the sheets feel against my skin before quickly falling in to a Jake-induced coma.
28
I wake to the sound of the phone ringing. Moaning, I pull my hand out of the covers to answer. “Yeah,” is all I can manage.
“I didn’t think you’d be there. I haven’t disturbed you and Jake, have I?”
It’s Jessie and her delightful morning voice that I’ve come to loathe first thing.
At first, her words don’t sink in straight away, but the events that took place last night suddenly bolt through my mind. My heart constricts. “He’s not here,” is all I can manage.
Jessie sighs. “What do you mean he’s not there? Hold on a sec, I’m coming down.”
I’m about to protest when she hangs up. I really can’t deal with this so early in the morning. I know she isn’t going to be pleased with me. The thought has my head pounding.
I didn’t drink a lot last night, but I suddenly feel very hungover. I sit up, looking at the clock to find it’s a little after nine. I moan as my feet find their way to the minibar. I pull out an orange juice and take a quick swig. The feeling of the cold liquid running down my throat is just the ticket to wake me up a bit. The bliss of it doesn’t last very long when the sound of a very unhappy Jessie is pounding on my door.
I answer, and she’s standing there, hands on hips before she barges past me into the room. Oh, shit, I’ve really pissed her off.
“Come in,” I say, shaking my head. When I shut the door, I turn to find her standing there, hands on hips glaring at me.
“Well, come on, tell me? Why aren’t you and Jake in bed together? What happened when he whisked you away last night? Did you just drink hot chocolate and play Checkers?”
Sitting on the bed, I suddenly feel a heavy weight on my shoulders. “It wasn’t like that.”
She sits with me, searching my eyes. When her eyes soften, she holds out her hand, taking mine. “Then what was it like? Tell me?”
I explain to her what happened after we left, her face impassive the whole time I speak.
“I don’t understand,” she responds, her brow furrowed. “He’s your forever, isn’t he?”
I try not to let the sadness take over, but my heart gives, in letting the tears flow. I nod my head, and Jessie takes me in her arms. I feel worse now that Jessie’s being so nice to me when all I was expecting was a fight.
“Why don’t you let your heart tell your head what it wants and give in? I know Jake may be a dad, and I know how he handled the whole thing was bad, but I have no doubt in this world that he won’t