All Who Dream (Letting Go) (30 page)

As I
closed the door I thought I heard, “Or maybe I will.”

When I walked out into the living room, fully dressed,
Jackson was watching TV—a basketball game. He smiled at me, his eyes sparking
to life. My stomach clenched. Being with Jackson in such close quarters was
going to be the death of me.

“I have a
surprise for you tonight,” he said coolly, hands behind his head as he slouched
on the couch.

My
eyebrows shot up.
“Really?
What is it?”

“Did you
not hear the
surprise
part of that
sentence?” He laughed.

I
mock-kicked him, only he caught my leg, knocking me off balance. His arms
braced me as I fell into his lap in one swift movement—almost as if he’d
planned it. I laughed as he grinned like the Cheshire cat.

“I hate
surprises, Jackson,” I said, warning him.

“You’ll
like this one.” He stared at my lips and the floor of my stomach bottomed-out.

I pushed
myself up to a sitting position, ignoring his protest when I scooted off his
lap. “You seem pretty confident about that.”

“I am.”
He winked. “Quite.”

I studied
him, trying to guess what he had in store. Knowing Jackson though, the
possibilities were limitless.

“Should
we make a wager?” he asked. “If there is even the tiniest hesitation that you
might not love it—I’ll gladly succumb to any fate you
choose
for me.”

I bit my
lip, toying with my necklace. “Fine, but I’m warning you—I’m the girl who reads
the endings of books after the first chapter. I don’t like surprises.”

He gaped,
but swatted my hand away as I reached up to close his mouth, “That should be a
crime. You’re the worst kind of book reader there is—spoiler!”

“It’s not
a spoiler…I just want to make sure everyone ends up happy! Then I’ll enjoy the
journey so much more.”

“That’s
messed up,” he said, shaking his head.

I laughed.
“Hey, I’ve never claimed otherwise.”

He silenced
me then with his lips on mine, and suddenly my concerns of a surprise evening
were no more. Jackson didn’t need a wager—his kiss was enough.

After lazing around all afternoon, telling story after
story about our childhoods and family life growing up, Jackson stood up
abruptly at 4:00.

“What are
you doing?” I asked, shocked as his hand was on the knob before I could even
stand.

“I need
to get ready for our surprise date tonight,” he said, smiling.

“Oh, so
it’s a date?”

He
lowered his brows as if questioning my sanity. “Of course it’s a date—what did
you think it was going to be—a new type of green smoothie combination? No
wonder you hate surprises.”

I laughed
hard as he watched me, grinning in amusement. He walked over to me then and
pulled me into an embrace that made me instantly weak. “There’s just one
requirement.”

I eyed
him suspiciously. “What?”

“You have
to wear your gold dress.”

I shook
my head and laughed. “I just wore it to Broadway two weeks ago, Jackson.”

His
facial hair scratched across my face lightly as his lips found my ear.
“Sweetheart, you could wear that dress every day, and I’d never complain.”

He pulled
away before I could respond and opened the door, “I hired my on-call driver,
Russell, to pick you up in an hour and a half. I’ll be waiting for you.”

I opened
my mouth, but like usual, Jackson made it impossible to refute. He always had
the last word because there was usually nothing left to be said after it.

On the
way to my mystery date, I called Cody to check in. He had played his first
scrimmage and was full of stories—all of which made me laugh. Apparently,
Charlie got sick during the game and had thrown up in the bushes, but as Cody
put it, “I told everyone it was not gross—she is just pregnant.” I smiled at
his sensitivity as a twinge of remembrance ran along my lower abdomen.

“I love
you, buddy, and I miss you to infinity.”

“I miss
you to infinity, too, Mom,” he said. “Are you with Mr. Ross right now?”

“No, why?”
I asked, surprised.

He paused
for a second.

 
“Cody? Why did you ask that?”

“You just
sound really happy…like you are when you’re with him,” he said, his voice
slightly hesitant.

“Well…I’m
actually going out on a date with him in a little while…how do you feel about
that?” I asked, unsure if telling him now was the right thing to do or not.

“I like
him, Mom. He’s cool,” he said, cheerfully. “Uncle Briggs and I talked about him
last night.”

My heart
rate suddenly increased as I thought about what their conversation must have
entailed. Surely Briggs would not have shared more than I would have agreed to,
he wasn’t that stupid. “What did you talk about, exactly?”

“Well—I
don’t want you to get mad,” he said.

“Cody,
I’m not going to get mad. You can tell me anything. You know that.”

He sighed.
“I asked him about my dad—my dad that hurt you.”

I closed
my eyes, taking a deep breath before I could respond. “Okay. What were you
curious about, bud?”

“I just—I
wanted to know if he was the reason you haven’t married anyone else.”

“Oh,
buddy, we’ve talked about this before. You are my first priority.”

“Yeah, but mom?”

“Yes?” My
heart was in my throat as I croaked out my reply.

“It’s
just…I really liked my New York family,” he said matter-of-factly. “I miss
them.”

I sighed.

“I told
Uncle B that maybe you could marry Mr. Ross and maybe he could be my new
dad—like the real kind of dad?”

I held my
necklace pendant and fought back tears. “I don’t know what the future holds,
buddy, but you are a
very
loved young man whether our
family grows or not.”

“I know,
Mom. Um—Uncle Briggs has dinner ready. I love you.”

“Okay—Cody?”

“Yeah?”

“I love
you more.”

 
As I hung up the phone and slipped it into the
clutch purse that
Pippy
had picked out to match this
very dress, the town car rolled to a stop. Instantly, I was filled with a
nervous energy as I looked out the window at my surroundings.

The Manhattan Harbor.

My door
opened, and as I stepped out, careful to hold my dress up, I saw him. Jackson
smiled regally, waiting at the edge of a long dock wearing khaki dress pants
and a light blue polo.

“Here you
are, Miss,” Russell said, as he closed my door behind me.

“Thank
you.” My breath caught at the sight just beyond where Jackson stood.

No…way. Was he serious?

Jackson
must have figured out my shock was completely immobilizing as a second later he
was at my side, smile undeterred.

“You
surprised?” Jackson asked arrogantly.

I nodded,
speechless.

“And
you’re not unhappy?”

I shook
my head.

He
laughed.

“Great,
now that we have that settled, let’s board.”

I turned
to him, my eyes growing wide with awe, “We’re—we’re going on that boat?”

He chuckled.
“Yes, though technically it’s called a yacht. The captain is fairly particular
about that fact.”

My mouth
gaped as Jackson dragged me forward toward the dock. “I can’t believe this is
your idea of a date night.”

“Believe
it, sweetheart,” he whispered against my hair as tiny prickles ran up my spine
and neck. “That dress deserves its own yacht.”

I laughed
then, stepping onto the beautiful plank floor of
The Cecilia
. The captain and three young men dressed in white
coats—two with chef hats stood steps away from where we entered the yacht.

“Good
evening, Miss Flores,” the older man in the captain’s hat said as he kissed the
back of my hand. “I’m Captain John
Cogswell
—but
people know me as Captain Cogs around here. I hope you enjoy your evening
tonight. We will be taking a romantic tour around the harbor, and I’m sure
Jackson will point out all the essential highlights as you eat our spectacular
four-course meal prepared by Ivan here.”

I noted
the casual way in which Captain Cogs referred to Jackson, deciding that they
must know each other quite well outside of this date night. Ivan introduced his
two staff members and then left immediately to return to their preparations in
the galley. I was still in shock as Captain Cogs smiled and pointed out the
various amenities on the 75-foot-vessel.

Jackson
led me to the small table inside the saloon, surrounded by gigantic windows
that seemed to span from floor-to-ceiling. It was still fairly warm outside, so
I guessed that he wanted to eat in the air-conditioning. I didn’t blame him for
that. It would be much more enjoyable than sweating in this silk dress.

Jackson
pulled out my chair as I took in the beautiful décor around me.

I glanced
up at him as I settled onto the offered chair. “I am still in such shock
Jackson—this is absolutely incredible.”

“Cogs
was
a good friend of my dad’s. He was happy to oblige my
request—especially since it involved a gorgeous young woman.”

“Jackson—that might be a new record for you.
Two compliments
in less than twenty minutes,” I teased.

“I told
you, I only speak the truth,” Jackson said.

My face
warmed as I unfolded the napkin and placed it on my lap. The waiter bustled in
with the wine and a plate of shrimp appetizers.

“Before I
wine and dine you, I wanted to tell you something.”

“What is
it ?”

He slid
his hand on top of mine. “I had a friend of mine do some checking for me…on
your ex. He’s still in prison, Ang. No chance of parole for him anytime soon. You’re
safe. I hope that can put your mind somewhat at ease so you can sleep without
the nightmares.”

My eyes
filled with tears. “Thank you.”
You’re
amazing.

He said
grace and then we dug in. For the next two hours, we ate course after course of
the most delicious food I’d ever had in my life. Our dessert was banana foster,
and it was to die for. After two glasses of
wine
 
my
head got a tad fuzzy, and decided I
was probably more of a lightweight than I thought. It’d been years since I’d
had any alcohol.

Jackson
asked a lot of questions about Cody: What was his first word? What had he been
like as a toddler? What kind of student was he? With every question my heart
became more and more tethered to the man who sat across from me.

Jackson
had never talked so much in one setting, it was refreshing. No, it was
wonderful.

“So tell
me, Miss Angela Flores,” he said, pushing his dessert plate aside and leaning
onto his elbows. “How might a man such as
myself
convince you to dance with him?”

I pursed
my lips, mirroring his posture as I leaned onto the
tabletop
,
even though the action was against the manners I had worked so hard to
teach my son.

“I think
he should simply start by asking.”

“Hmm…you’re
big on the asking thing,” he said, brow furrowing slightly.

“Yes, it
is such a strange request.”

He rolled
his eyes. “Dance with me?”

I smiled,
knowing for Jackson that was probably the best
ask
he could produce and still be himself. I touched my necklace,
making him wait a good five seconds for my answer.

“I would
love to, Mr. Ross.”

“Good
answer.” He smirked. “Another few seconds and I would have resorted to
tickling.”

I shot
him a dirty look as he grabbed my hand and led me to the aft deck. The sky had
darkened considerably, but the lights from the city were breathtaking. From
where we were now, the Statue of Liberty was visible and completely
illuminated. But even more beautiful were the stars that had appeared sometime
while we were eating.

The night
was beyond perfection.

 
On evenings like
this
 
one
could not dispute the existence of
God.

Jackson
tugged my arm as a hard gust of wind blew my hair off my face and shoulders. I
regretted not pulling it back—but I also had never expected to be in the middle
of the harbor on a yacht either. Not all things could be planned for I guessed.

I laughed
as a sweet acoustic melody began to play through the speakers that surrounded
the deck. He slid his arm around my back and I scooped my hair to
lay
over my left shoulder, trying to avoid it whipping
either one of us in the face with the constant breeze. Jackson’s planted a kiss
on the right side of my neck,
and
 
my
knees weakened beneath me.

“I love
it when you wear your hair like this,” Jackson said quietly, his cheek pressed
to mine.

And just
like that—a few hair whippings suddenly seemed so worthwhile.

He held
me as we danced under the stars, song after song playing in the background of
the most perfect night I had ever experienced. We’d spent hours talking today,
but the silence we shared now felt like an even deeper connection.

I let my
mind wander back to Cody’s words from earlier.

“…I told Uncle B that maybe you could marry
Mr. Ross and maybe he could be my new dad—like the real kind of dad.”

The truth
was: I wanted Cody to have a dad too, but until recently, I didn’t have a shred
of hope for that. This was a scary path for my mind to travel down, and an even
scarier one for my heart. But my feelings for Jackson had intensified since my
internal revelation at the lake house last weekend. They had staked a claim,
woven their plans into my soul, and had utterly paralyzed me with their power.
Yet tonight, another truth gripped me as I swayed to the music.