From her stool at the island counter, Janine shook her sleek salon hair back from her face and lifted her drink in the air. “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” She downed the liquid in one swallow and banged the glass on the counter. Honor exchanged a wide-eyed look with her mom.
“Oh, I like you,” her mother declared before doing the same with her drink and pouring them each another.
This time Janine took a more dignified sip. As she lowered her glass, she gave Honor a sympathetic look. “What did he do?”
She froze like a deer in the headlights. “Nothing.” Then she grabbed her glass and took a huge swallow. The alcohol burned a hot trail down her throat and made her cough. Feeling both their gazes, she choked out, “What makes you think he did something?”
“Because he’s a man,” her mom answered.
Both older women nodded sagely, clinked their glasses, and this time all three of them drank. Honor slumped down onto the stool next to Janine. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I see.” Her mother nodded as she poured again. “So, he’s like all the other men you’ve dated.”
“No.” Not even close.
Bottle in hand, she raised her eyebrows.
“He told me he loved me.”
She gave a mock gasp. “The bastard.”
“Hey, that’s my son you’re talking about.”
“Right. Sorry.”
Janine waved a hand and sipped. Her mother sipped. Honor cradled her drink in her hands, swirling the clear liquid round and round the glass.
“You don’t love him back?” Janine asked.
She glanced up to find them both watching her intently. She ducked her head and swirled the tequila some more. “Love doesn’t last. You both know that better than anyone.”
“The right love does.”
Honor stilled her hands and shot her mother a look from beneath her lashes. “Really, Mom? You can say that with a straight face after four divorces?”
“My dear daughter, why do you think I got married four times?”
The guy was rich? You were lonely?
Both sounded hurtful, so she said, “I don’t know.”
“I was searching for my right love. I still am, and I will keep at it until I find it. I want a man who will love me and fight for me when the going gets tough. Not a single one of my husbands did that. Not even your father, I’m sorry to say.”
Her mom had never said anything like that to her before.
You’ve never asked.
Guilt swelled a hard knot in her throat.
Janine sat up straighter, her hazel gaze shifting to her mom. “My husband fought for me. Twice. He’s been fighting for me since the news of his love child broke.”
“Oh, honey, you have to be in love to create a love child,” her mom chided. “Sorry to say, but given what I’ve heard, you can hardly blame the boy or the woman in your case.”
“I don’t blame either of them.”
Honor swiveled her seat toward Janine. “Asher said you both had signed divorce papers the night it happened?”
The woman nodded as she drained her glass and motioned for more. Honor’s mom didn’t lift the bottle.
“Mark came to the house the next day, begging me to work things out. He said he’d never stopped loving me, and asked for us to start over. To give him a second chance.”
“And you gave him one.”
Her slim shoulders lifted in a helpless shrug. “I still loved him. He never told me he’d slept with another woman the night before.”
“And if he had?” Honor asked. “Would you have worked things out?”
“I don’t know.” She looked down at her glass, left hand tapping the side, her ring clinking each time. Her hand paused as she stared down at the large solitaire and interwoven diamond encrusted wedding band. Her fingers shook, and she gripped the empty glass once more. “I honestly don’t know that I would have forgiven him. It would’ve been too fresh.”
“Given what you now know, do you wish he would’ve told you? Do you wish you’d have gone through with the divorce all those years ago?”
Janine stared hard at her ring for a long moment, then she lifted her head, her expression solemn, but no longer lined with stress. “No, I don’t. How could I? We have a family together, five wonderful children, and thirty-five amazing years. Well, thirty-four. That year prior to our decision to divorce was awful. And though there were also some strained times through the years, we’d learned by then how to work hard at our marriage. Unless I take the time to really think about the crappy stuff, the things I remember first are the happy times. Lots of happy times with our kids.” A soft, reminiscent smile took ten years off her face. “The answer is definitely no. I don’t wish for anything to have changed any of that.”
“Do you still love the man?” her mom asked.
“I do.” Tears welled in her eyes as she splayed her left hand against her chest and smiled at the both of them. “With all my heart.”
Honor’s pulse leapt at the same words Asher had said to her a week ago.
“Then forgive him and enjoy the rest of your years together.”
Janine nodded and her mother turned to Honor. “And what about you? Do you love this guy of yours?”
Her heart stuttered before pounding high in her throat. What if she did—would it even matter? He hadn’t tried to contact her all week. What if she was too late? What if he’d realized when she left that he didn’t really love her? What if he didn’t think she was worth fighting for?
All the what if’s were adding up to a mass of fear—the exact fear Asher had accused her of.
When she didn’t answer, her mom leaned across the counter and took hold of both her hands. “Don’t let fear keep you from something that could be amazing. It’s time to jump, my dear. Have some faith and trust your heart. Trust his, too.”
Eyes wide, she swallowed hard. “Geez, Mom, did you talk to him?”
“No, baby, but I know you. And, I tasted your batter, and I know exactly what’s missing.”
“What?”
“Love.”
Chapter 32
Geared up and ready to go, Asher waited impatiently for the rest of his group to finish their pre-flight safety checks. There were two tandem jumpers, and he was one of three solo jumpers. He would be taking pictures both during free fall and once he pulled his chute, plus video via his helmet cam.
Another group was jumping before them, their plane right now taxiing down the runway. As he watched them take off and climb in altitude, the ever-present thoughts of Honor were right there clamoring for attention. This time he let them flow.
He’d been hurt when she’d walked out. Even knowing her fears, it hurt like hell that she’d tossed his love aside. Then he’d gotten pissed off that she hadn’t even been willing to try and left for Wyoming early so he didn’t have to see her across the street.
He’d spent the past week in the mountains, hiking, climbing, biking, pushing himself to the brink of his physical capabilities, exhausting himself physically and mentally so he wouldn’t lie in bed at night thinking of her. Yet, hers was the last face in his mind when he closed his eyes, and she was the first person he thought of the moment he woke up.
After the first day, he’d wanted to call her and let her know he wasn’t going to give up so easy. But fear was an insidious thing, creeping in to make him hesitate each time he opened his contacts. All his life he’d seen his parents and grandparents happy. Other than small disagreements, he’d never witnessed them fight, so the idea of them ever splitting up had never even crossed his mind—until the scandal broke. Even then, he’d been adamant with Loyal that they’d be okay. They’d work it out. But the last time he’d seen his mom and dad in the same room, he’d finally had to acknowledge the more likely possibility they wouldn’t.
His fundamental beliefs were challenged once more. What if love wasn’t enough? If he was the hopeless romantic sap Roxanna had called him at the wedding almost
two months ago, and he gave Honor everything and she didn’t want it—didn’t want him—she would totally wreck him for life.
High in the sky, little dots tumbled out of the plane as all the doubts and fear of the past five days coalesced into one unavoidable truth—the two of them together did not depend on anyone else in the world but them. He’d said those words to her and then forgotten them himself.
Worth the risk, remember?
Yes, she was. He had to trust his heart, the same as he’d told her to do. The night of his parents’ anniversary party, he’d felt deep down she was The One. Every day since had only reinforced that belief.
His pulse picked up speed as his thoughts gained excitement.
Now was not the time to give up. She was afraid to trust in love, afraid to want what she didn’t think was possible, so he needed to fight with everything he had to prove to her it was okay to want forever. Okay to believe in forever.
That’s what he should’ve done five days ago. That’s what he needed to do now.
“Asher.”
Honor’s voice behind him was like a miracle. He swung around fully expecting to have imagined it, but there she stood, right in front of him. With his heart pounding high up in his throat, he stared in shock.
She smiled hesitantly. “Hi.”
“Hi.” A second ago he’d been all fired-up to go get her, now all he had was Hi?
His brain absently noted the tandem harness over her sweatshirt and skinny jeans as he drank in the vision of her before him. Then the absent mental note registered, and he darted his gaze down, then back up. Now, he recognized the slight tremble in her smile, the stark contrast of the freckles splashed across her nose and unusually pale cheeks, and the trepidation in her luminous, green eyes.
“I’m going to jump,” she said. The high breathlessness of her voice conveyed her anxiety.
“Why?” he asked.
Her gaze flicked past his shoulder, and her face paled even more. He glanced over his shoulder to see the skydivers floating into view, their colorful chutes deployed above their heads as they rode the air currents down to the ground.
“Because if I can do that, I can love you.”
He nearly got whiplash when he jerked his head back around.
“I know it sounds stupid,” she admitted with another shaky smile, “but it’s what I need to do.”
It was the stupidest most wonderful thing he’d ever heard.
He held her gaze and reached for her hands. She grabbed on and held tight, her grip surprisingly strong—almost painfully strong. He gave her a gentle smile. “You don’t need to prove anything to me. You being here is enough. What you just said is enough.”
“I’m doing this as much for me as for you.”
“What’s it going to prove to you?”
“Some guy once told me if I start here, everything else will be a piece of cake.”
“I was talking about taking risks when it comes to extreme sports.”
“Well, I figure if I can hurl myself out of a plane, living to tell the tale will be my cake, and the rest is just frosting.”
He gave her a mock frown. “Now I’m just frosting?”
She gave him a cheeky grin. “It’s my favorite, too.”
He started to tug her forward for a kiss when the lead diver hollered out, “Final check! Let’s go boys and girls!”
“Ready?”
“No.” But she managed a sideways smile as they lined up for the gear check and her tandem partner went over everything with her again. He watched her nod and smile, and his heart melted at the courage she was summoning to do this.
As the owner checked Asher’s harness, chute, and reserve chute, he gestured toward Honor with a slight nod of his head and asked in an undertone, “Did she book a video of this?” When Chet shook his head, Asher said, “If you let me video her on this jump, the whole shoot is on me. I’ll stay for however many extra jumps we need to get it done.”
Chet’s brows rose, but he didn’t hesitate. “Deal. You know her?”
“I’m going to marry her.”
He grinned. “All right, then. Congrats, man.” With a clap on the shoulder, he moved on to check the next solo jumper.
When it was time to go, Asher held Honor’s hand on the way to the idling plane. She squeezed his so hard the tips of his fingers tingled. They were trailing along at the back of the group when she suddenly pulled him to a stop.
“Asher.”
He turned back, and his chest squeezed when her wide eyes locked with his. She looked absolutely terrified. “You okay? Because you really don’t have to jump if you don’t want to.”
A tremulous smile curved her mouth. “I love you.”
His heart jolted hard at the pure, unhindered emotion in her eyes. He moved closer, lifting his hand to her face, grinning with joy as he brushed his thumb over her cheek.
“I wanted you to know that before we jump.”
He leaned in, his lips a hair’s breadth from hers. “Tell me again when we’re back on the ground.”
She gave a jerky nod.
“You got this, Butter Cream.”
The nickname made her laugh, and he pressed his lips to hers. Before he could deepen the kiss, Chet hollered, “Save it for later, Diamond! Those who don’t jump will never fly.”
Asher broke the kiss and led Honor to the plane as he hollered back, “Let’s go make love to the world!”
She gave him a confused smile, but he’d explain the quote later.
When they were up in the air, climbing in altitude to the jump zone, the tandem pairs sat with their backs to the pilots, and Asher sat with the solo jumpers in the back, near the door. Honor and her partner were the first of the tandem pairs, and he’d jump seconds before them so he could film her freefall, then break away to take still photos after he pulled his chute.
He checked his equipment once more, turned on his helmet cam and caught her eye through their safety goggles. When he gave her a thumbs up, she gave him two back. With the roar of the engine in his ears, he mouthed, “I love you,” and was rewarded with her huge smile just before Chet opened the door.
Her eyes went wide, and it was time to go.
Chapter 33
“OH MY GOD! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!”
A half-dozen more holy shits were ripped from Honor’s mouth by the 120 mph wind before Asher was right there falling with her and the guy strapped to her back. He gave her a thumbs up, and she managed to offer one back even as she remembered to keep her arms and legs extended as was drilled into her during orientation.
It was a pure adrenaline rush as they plummeted to the earth thousands of feet below. Before her brain could fully register the terrifying sensation, Asher gave her a smile and a wave and dove through the air away from them. His departure jammed her heart farther up into her throat, then there was a loud whoosh, and her whole body jerked as the parachute opened above their heads.
Suddenly she was floating—or at least it felt like it after the fall seconds earlier—and the ground below came into vivid focus. She could see the snow capped mountains, and green grass, brown fields, buildings, roads, and teeny, tiny little cars. The beauty of it all took her breath away.
“You doing okay?” her partner asked.
“Yep,” she replied automatically. She couldn’t remember his name because earlier she’d been too nervous about seeing Asher and then jumping. “That was insane.”
He laughed. “Want to steer?”
She looked over to see him offering the handles attached to lines leading up to the parachute. “Really?” But she was already reaching to take control. He instructed her how to pull on one to turn right, and the other to turn left, and she spent a full minute turning back and forth, and even accidentally spun them around a few times before he took over again.
Her stomach was a little queasy after the spins, and suddenly it didn’t feel like floating anymore as the earth seemed to rush up to greet them. Her heart raced,
but her partner set them down like a pro, smack dab on their feet in the middle of an impossibly small target in the grassy field next to the runway. He unhooked their harnesses, then led her out of the way for the next pair coming in for landing.
She thanked her partner profusely, then turned on wobbly knees and searched for Asher. He was a dozen yards away, still attached to his chute, camera pointed at her. He lowered it a few inches to give her a grin, but when she smiled and started toward him, he brought it back up, snapping like crazy until she was only a few feet away.
She lifted her hands in front of her for emphasis as she laughingly exclaimed, “Oh. My. God.”
“Right?” he agreed as he slung the camera back over his shoulder.
She launched herself at him and held on tight as his arms closed around her. “That was amazing. I can’t believe I jumped out of an airplane.”
“Want to do it again?”
She laughed against his neck. “No. I’m good. I love you, and I’m definitely good.”
He set her on the ground and lifted both hands to her face. Looking deep into her eyes, he said, “I love you, too.” Then he gave her the kiss that had been interrupted earlier.
This time, they were breathing hot and heavy and she was plastered against him when a round of cheers and applause broke them apart. Heat flooded her face when she saw the group they’d jumped with laughing and clapping.
Asher hugged her to his side as he waved them off. They followed the rest of the group across the runway toward the hangar, and he kept his arm around her while the owner chatted with him about finishing up the photo shoot the next day.
When the guy moved ahead of them, Asher leaned down to whisper in her ear, “No more work for me today. Let’s get this stuff off and get out of here.”
An hour later, they stumbled into his hotel room, lips locked together as he kicked the door shut. It was a freefall of clothes, and kisses, and bare skin as he followed her down onto the bed. When he joined them together with one deep thrust, every whirling emotion came into sharp focus in her body. It was like the parachute opening, and she suddenly understood let’s make love to the world.
Must Love Frosting Page 23
