Jade's Match, the Jewel Series Book 7

by Hallee Bridgeman

  Robin hugged her tightly. “Well, look who it is! ‘Dorable-Cora! Happy Fourth to you.” She gestured toward the door. “Uncle Tony went to fill the propane tank. He’ll be right back. I know he’ll be thrilled to see you.”

  Maxine set the melon on a tray and pointed at a cooler. “Robin brought the steaks. And some portabellas for Sarah in case she reverts.”

  “Mom and I peeled and diced twenty pounds of potatoes yesterday and boiled a dozen eggs. That should just about cover the potato salad.” Cora went to the sink and used filtered water to refill her water bottle.

  “Where’s your hottie?” Robin asked, looking at the back door. “Your brother didn’t 'Chase' him away, did he?” She winked. "See what I did there?"

  Cora began to understand Davis’ objection to the descriptive term she’d come up with on the fly. “Davis went for a run. He should be back in about thirty minutes.” She flipped on the kettle as the front door opened.

  “Hello!”

  She walked around the corner and saw her Aunt Sarah walk in, carrying a giant bowl of watermelon. Cora rushed forward and took it from her hands. Behind her, Cora’s cousin Vincent carried a cake box.

  Sarah instructed Vincent, “Put that in the fridge.” A full foot taller than aunt, Cora had to stoop to hug her around the bowl. “Happy Fourth, honey. It’s good to see you.”

  “It’s so good to see you. Where’s the rest of the gang?”

  “Uncle Derrick is bringing Angela and Rebekah. He’ll be here in a couple of hours. He took them to work with him this morning.” She walked into the kitchen to hug Maxine and Robin. “So! Where’s the hottie?” she asked, making Cora groan out loud.

  A bonfire blazed on the beach, and Davis held a marshmallow on a stick closer to the heat.

  “Another one, huh?” Cora asked over his shoulder. “Should I say the word training combined with Olympics?”

  He turned his head and smiled at her. “I’m doing this for your cousin. She said the fire’s too hot for her.”

  “Always the gentleman.”

  He grinned. “I don’t mind at all. I like being manly for beautiful women.”

  Cora looked over at eleven-year-old Rebekah, who sat on a lounge chair covered under mounds of blankets. A childhood bout with cancer had left her smaller than average. She could easily pass for a seven or eight-year-old. With little body fat, the cold night air assaulted her.

  Cora got a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate, then took the marshmallow from Davis. “Mind if I take it to her?”

  “Not at all. I’ll get another one going.”

  Cora walked over to her cousin and held out the s’more. “Here you go, punk. Freshly made by Dauntless Davis himself. Don’t worry, the marshmallows are vegetarian so even Aunt Sarah can’t object.”

  Rebekah smiled and held out her hand. “I like him, Cora,” she said, nibbling on the corner of the treat. “He’s really nice.”

  Cora looked at Davis’s face reflecting in the firelight. “He is nice. Best part of it is, he loves Jesus.”

  “Seems like that makes him the perfect guy for you.” She set the nearly untouched s’more on the table next to her and burrowed deeper under the blanket. “Maybe he’ll win the silver in Korea and you two can have matching medals.”

  Cora smiled, thinking about all the different things about Davis that she really liked. To have something in common like Olympic medals would just validate everything. “Maybe. I think he’s hoping the team takes the gold, though.”

  “They’d still kind of match. Does he speak Korean?”

  Remembering him talking to his mom on the phone several times, she nodded. “He does.”

  “You can be with him when you go to Korea in February. Then you won’t have to worry about not speaking the language.”

  “That’s definitely a bonus.” She stood. “You good?”

  “Yeah. Just cold and a little tired.” Rebekah yawned. “Mama said we’ll leave soon. I’ll sleep in the car.”

  Davis approached them and stopped at Rebekah’s chair. “Want to walk?” he asked Cora. “I gave in and ate another s’more. Feel like I need to move.”

  Rebekah said, “You sound like my Uncle Barry.”

  Davis knelt next to the chair. “He is a rather intelligent man. That’s a high compliment, young lady, and I appreciate it.”

  Rebekah snorted. “Uncle Barry would say that, too.”

  With a laugh, Davis looked over at Cora. “Walk?”

  She stood and brushed her shorts off. “I’d love to walk. I, too, gave in to temptation. I’m the one who has an early flight to a tournament starting tomorrow.”

  She and Davis walked away from the bonfire, hand in hand. As the cool air hit her, she shivered. “I’m glad I put on a sweatshirt,” she said.

  “I forget that the evenings get cold here. Mornings, too. When I was here before, I would go out onto the porch and drink coffee. I always forgot and had to go back inside and get a jacket.” He pulled her close and slipped an arm over her shoulders. She easily wrapped her arm around his waist, and they continued walking, slowly.

  She thought back through the day, of the company, conversations, food, football game on the beach. “You seem to have made a hit with my family. I think they like you.”

  “Probably because I let Chase tackle me during the game,” he joked.

  Cora laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  “It’s been a wonderful day.” He squeezed her to him. “It’s really good to be back here.”

  “Lots of good picture fodder.”

  He slowly stopped walking. No abrupt change, just a gradual lack of forward movement. “Speaking of, I left my phone on the table.”

  She held up her free hand. “I haven’t had mine out for hours.”

  “We’re not being very good VelTech employees.” He turned toward her and brushed a stray hair off her cheek. The touch of his finger against her skin sent a shiver through her that had nothing to do with the temperature. She kept one arm around his waist and he kept his arm over her shoulder. “So, it’s just the two of us, then? No world audience?”

  Looking at his dark eyes reflected in the moonlight, she gave a small smile. “So it would seem.”

  “Good,” he said, seconds before his mouth covered hers.

  It felt right to step toward him and wrap her other arm around him. His lips warmed hers, and his free hand cupped her cheek in such a gentle way that she felt tears burn in her eyes. The light breeze blowing around them became a roaring sound in her ears. Her heart pounded as every sense became filled with Davis, with the feel of him under her hands, the smell of him, the taste of him, the warmth of him.

  When he gradually softened the kiss and stepped back, she noticed the glow of the fireworks lighting up the water and the beach in magnificent colors of red and blue. She could see him much more clearly now, and felt her heart skip at the look of affection on his face.

  “I’m glad that could happen away from the cameras, Cora,” he said softly.

  She smiled, still feeling him on her lips. “I concur.” They linked hands and turned to walk back to her family. “I wish I could skip the tournament tomorrow. I’ve missed you and this is the end of your free time. I’m not looking forward to the next few months.”

  “I am.” He squeezed her fingers. “It’s been my dream ever since my dad took me to see the USA hockey team play in Salt Lake City in 2002. We won the silver then. The last time we won gold was in 1980. I can’t wait to see what kind of history we make in February.”

  Contrite, she stopped and stepped forward, slipping her arms around him. “You’re completely right. I’m being selfish. I’m sorry.”

  “What did you tell me that time? Sorry isn’t necessary.” He hugged her tightly. “If it’s any consolation, I do wish I could take you with me. But I think I have to give everything I have to the team right now. There are only twelve teams competing this year. Our team is very, very good. But our competition is there to win, too. I ha
ve to leave everything I have on the ice. This only happens once in a lifetime.”

  He released her after kissing her forehead, and they continued walking. In no time, they sat back around the bonfire, watching the rest of the fireworks with her family. Once there, Davis pulled out his phone and they took several pictures, including a kiss framed by a bright red starburst in the night sky.

  Davis started to go inside his beach house, but halted when he saw Cora’s car pulling into his driveway. He slipped a hand into the front pocket of his jeans and leaned against the porch railing, waiting for her to park next to his rental.

  “Good morning,” he greeted with a smile. “Didn’t expect you. Don’t you have a flight?”

  “Hi. My Uncle Tony is handling my flight.” She slammed her door and raced up the steps. “We need to talk.”

  The frown marred his brow as he tossed his cooled coffee into the bushes and followed her into the house, pausing at the doorway to kick his shoes off. He didn’t understand her tone or her abruptness. “What’s up?”

  She walked around the small room. Pacing over the carpet, twirling at the fireplace, pacing to the French doors, twirling at the dining table, pacing to the bottom of the staircase, turning again.

  “What’s going on, Cora?”

  She stopped and said, “Do you have a laptop?”

  He gestured at the little desk next to the couch. In seconds, she sat in the seat and clicked keys. When he looked over her shoulder, he saw a newscaster from a national news organization. Cora turned up the volume and sat back in the chair, arms crossed in front of her.

  “While the world watched the very social romance bloom between the two athletes and felt like they were personally invested in the romance, one North Carolinian has had a different opinion. Last week, Mr. Stan Denney of Charlotte, who was cut from tryouts for the Team USA hockey team, Flittered this message:”

  An image of Stan’s Flitter message covered the screen. His profile picture showed him on the ice, battling for the puck in last year’s nationals. Davis recognized the uniform:

  Ain’t nothin good ‘bout celebrating a g**k kissin’ on an American girl. What is wrong with you people?!? He don’t belong on the US team. He ain’t American!

  Davis felt the slow burn of red anger begin to boil in his chest.

  The announcer continued speaking, “After this message came out, the world responded in force. Just hours after the bombardment of social media responses, Mr. Denney’s home was vandalized. He would not meet with our reporter, but informed her by telephone that he had to go into hiding. Though it hasn’t stopped his very public berating of the relationship of ‘Dauntless’ Davis Elliott and Cora ‘Jade’ Anderson. His messages caused thousands of people to respond every time, and has created a storm of racial unrest on the popular social media network.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw and he realized he clenched his teeth together. As he forced himself to relax, forced his hands to unclench his fists in his pockets, he watched the end of the newscast and turned away from the laptop screen.

  His ears roared, and his heartbeat accelerated. It took a lot of self-control not to acces Stan Denney's account to see what all he had to say about Davis and his heritage. Reading hate-filled words wouldn’t do anyone any good, though. In fact, it would be downright harmful and just add fuel to the rage stirring in his chest, and Davis knew it.

  Determined to have self-control, to practice grace, and to love his enemies, he closed his eyes and intentionally started praying for Stan. Father, help him in his hatred. Send someone in his life to touch him. I don’t know what to do about this, so help me not be so very, very angry. Amen.

  Cora shut the lid on the laptop and whirled around. “What is wrong with people?” she demanded.

  “I’ve had some problems with him before. He filed an official complaint when he was cut and I wasn’t.” Wanting to calm her down and ease the hurt he could see behind the tears in her eyes, he said, “In general, people mostly stood up for us. The people supporting this guy don’t seem to be coming out of the woodwork.”

  “I just can’t….” She put her hands on either side of her head. “I can’t comprehend it.”

  “Me, either, but honestly, he’s not the first.” He sat down on the couch. “I don’t really fit completely in America, and I don’t fit completely in Korea. I kind of have a foot in both worlds. I can eat spicy kimchi one meal and a double cheeseburger the next, and both are right and normal to me.” He took a deep breath through his nose. “But to question whether I deserve to be on the team or not, I can’t understand that. I’m American with an American father. Heck. Truth is, my dad’s a veteran; a hero. Doesn’t get much more American than that. It’s not like Team USA recruited me from Korea or anything.”

  She pursed her lips. “Maybe it’s bad blood about the team in general.”

  “He feels like he got cut because of my Korean heritage. I can tell you that I simply outplayed him—so did three other forwards.” He gestured at the laptop. “Thank you for telling me about it, Cora. But I think we take your advice from when it first came up and ignore it.”

  She looked at her phone. “I have to go. Chase and I are meeting the pilot in an hour. I’ll be lucky to get there.”

  He stood and walked her to her car. Before he opened the door for her, he slipped his hand along the back of her neck and pulled her toward him for a long kiss. The red heat in his chest warmed and turned into a different kind of burn. As he opened her door, he winked. “I know you just came by to get another kiss.”

  “You saw right through my cover. Here I thought I had such a perfect excuse.” She started the car and put her hand on the door handle. “I can’t wait to see you in November.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Davis searched the crowd and finally spotted Cora. A huge grin covered his face as he drank in the sight of her. She wore a caramel colored sweater and a turquoise scarf. He raised his hand and she waved in return and started making her way through the crowd to him.

  “Hello!” he said, dropping his bag and holding out his arms. As soon as his arms came around her, he felt his world right itself back to the way it belonged.

  “Hello yourself,” she said in his ear. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her enthusiastically, feeling the world around them slip away.

  As they broke their embrace, he picked up the bag at his feet and she hooked her arm through his. “I am so excited you were able to come,” she said, hugging her body against his arm as they walked. “I know you’re missing Thanksgiving with your family.”

  “You are, too.”

  She shrugged. “Well, only because Chase is playing. Thanksgiving for us has never really been turkey at a table, it’s been more like finding the best local restaurant to eat dinner. If we weren’t following my parents’ football team to a game, we’ve been following Chase.” He looked over at her as she turned her head and grinned at him. “Works out for me. I’ll never have to worry about juggling holidays whenever I get married.”

  “Well, that is certainly a plus.”

  For months, they had communicated via video chat and their social media excursions. Through all the training he’d done since she left the morning of July 5th, he’d felt her lack of presence like a physical thing. It surprised him how much he wanted her by his side, and how he felt centered in his soul with her presence. To think that she would accompany him to Korea made him feel like he could take the gold for the USA all on his own.

  About ninety minutes later, they pulled into the driveway of her Cape Cod cottage. He had a reservation for his own beach house, the same one he’d stayed at this summer, but for now, they would enjoy Thanksgiving together.

  She handed him the keys. “You can use the car when you leave tonight.” He slipped the keys into his jeans pocket and left his bag in the car, following her up the porch. As they entered the house, he could smell cinnamon in the air and the savory aroma of roasting poultry. His mouth immediately started watering.


  “Smells good in here,” he said, following her into the kitchen. A pumpkin pie sat on a cooling rack on the counter next to two raw sweet potatoes. Cora walked over to a slow cooker and lifted the lid as steam poured out of the bowl.

  “Looks nearly done.” She checked the digital thermometer attached to the probe sticking out of the bird. “Almost. Great timing.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Good thing your flight wasn’t delayed.”

  “Definitely.” He gestured toward the counter. “What can I do?”

  She opened the fridge and took out a bunch of asparagus grouped together with a rubber band. “You can wash these.” From a cupboard below the counter, she pulled out a baking sheet. “Spread them out on this.”

  They’d cooked together several times the week they spent together this summer. She’d always willingly accepted his offer of help and never acted like he couldn’t handle any kitchen task. While he turned the water on in the sink, she went to the fridge again and took out a square glass baking dish covered in foil. “I’ll get the dressing in the oven and start on the gravy.”

  Several hours later, they sat on the back-porch swing. Cora lay snuggled up against him under a wool blanket in plaid colors that made him think of the New England Patriots. The fire in the fire pit danced against the darkening sky.

  “It’s so surreal to have you here.”

  “It’s right to be here.” He closed his eyes and leaned his cheek against her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. He felt it seep into his lungs. “It’s been as hard as I thought it would be, but I feel so much less exhausted right now than I did when I woke up this morning.”

  “I’m just happy they gave you the weekend off.”

  “It’s good for morale.” He brushed his lips against her forehead. “We’ve all worked extremely hard. Time for a break.” He patted his stomach. “And pie. Time for pie.”