The Gate to Everything (Once Upon a Dare Book 1)

by Ava Miles

  “Let’s not chew on Daddy’s Italian leather jacket,” he said.

  Grace couldn’t help but laugh. “I thought you’d decided not to wear anything super nice around her after the demise of your shirt.”

  He gave her a saucy wink. “I wanted to look my best for you. Shorts and a shirt weren’t going to work.”

  That surprised her. “You know I don’t care about that.”

  “I do, and you might not have looked at me like that just now if I’d dressed differently,” he said. Ella shrieked again. “Okay, now, sweetheart. I know you don’t like being thwarted about my jacket, but give Daddy’s eardrums a break. Mommy’s too.”

  After setting Ella down on the blanket on the floor, he shrugged off his jacket and tossed it on the couch. Grace couldn’t help but sigh. Jordan wasn’t exactly the tidiest person, and his stuff used to be scattered everywhere across her old apartment. More than once, she’d asked him to pick up after himself, but somehow he’d always managed to get out of it.

  “I’ll hang it up when I’m finished playing with her,” he told her. “I promise.”

  She nodded and spun around to pour them some wine, needing another minute to compose herself.

  “I told you I’m trying,” he said softly.

  When she turned around to look at him, she saw the intensity on his face. He meant it. “I am too.”

  “I know,” he said, reaching absently for Ella’s little foot, but still watching her. “Thanks for letting me park in the garage. I didn’t know it was supposed to rain.”

  She cleared her throat. “It’s not a high percentage, but you know Atlanta weather. Things change suddenly.” She was so full of it.

  Rather than call her on it, he turned his full attention toward playing with Ella on the floor. When her eyes started to droop finally, Jordan picked her up, rocking her.

  “What can I do to help with the meal while you nurse her?” he asked, bringing the baby over to her.

  “Nothing. If you’d like some wine, I set out a glass for you. But you don’t have to drink. I know it’s the season and all.”

  “I’ll have a little with our dinner,” he said as she sat down with Ella, arranging her against her chest.

  “How was your day?” he asked, resting his hand casually on her knee under the nursing pillow.

  “Good. Lunch was a bit zany. Tony announced we’re booked out with reservations for six weeks now. It’s a record.”

  “Wow! That’s huge. Congratulations. Maybe we should pop some champagne.”

  “I’m allowing myself a little wine while I’m nursing, but we’ll have to save the champagne for later.” Every mother had different feelings about alcohol and nursing, but Grace had chosen to adopt the Italian way, which meant not denying herself the occasional enjoyment of one of the great pleasures in life. Vino.

  “It’s a date,” he said, taking hold of Ella’s little foot, which of course made her turn her head for a moment before resuming her feeding.

  “How was your day?” she asked him.

  He rolled his shoulders as if he’d suddenly grown tense. “Good. We’re ready for Sunday.”

  Now she knew why he was tense. Was he going to ask her to go to the game? She’d been wondering about this. She’d expected it. She wasn’t sure she was ready for it.

  “That’s great to hear,” she said, switching Ella to the other side.

  He rose and picked up his jacket from the couch. “I’ll hang this up.”

  When he left the room, she frowned, feeling that wall rise between them again. This wasn’t what she wanted. She had promised him—and herself—that she would try.

  “Do you want me to go to the game?” she made herself ask when he came back in.

  He froze in the doorway. “I don’t think that’s the question.”

  Her heart started beating faster. “Okay. What is?”

  “Do you ever think you’ll want to see me play in person again?” he asked.

  Ella stopped nursing and stared at her. Grace saw a flash of light in her daughter’s eyes, and it was like the baby was telling her that this was something she needed to do.

  “Would it be possible for me to bring a friend?” she asked. “Carlo has become quite the football fan since moving here from Rome last year.”

  Jordan came over and sat beside her. “Of course you can bring a friend. I know you don’t feel comfortable in the owner’s box alone, but that’s the safest bet.”

  Safe. Yes, that was important to her. “Okay.”

  He ran his hand down her arm as if gauging her reaction. “I also know it would be a public declaration that we’re back together. I haven’t said anything to anyone except Sam.”

  She’d wondered. “I told everyone at the restaurant the day after it happened. And my mom.”

  “You did?” he asked, falling back against the cushions. “Well…”

  “I needed to.”

  “I’m glad,” he said, scooting closer until their sides brushed. “I didn’t know how you felt about telling people.”

  “We’re together,” she said simply. “I told you I want this to work. If you can arrange for me and Carlo to come to your game this Sunday, I’ll go.”

  He put a hand on her knee. “Do you want to go? Be honest, Grace. I can take it.”

  She took a breath. “Do you remember how it used to be when you played in high school? Or the couple of games I visited for in college? I could just sit in the stands and watch you. No one cared who I was. I miss that.” More than she wanted to admit.

  “I don’t blame you,” he said. “Things were…simpler then.”

  “I won’t lie,” she continued. “I love watching you play. I love hearing your deep voice call out plays and watching you drop back to pass the ball. I love seeing you…don’t laugh…chest bump the other guys after a touchdown and the grin on your face after a win.”

  His blue eyes stared back at her, and for a moment she thought he was getting teary-eyed. She felt a stab of guilt realizing she’d stopped sharing what he loved. It had obviously hurt him more than she’d guessed.

  He swallowed thickly. “You have no idea how much that means to me, you saying that.”

  “Jordan, I love being at the game. It’s different than watching at home, but going now…with you being so…huge… It’s become a thing. I used to have to talk myself up for it, and then with the media, I got…I decided it wasn’t worth going anymore.”

  His fingers rubbed the outside of her knee like he was soothing her. “I have to talk myself up for it sometimes too. I remember the first time I played Monday Night Football. The audience…it blew my mind. And the President watched me play in the Super Bowl. Trust me, I know it’s become a thing. Sometimes I feel like a human pressure cooker.”

  He’d never shared these thoughts with her, but she was glad to hear them now.

  “I wish I could tuck you into an awesome seat on the forty-yard line and pretend no one was going to recognize you,” he said. “But we can’t lie to ourselves, Grace. The owner’s box is safer, and I want you to feel safe. I also plan to entertain the heck out of you.”

  “Then I’ll go,” she told him, aware that Ella had stopped nursing completely to watch them. “Just don’t ask me to meet you after the press conference. I’m…not ready to face the media yet.” She knew pictures would be taken of her even there. She was sure Farley would salivate over her being back in his camera’s crosshairs.

  “I wouldn’t ask that of you. I’ll arrange everything with the front office.”

  “Let me talk to Tony about Carlo taking off for the game,” she said, hoping it would work out. They would have to shift some things around for the dinner shift, but it might be okay. Sunday wasn’t as busy a day when the Atlanta Rebels were playing.

  “I could fly your parents or your brothers in for the day if you wanted,” he said, giving her a half smile.

  Given how strained their last visit had been, his offer made her chest tighten. She shook her hea
d. “That’s too much. I’ll work it out. I also need to make sure Amy is available.”

  “If we need to find someone else to look after Ella, we will,” he said, “but I don’t want you to stress. I didn’t give you a lot of notice about the game. It’s okay if it doesn’t work out.”

  He meant what he said, but something told her she had to be up in those stands on Sunday. “We’ll make it work. I was thinking it would be wise for us to have a backup sitter anyway. For last-minute things.”

  “Agreed,” he said, giving her a hesitant smile. “I’ll contact the service tomorrow and ask for some more candidates. Grace, having you there means the world to me. I hope you know how much.”

  She did, which was why she was holding her fears in check in front of him. When she put Ella down to sleep for the night, she could sink into the rocking chair and have a freakout before coming back downstairs.

  After she finished nursing Ella, Jordan surprised her by volunteering to put her down. Even though Grace needed to turn the water back on high to boil again for the pasta, she couldn’t make her legs work.

  She had her freakout right there on the couch.

  Chapter 23

  After agreeing to attend the game, Grace had pretty much walked around in a cloud of anxiety for two days. Jordan had bitten his tongue more than once to stop himself from telling her to back out of going, especially when he’d seen her bring home a shopping bag from an upscale Atlanta boutique. He knew she didn’t usually buy her clothes at those places.

  That was when his light-bulb moment had come. Scoring four last-minute tickets wouldn’t ruffle anyone’s feathers in the front office. He was the Rebels’ quarterback, after all. Hopefully, his gesture would help.

  On Saturday morning, Jordan snuck downstairs before either Grace or Ella awakened—pretty much at the butt-crack of dawn—and let in the caterer he’d hired through Tony. The older, no-nonsense woman turned on the oven for the strata she’d made and unpacked the fruit and muffin trays he’d ordered.

  When he heard Ella cry, he told the caterer to let herself out when she was finished and rushed upstairs. His daughter was emitting little squeaks—what he’d coined her fake cry—and kicking her feet. Turning off the monitor in the hopes of giving Grace a few more Zs, he picked Ella up. Her diaper was a soggy mess like usual, but she gave him a toothless grin and darted her head forward, doing her best to head butt his chest.

  “Hey missy, go easy on yourself,” he said gently. “You’re still learning your strength.”

  Her motor skills were changing all the time. Right now, her head was bobbing forward along with her body. It was like she was trying to propel herself through the air.

  “Are you ready for Mommy’s surprise?” he asked and dug out his phone to send a text to the people who were a part of it.

  Then he changed Ella and woke Grace up to feed her. Ella wasn’t known to wait long in the morning for her breakfast.

  Grace came awake with a start—something he’d come to realize was a mommy thing. It was like she was instinctively wired to hear the slightest sound and jump to answer it.

  “Oh, hi,” she said, rubbing her eyes. The pillow crease marking her right cheek was so adorable he had to reach out and touch it. “Has she been up long?”

  Given that he was already dressed, it was a reasonable conclusion. He had to be at the stadium around ten o’clock, and it was only eight right now. “Not long. How about you feed her? I’ll come back when she’s finished so you can shower. I can bathe and dress her today.” He kissed her good morning.

  “Sounds good,” she said, taking Ella from him and fitting her to her breast. Almost immediately her eyes closed again as they snuggled in the bed. He let himself out.

  The caterer was gone when he came back down the stairs. He scanned the kitchen table. Everything was ready, so he texted his surprise guests to come up to the house.

  Rubbing his hands in delight, he waited to be called back upstairs. When Grace hollered for him, he took the stairs two at a time. He could barely contain his excitement as he got their daughter ready.

  “We’re wearing something extra special that Daddy had made,” he told her, dressing her in the pink baby Rebels jersey with lucky number seven on it—his number. He had set out a second one out on her changing table for game day. He thought about writing a note to say he hoped Grace would put Ella in it tomorrow, but that felt unnecessary. She knew how important it was to him.

  Once he left today, he wouldn’t see Grace or Ella until after the game tomorrow night. Even though it was a home game, the team stayed at a hotel downtown. That way, everyone would be accounted for by curfew. Every NFL team did it, but this was one time Jordan wished he could come home.

  “I’m taking Ella downstairs,” he called out to Grace.

  “Okay,” she hollered back. “I’ll be down shortly.”

  He gave Ella a conspiratorial grin, which she responded to with a delighted coo. “Mommy’s going to be so surprised.”

  Carrying the baby downstairs, he went to the front door and opened it to find his surprise waiting. Blake was sitting on the front porch with his wife, Natalie.

  “My goodness,” Natalie exclaimed, hopping out of her chair. “Is that Ella? Oh, Jordan, she’s the sweetest little girl ever!”

  Blake stood to greet them. “She sure is. And she’s wearing her Daddy’s number too.”

  Ella cuddled close to Jordan as his friends gathered closer. “Give her a little time to get used to you.”

  “Being a daddy looks good on you, Jordan,” Natalie said, giving him a half hug. “Hey, sweet pea. I love your jersey. Are you planning on rooting your Daddy to victory tomorrow?”

  Ella gave her a grin and held out her little hand.

  “She’s a charmer,” Blake said, giving him a nod. “You did good.”

  “It’s all her.” He raised her up and gave her belly a zorbert. She squealed in glee. “She’s the best.”

  “She sure is,” Natalie said in between making sweet faces at Ella.

  Blake put his arm around her shoulders. “We want one of these, don’t we, babe?”

  “We’re doing our darndest to have one,” she told Jordan. “It’s just taking a little longer than I’d hoped.”

  “You’ll get there,” he said, trying not to make light of her frustration.

  He and the rest of the guys had all been thrilled about Blake and Natalie’s reconciliation. They seemed stronger and happier than ever after their brief divorce. The main reason he’d arranged for them to come was to set Grace at ease. She’d always gotten along with Natalie since they were both in the food industry and called things like they saw them. He was also hoping that seeing their friends so happy together might make Grace more open to marriage. He hadn’t bought a ring yet, but he’d been doing his research.

  After making her wait for seven years, he wanted to go all out. He needed her to understand he wanted to marry her for her—not just because they had a child. Though a part of him was still scared of messing things up, he was learning that balance and communication were the key. They certainly had the love.

  “Come on in, but try and be quiet,” Jordan said. “Grace should be down pretty soon. She’s going to be so happy to have you guys at the game with her. Thanks for coming last minute.”

  Once they were all inside, Jordan led them into the den and kitchen area.

  “Oh, look at the spread,” Natalie said.

  “Please make yourselves at home,” he told them. “Let’s see if she wants to go to you now.” But Ella gripped his shirt in her little fists. “Okay, sweetheart. No rush. You’ll get there when you’re ready.”

  Blake gave him a hard pat on the back. “It’s great to see you like this, man. I can’t say it enough.”

  Ella suddenly turned her head and squealed, and Jordan knew Grace had arrived unsuspected. He locked gazes with her when he turned around.

  “I thought it might be nice for you to have a bigger group of friends at the
game,” he said simply.

  “Natalie! Blake!” She put a hand to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. “This is…”

  “We know it’s a total shock,” Natalie said in her no-nonsense voice, crossing the room and hugging Grace. “But I hope you’re cool with us flanking you as you walk into the dreaded owner’s box and shake hands with all the ‘important’ people. It’s so good to see you, Grace. It’s been too long.”

  “Yes, it has,” Grace said, smiling when they released each other. “I was so happy to hear you and Blake got back together.”

  “Me too,” Blake said, hugging her as well. “Congratulations on the most beautiful baby in the world.”

  “Thank you,” she said and then turned to him. “And thank you, Jordan.”

  The vulnerability in her green eyes undid him, and he found himself unable to even smile. “I wanted you to be accompanied by the best people I could think of. No one is a better protector than Natalie.”

  His lame attempt at a joke had the woman snorting. “It’s terrible we even need protecting. Right, Grace?”

  She nodded, still looking at Jordan.

  “I remember what it was like to go to this guy’s games,” Natalie said, jerking her thumb at Blake. “I’d gussy up and hope I was presentable, but there would always be some awkward photo of me where it looked like I was picking my nose. It was like the press was going out of their way to make me look ugly.”

  “Are you regretting this plan yet?” Blake asked Jordan.

  No, this was exactly the kind of solidarity he’d hoped Natalie would have with Grace.

  “And then there’s all the women in the box,” Natalie continued, looking up as if beseeching heaven. “Sure, some of them are nice and normal and have real breasts like you and me, but some of them… I used to have the urge to bring some scarves to drape over their ample chests.”

  “Tell me you didn’t bring any scarves,” Blake said. “I can see the video footage on the local news now.”

  “You know what I mean,” Natalie said with a frown. “Anyway, we’ll go to the game with you tomorrow and eat lots of awesome food because usually they don’t scrimp on that at least. And we’ll root for Jordan. After which, you can come home to this beautiful little girl you have, and I can sit back and thank God yet again that Blake retired from professional football.”