All That I Want: A Queensbay Small Town Romance

by Drea Stein

  She pushed open the gate, which opened smoothly, as if it had recently been oiled. The grass had been cut, but the garden beds, what was left of them, were overgrown. Her mind started to think about the flowers that could go in those beds, and then she reminded herself she was an interior decorator, not a landscape architect.

  Adele looked up at her and asked, “Are you nervous, Mama?”

  “No, of course not,” she told Adele.

  “You will do fine.”

  Adele had taken Olivier’s departure soon after the show in stride and asked no more about him. She had asked about Jake and Boomer, and Colleen had done her best to put her off, until, thankfully, she had stopped asking. Colleen knew she and Jake needed to talk, maybe she even needed to apologize. She missed him, knew she needed him in her life, and knew that maybe she was ready to talk about what the next step could be. She just hoped she hadn’t waited too long.

  She knocked on the door, but it swung open under her touch.

  “Hello,” she called tentatively because the house appeared to be absolutely empty.

  They stepped into a hallway. Adele tugged her over to the side of the house, to what was probably the living room. It ran the length of the house, flowing, she thought, into a kitchen. A stretch of windows ran along the back wall, giving a view out onto the sparkling water of Queensbay harbor. Colleen caught her breath. It was beautiful, the kind of space she loved. Cozy, yet open, not grand, but just the right kind of place to turn into a home.

  “Thanks for meeting me here.” Jake’s voice was unexpected, and she jumped.

  Adele did not seem surprised because she ran to Jake who swung her easily up by her arms.

  “Did I get it right?”

  “You did good, kiddo. Boomer’s over on the other side of the house. She has a new toy she’d love to show you. Why don’t you two play for a moment while I talk to your mom?”

  He put Adele down, and she ran off to find the dog. Colleen’s hand went to her throat, and she forced it down.

  “What is all this about?” she asked, looking at him, drinking him in. Yes, she most definitely missed him. He wore jeans and casual loafers with a white button-down shirt. Not quite his usual getup, but it still suited him, suited his solid dependability, his handsomeness.

  “Thanks for coming to check the place out.”

  “Is this your place?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Sort of,” he said. “I own a few buildings, you know, but this one is …” he paused and smiled. Her stomach flipped, then settled, as he said, “… special.”

  Jake took a step closer. “I’m glad you decided to stay.”

  “I was never going to go, you know. No matter what he offered me. You …”

  “I should have known that,” he said. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

  She put her bag down because of all a sudden it all felt heavy, too heavy.

  “Actually, you should have doubted me. I’ve given you no reason to think I wouldn’t run away.”

  He looked at her, the ghost of a smile on his face, and said, “I think you may have given me a few reasons to trust you.”

  “I kept pushing you away.”

  He took another step closer, and his voice was low. “So, tell me, do you still want to push me away?” he asked. “Tell me now, Colleen, and I’ll never bother you again.”

  She didn’t hesitate. “No.”

  “Good, because I’m not going anywhere either. You and I belong here. You and Adele and I belong here.” He gestured around them, and she frowned, not quite understanding.

  “Here?”

  “In Queensbay, yes. But here in this house, together as a family.”

  “What?” Again, she couldn’t breathe, but it was different this time. Not panic, but a sense of everything dropping into place.

  “Before you yell at me, don’t,” he said. “If you hate it, we can look at other houses. I bought it a while ago as an investment, but I haven’t had the chance to fix it up. It needs work, a lot of it, but it has a pretty sweet view. And it has enough room for the three of us, and some room to grow.” His voice ended on a hopeful note. “If you’re still mad about me taking care of everything and not respecting your independence, I’ll let you chip in too. It will be our house in every way.”

  “Why?” she whispered fiercely. She was standing with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso, as if she were trying to keep herself from spilling out.

  “Why is that so hard for you to understand?” he asked. “Part of me doesn’t know why, just knows what I want. From the moment I saw you in that courtyard, sitting by yourself, I wanted you. Something about you then spoke to me.”

  “So you want to protect me? I don’t need protection.”

  “I know you don’t, but I still want to do it. You make me want to do it, even though I know you’ll yell at me or tell me to get lost.”

  “Do you feel sorry for me? For Adele?” she asked.

  “No,” he said and shook his head. “I love you. I want to be around you and Adele. I love her as much as I love you.”

  “But why?”

  “Because you’re sexy and smart and beautiful and strong, and I cannot get you out of my head. All those other girls, all the ones you accuse me of loving and leaving them; I am guilty of that. I tried to get you out of my head, out of my system, but each and every one, I would think of you, of our brief time together, and never once did I feel what I felt with you when I was with them. Then I saw you here, back in town, and my whole life turned around. You were just as mean as ever, but I couldn’t stay away.”

  She took a step closer to him, and he could feel her, sense everything about her, from the way the sun shifted through the window and caught the light in her hair, to her lips, cherry red, to the delicate skin that peeked through the v-neck of her light sweater. Her eyes, blue, crystal clear looked up at him.

  “You’re a good guy, Jake,” she said.

  “A good guy? That’s it? The kiss of death.” He almost took a step back, but she stopped him.

  “I mean you’re a good man, a really good man.”

  “Who loves you,” he said. “I know that maybe I might not be the most exciting of guys, but this is a good place, a good life. We can have a good life here, now. And we can always have more.”

  “Would you give me a New York store?” she asked.

  “If that’s what you want,” he said. “There are ways to do both. Just because this is how you start, doesn’t mean that it’s where you’re going to end up. I started off doing home repairs, and now I’m turning the Showhouse into apartments. Nothing wrong with being ambitious. There’s a whole life ahead of us; who knows where it will take us, except I want to do it together, all three of us.”

  Boomer barked, and Adele squealed in laugher. “I meant all four of us,” Jake said.

  “And you want to spend it with us?”

  “Can you believe in me?” he said. “I will be there for breakfast and dinner, for birthdays, for holidays, day in and day out, I will be there. It may not always be exciting or sexy, but I will be there for you, for Adele, and for our family.”

  “More kids?”

  “Say the word,” Jake said, and smiled at her.

  “Are you going to build playsets and toy boats and teach them how to throw a ball?” Colleen asked.

  “Yes. I will take them shopping and talk to their boyfriends before I let them out of my sight and watch them dance at ballet recitals and cheer at soccer games. I will build you shelves and check the oil in your car and make you call me when you get to work, just because. You mean everything to me, Colleen McShane, you and your little girl.”

  “What are you asking?”

  “Marry me.”

  “What?”

  He dug into his pocket and pulled out a box.

  “When did you get that?” she asked.

  “About the time I started to think how perfect this house was for us. I went and saw Guy at Queensbay
Jewelers. I guessed a bit, so if you don’t like it, you can always take it back.”

  “Shut up,” she said.

  He held out the little black box. Her hand almost touched it, but he pulled it back, and said, “Wait.”

  “Wait?”

  “I’ll be back.” He ducked round the corner of the wall and onto the other side of the house. She heard a whispered conversation.

  She peeked around the corner and saw that he was having a serious conversation with Adele. At least he was serious. Adele looked like she was ready to jump over the moon.

  He returned, and she composed herself.

  “I had to take care of something first.”

  “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”

  “I just asked her if it would be okay if I were around more.”

  “And she said?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  He opened the box, so that the ring, a solid band of gold with, a beautiful, brilliant diamond, winked in the sunlight.

  “Colleen McShane, will you marry me?”

  “Yes” she answered, and she could feel the world around her settle into place.