He smiles a little, not as much as I hoped he would, but it’s still there. “I was thinking we could get a place in those new apartments that they’re building down on Lockwood Ave. The rent is more than what I pay now, but we’ll be able to handle it easily together.”
Surprise washes over me. That’s a nice little area of town, a couple of miles from here. It used to be a dump, but the city has been trying to revitalize the area. But then I focus on the important word—we. We as in he wants me to move in with him. Butterflies take flight in my chest. “Those are super cute. I’d like that.”
“What if—” Isaiah starts and then has to clear his throat. “What if I wanted to make a few more changes to the Plan?”
“Like?” I say slowly.
He rubs his neck, his go-to movement when he’s stressed, then lowers his hands. “What if we don’t wait five more years until we have enough money to build a garage? What if we buy this place?”
My heart stops beating and I’m unable to breathe.
Isaiah starts towards me, his gaze roaming my face as if he’s concerned about me. “We don’t have enough to buy it outright—but we have enough to make a huge down payment and I’ve been watching my credit and I know you’ve been watching yours, too. Together, we can get a loan for the rest. I’m not going to lie, the building has a ton of problems, but it would be ours. I talked to Eli and Cyrus about it last night, and there are people in the club who are good at construction. I’ve done enough work for the club that I bet they’ll do most of the work at a discount rate.”
“Probably for free,” I say. “They’d never take a dime from you.”
And as for the loan, there’s no doubt my father would co-sign for us if we asked. He’d buy the garage for us, but he respects that Isaiah and I want to create our business on our own so instead he’s given us advice on how to invest the money we’ve saved—to make our money work for us.
“I know this isn’t the best part of town,” Isaiah continues, “but people around here know you and me. They trust us. We’d have business—plenty of it. Plus, this neighborhood needs good businesses. It needs people who care and aren’t going to rip customers off. There are good people who live around here, and in order for things to change, people who care, people like us, need to dig into the community instead of leaving. Besides, this is my—”
“Home,” I finish for him. “This place is your home.”
Isaiah’s eyes soften as he closes the gap between us and rests his hands on my waist. My heart flutters with his caress. “Anywhere you are is my home.”
“Same.”
“Rachel, talking to Eli yesterday about perfection, seeing Oz propose to Emily, receiving my father’s bike…if there’s anything I know about life it’s that it can change, fast. In good ways, in bad ways….I don’t regret the plans we’ve made and I don’t regret sticking to them like we have. And if you want to wait five more years, we can, and we will if that’s what you want because your happiness is all that matters to me. But if you’re on board, I’d like to do this. I’d like to buy this garage, open it with you, move in with you…marry you.”
Joy spreads through me, so quickly, so furiously, that I go weak in the knees. Isaiah wraps an arm around me, steadies me and keeps me close to him.
“I didn’t plan this right. I don’t have an engagement ring to give you. I don’t have flowers or dinner or anything fancy. If you want, I’ll go buy you a ring the moment a store opens and—”
“This is my ring,” I cut him off.
“What?”
I scan the garage. “This place is my engagement ring. In fact, I’m pretty sure other women are going to be jealous when they hear my fiancé didn’t buy me a frivolous piece of jewelry but instead invested with me in our business.”
Overcome with emotion, Isaiah closes his eyes and rests his forehead onto mine. “Is that a yes?”
I weave my arms around his neck. “It’s a yes.”
“I love you, Rachel.” His voice breaks with emotion.
“I love you more.” Forever.
A Moment Together:
An Only A Breath Apart Prequel Novella
The last evening Scarlett and Jesse spent together before everything changed. This moment is referenced several times in the novel.
This story starts three years before the start of Only a Breath Apart.
Chapter 44
Scarlett
It’s weird being at Glory’s place. Jesse and I used to hang out here all the time when we were little. From where I’m sitting on the front porch stairs of Glory’s tiny cabin, and even in the moonlight, I can see the oak tree Jesse and I would climb, the garden we used to swipe fresh strawberries and blueberries, and the poplar tree where Glory once hung an old tire for us to swing on. We repaid her by stealing cookies from her kitchen. Oddly enough, as I look back at seven through the eyes of fourteen, I think Glory left the cookies out for us—as if she knew we were coming.
Glory has always been cordial to me, but we’ve never been close. She might flash a quick smile and wave our way before calling Jesse over to say something to him. Beyond that, I haven’t had many interactions. To be honest, she scares me a little. She talks to dead people and spirits beyond the grave for a living. That is, sort of, creepy. Dad calls her a fraud, girls at school call her a witch, and Jesse calls her his distant cousin. I’ve said as little to her as possible.
But tonight, she invited me, Jesse, and Jesse’s grandmother, Suzanne, over for ice cream cake to celebrate Jesse’s and my eighth-grade graduation. My mother has taught me to always be polite, to accept invitations unless absolutely, completely unable to attend—as in the zombie apocalypse has happened—and how could I say no to ice cream cake?
The ironic part of it all is that my mother doesn’t even know I’m here. Nor does my dad. It’s after midnight, and about an hour ago, I snuck out from my bedroom window and climbed down the nearby tree so I could meet Jesse for the walk across his farm to here. While my mom and dad are sound asleep, Suzanne sits in a rocker on her porch and Glory sits on the porch swing. They’re debating their family tree and how they know everyone in association with either school or church—a tradition that almost all families in this tiny town partake in. It’s a confusing and senseless game that people over thirty entertain themselves with.
“Tink—” Jesse whispers his nickname for me “—if I start having serious conversations like that with you, I need you to shove me off a cliff.”
“I’d never shove you off a cliff,” I whisper back.
“Traitor.” He smiles—the pirate one. The smile that makes me smile in return.
“What are you two grinning about over there?” Suzanne clicks her tongue at us as if catching us doing something embarrassing. “You look as smug as someone about to start a revolution.”
“Nothing, Gran.” Jesse turns his smile in her direction. “I was asking Scarlett to push me off a cliff to keep me from getting old.”