Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
For now, I was content juggling my two jobs, plus I’d started working part time as a receptionist at Rafe’s clinic. He’d taken on a new vet, named Sarah (ironically), and the vet nurses were run off their feet working with the animals, so Rafe needed help with the reception desk.
It turned out I really loved working at his clinic, and if I didn’t think it was healthy for us to have our own things outside of our relationship, I might have considered working there full-time. I loved animals and I enjoyed being able to reassure their owners and keep them calm when they were worried and upset. When they needed comfort, I felt useful in a way that mattered to me.
I considered this as I longed for a coffee. Maybe that was what I should focus on when I thought about my future—a job where I felt useful in a way that mattered to me. I smiled to myself even as my brain whirred. Who knew what the future might hold, right? A year ago I was positive that Jack Kerouac-ing across the States was what I wanted, but I knew now, since the longing to travel had faded so quickly, that I’d only been running from the feeling that something was missing.
Now that I had Rafe in my life, I didn’t feel the urge to run anymore. Not that I’d entirely given up the idea of travel. I was planning a girls’ trip next summer with Kendall. We were going to a concert at Red Rocks Park in Colorado and decided to turn it into a road trip. It wasn’t about running. It was about friendship, music, and travel. Rafe thought it was a great idea, but even if he didn’t, I’d still be taking that trip.
I swear it was like the man was inside my head and knew when to turn up just as I was thinking about him.
A warm body pressed into my side and I started a little before looking up to the left to find Rafe standing next to me in his wool coat, a red scarf tucked into the collar, his cheeks a little flushed with the winter chill, and his hair mussed by the wind.
Butterflies erupted in my belly at his unexpected arrival, and I felt a pang of sadness at the thought of a day when he no longer inspired them. I hoped that day would never come.
“Hey, you.” I grinned up at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I had a break and I knew you’d be out here in the cold, so . . .” He held out a cup of coffee.
“You’re my hero.” I took it gratefully and gulped the still-hot liquid down. “Ahh. Much better. I love you.”
“I can’t tell if that was for me or the coffee.” he teased.
“Is it okay if it was both?”
Chuckling, he nodded.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it.” I gestured down the line.
“It’s not your problem that people are too lazy to line up for their own baked goods.”
“Will you ever stop hating on my job?”
“I don’t hate on your job. I hate on a society in which this job has been allowed to flourish.”
Snorting, I shook my head at him. “It pays the rent.”
He harrumphed at that.
“Did you just come here to be adorably grumpy?”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “I am not adorable.”
“But you are grumpy?”
He gave me an unimpressed look. “You know this”—he gestured between us—“is actually perfect.”
Confused, I frowned. “For what?”
“For this.” He held out a jar of peanut butter and one of jelly.
Immediately, I was thrown back to our second meeting when I embarrassed him to get his attention. I burst out laughing, taking the jars in my free hand. “What is this? A trip down memory lane?”
Rafe took the coffee cup out of my hand and relayed conversationally, “These jars are us.”
I waited for him to continue.
“You’re the jelly to my peanut butter,” he announced with an impressively straight face.
My lips twitched with delight. “I am?”
“Yes. The two things should not work and maybe for some people they don’t. But for us, it works. We taste damn good together.”
Bemused but thrilled, I nodded. “Agreed.”
Suddenly Rafe took a deep breath, looking a little nervous as he took back the jelly and left me with the peanut butter. “Open the lid.”
So I did.
I think my heart stopped.
Because nestled into the peanut butter, as if it were sitting in a ring box, was the most unusual engagement ring. An emerald was clasped between two platinum leaves. It was beautiful. Perfect. “Oh, my . . .” I gaped at it, stunned by its meaning.
“From the moment you yelled at me about peanut butter and jelly, you have captivated me,” Rafe continued. “I didn’t know what it meant at the time. But I knew what it meant within weeks of knowing you. I knew it meant that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”