If This Was a Movie (Evergreen Park #2)

Chapter 39 – Jules

THIRTY-NINE

JULES

When I bought this place, I thought it was magical. I was so proud to have a place of my own, something to work on and put myself into every inch of, that every moment here felt like a dream come true.

But after just four weeks of living behind the Donovans, of waking up and shuffling into the big house to have coffee with Nate, then get Sophie ready for her day. Of putting her to bed and then watching a movie on the couch while Nate pretends to work just so I feel comfortable enough to sit with him.

I miss it.

I miss the way Sophie slams into my legs every time she sees me and the way she uses me to team up on her dad.

I miss walking into the main house and having Nate pull me into a corner to press a kiss on my lips when Sophie isn’t looking.

I just miss them .

Part of me wishes I had just taken him up on his offer, moved in, and let this place be just my business, but that’s too fast, isn’t it? There’s no rationality behind saying yes, no common sense. It’s bound to end in disaster if we rush things.

But then again, is it really rushing things if I’ve been pining after him, missing him for an entire year? If he’s been doing the same?

When I finally opened up to him and let him in, it was like we were always meant to do this, like we hadn’t stopped. And now there's an aching hole in my chest where my two favorite people belong.

I’ve tried watching a dozen movies, but all of them feel pointless without Nate by my side, asking questions and giving his thoughts. I turn in my bed more than once to try and explain a trope or a scene to Nate, but I’m just…alone. The first tear falls down my cheek when I realize I may’ve totally and completely fucked up by going back home.

That's when something hits my window. A quiet tink that has my entire body going tight and turning toward the sound.

It would be my luck for something bad to happen just as I move back in. What if it’s my windows freezing, cracking, and shattering, letting in all the frigid cold? I’ll be like Tiny Tim, shivering in the corner while all of my expensive ass heat flies right out the window.

But this time, when it happens again, I’m staring at the glass so I can see it: a tiny pebble hitting my window. My brow furrows in confusion as I take a step closer and step back when a new noise fills the room. It’s my phone in my hand with a new text lighting up the screen.

Are you up?

Yes…?

Go to your bedroom window.

I move closer to the window, tentatively, before looking down at the sidewalk below, my Nate standing on the sidewalk. His truck is double-parked in front of some other car like he couldn’t waste the time to move around back and park in my little lot. Sophie is beside him waving both arms. Both have identical wide smiles on their faces.

Lifting the window, I stick my head out and shout,” What are you doing here?”

“Come down!” Nate yells.

“Yeah! Come down!” Sophie concurs.

“Why–”

“Just do it, Jules. Please.” There’s something white on the ground, stacked next to his feet among the piles of snow from the storm, and Sophie is jumping up and down, clearly overexcited. No matter what, I need to go downstairs to hug my girl and kiss my man, and maybe tell him I made a mistake and want to go home with him.

Three nights a week, my ass.

Nate is mine, and I’m his. We’ve already covered that, but the reality is Sophie is mine too. The way she snuck into my heart and stole it is obvious. I want to be in their family, I want to be Nate’s, and I want to be whatever version of a mother figure Sophie is comfortable with me being. I always knew I wanted kids one day, and Sophie is everything and more that I’ve dreamed of.

I don’t even bother to close the door to my place as I slip on a pair of slippers, running down the flights of stairs to get to my front door. I’m panting when I finally get there, swinging the door open to see Nate on my doorstep, with what I think is a boom box in hand.

“Where did you get that?” I ask as he lifts what looks like an ancient artifact, and he smiles somehow wider, beginning to look like it might crack his face in half.

“My mom has everything. You should see my old room, it’s just piles of junk,” he says. “But shush.”

“Shush?” I ask, my head moving back.

He puts a finger to his lips, then hits play on the machine before setting it down, the sound of Christmas caroling coming through the shitty speakers. My confusion goes up a notch, but while I’m looking at the boom box, trying to decode what’s happening, Sophie grabs what I now see are large white cards and hands them to her dad.

Nate holds them high and proud.

You cry at that movie even though it’s creepy

The first card reads in bold black, familiar writing that isn’t neat. Instead, it’s sprawled there like he was eager to get it done, like he was in a rush to get…here?

That card drops, and I read the next one.

This is how it’s done, Jules, if you really want to win the girl over.

My mind is still racing, trying to put together pieces that are somehow familiar, but in the chaos and overwhelm, I can’t seem to identify what’s happening.

But then I read the next one.

You are perfect.

Love Actually , the scene with Kiera Knightly that Nate said was a little creepy and weird.

What’s more romantic, this or meeting your dream girl in a bar on New Year’s?

The card drops, and I read the next.

Not just to me, but to everyone you meet. It drops a few moments later.

“You’re funny and kind and independent in a way I hope Sophie can learn from you.” My lower lip starts to tremble as I read it, my eyes shifting to the little girl who is jumping up and down still, her excitement palpable.

I knew from the beginning you were meant to be mine. My first mistake was not chasing you.

The first tear drops, and I move to look at Nate, who shakes his head and nods, the card dropping and showing the next, like he knew what would happen.

You’re such a crybaby.

“You’re the worst.” I sniffle as he drops that card, revealing the next. Absent-mindedly, I hope none of them drop into the snow and get damaged because I want to keep them forever.

My second was letting you ever think I was in this for anything other than to make sure you fall for me and realize we were meant to be.

That you were never allowed to leave our side again.

The card drops, and I eagerly read the next one.

That first time you mentioned going back home, I should have told you your home is with us.

The tremble wins, and a small sob leaves my lips. Sophie’s smile widens, and Nate’s look softens, like he can’t bear to see me really crying, but he needs to finish what he started.

This isn’t a movie, this is real life.

Something in my mind niggles—an old memory of being wrapped up together on his bed—but I can’t quite reach it. It comes back to me with the next card.

I love you madly, Jules. Let me love you madly.

That’s when I make my way down the steps, launching myself at Nate. He drops the card, and I realize then that was the last one, not that I care.

“You’re crazy,” I whisper against his lips.

“Crazy about you,” he replies. “I fucked up. I shouldn’t have agreed to let you go home. Fuck needing space. You can get space in my house, under my roof.”

“No, no. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t need space or time. Not when I have you.”

He shakes his head, smiling at me.

“What a pair we are,” he mumbles, kissing me finally, my soul complete as his lips move along mine, sealing this moment perfectly.

“Look!” Sophie shouts, and we both look at her, her face turned to the sky. “It’s snowing.” I see it then, light flakes falling from the sky and sticking to her hat, the cherry on top of this perfect scene. “It’s a Christmas miracle. It’s just like the movies,” she shouts, and Nate looks at me, a goofy smile on his lips.

“Except better.”