Restoring Jordan (25 page)

I have no idea if I actually want to be a landlord, but with Adeline moving in with me after graduation, I can’t stand the idea of losing her place completely. It holds too many sweet memories of my sweet Adeline. It’s not for sale, but I’m guessing, given the state of the place, the owner won’t be so attached to the property he’s not willing to sell for a price.

By Sunday afternoon, I’m sitting with Adeline’s parents, her mother separating me from her father, who still occasionally leers at me vindictively. Adeline looks stunning in her cap and gown, and there isn’t even a moment’s hesitation—though I’m sure he still trills with fury on some level—when Dr. Lynch shakes her hand after the dean has handed her the diploma. Her mother cries, her father clears his throat as he fights back his emotion, and I follow his lead, trying to stifle my tears. But I’m not nearly so good at this feat as I’d like to be, and as Adeline’s mother passes me a tissue, I take it while her father eyes me curiously.

After her ceremony, there are hugs aplenty, and when it’s my turn I don’t hesitate to pull her into my arms. Her parents watch, and I take a risk when I kiss her gently on the lips. Her mother smiles, and her father studies me. She’s the love of my life—without any doubt in the world, and he’ll figure it out soon enough.

Before Adeline entered my life, I was content. My life was shallow, empty, and meaningless, and sadly, I was happy that way. It’s odd how you can be happy in your life, only to look back later and realize just how much was missing. When you are poor, you learn to be content with what little you have. I’ve never had love, so I learned to be content without it. She held the mirror and forced me to take a good look at myself. She forced me to see what was missing, and it was her.

After taking her parents to dinner that night, Adeline and I return home, our home. She hands me an envelope and asks me to open it. It’s a résumé.

Adeline Eloise Parker

Interior Designer

Experience

None whatsoever, unless you include making love to a principal architect in the sample room … and in the property I was assigned to design … three times.

Education

BA from Columbia… Though I narrowly escaped being expelled and flunked for sleeping with aforementioned principal.

References

• Vera McBitch—Make no mistake, she loves me.

• Mark Lear—He definitely does not love me anymore.

She’s smirking, and I’m chuckling. I can imagine no better partner in the world—even if she has the worst résumé I’ve ever seen. She’s hired.

“Will you marry me?”

My parents are watching him, and I’m smiling the cheesiest grin I own. I can’t help it; it’s what I do when I’m happy beyond all measure. I’ve done more cheesy grinning over the past two months than ever before in my life. Our business is flourishing, and working with Jordan now is as wonderful as it was working with him at Foster’s. He challenges me and guides me, but only when needed and warranted. We are busy with two projects in progress and two more in the queue.

He’s managed to keep his penis, and my father no longer regards him with hatred. In fact, there are tears in his eyes at the moment, and my mother’s tears are unrestrained entirely. Jordan is holding my grandmother’s wedding ring out to me. It’s old, no diamonds, just a simple silver woven band of filigree in some unknown pattern. It’s not likely worth more than its weight in silver, but it’s what I want; it’s what I hoped for, and while he could afford far more than this, he knows its importance to me. It’s my family, it’s our history, and some day very soon it will be his family too. He deserves that—a family. I will share mine, and with one another, likely sooner rather than later if he has his way, we will build our own family together.

The End

Elizabeth Finn is an Iowa native, where she lives with her husband and son. By day, Elizabeth is a Human Resources Specialist, but by night, she checks her professionalism at the door and immerses herself in the world of writing erotic romance. Look for more to come from Elizabeth Finn.