Page 107 of Finding Jacob

Jacob frowned. “I needed him,” I said, as a way of explaining why he’d stayed over so often.

Nathan placed his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “As I said, it’s good to have you home.”

He gave me a smile, and then left the room. All of a sudden, I was nervous. My mouth was dry and although I had so much to say, I couldn’t find the right words.

Instead, I rose and knelt down in front of Jacob. “Whatever we have to do, we will, as a team.”

He placed a hand on my cheek. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, you do. You deserve me, and her,” I said, looking at our child. “You deserve Nathan and everyone else who loves you.”

I turned my face to his palm and kissed it.

“Have you found Jacob?” I whispered.

“Yeah. I’m the man you fell in love with. I thought I needed to be something, someone, different, but I’m not. I just have a fucking limp that I hope will go, but I’m back, and I promise you, I won’t ever leave you again. It’s been the hardest fucking months of my life, worse than when I lost my wife. I didn’t know if you’d still want me, and it was only when you didn’t text that I knew I was pushing you away. That missing day was all I needed to see the light, to understand how selfish I was being.

“I found myself again, Anna, and I have so much thanks that you allowed me the time to do it.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and with Paloma between us, I kissed him. The want and desire flooded my body, the connection was instant, like a punch to the gut. Yet more tears fell, mingled with his.

I knew the coming months would be hard. We had a lot of adjustments to make. But having him in my arms, smelling him, tasting him, feeling him...

I felt like I’d just found him all over again.

“I found you once, and I’ve found you again,” I said, pulling back from him. “And this time, I’m not letting you go. Marry me, Jacob, make us complete.”

He nodded and then laughed so suddenly it surprised Paloma, who screamed. He laughed some more and so did I.

“Will you marry me?” I said, still on my knees.

“Yes, tomorrow, or however quickly we can.” He kissed Paloma and then leaned forwards to kiss me again.

“And know this, even if my leg is damaged, no other part of my body is. I’ve waiting a long time to fuck... No, to make love to you. To make you mine, claim you back.”

I stood and took Paloma from him. “Then we ought to start now,” I said, holding out one hand to him.

Sure, we had a lot to discuss, a lot to work through, but right then, I wanted nothing more than his naked body next to mine. I wanted to reconnect. I placed Paloma in her cot, and then we walked to the bedroom.

We reconnected, we cried, and we talked. We dozed in each other’s arms, knowing that Paloma was being cared for by Sadie. We lay on our sides facing each other, touching, and stroking. He was more muscled than I remembered, he told me I was thinner and needed to eat more. We laughed, and we were silent.

“I think we’ve found each other again,” I whispered.

“And this time, it’s for keeps,” he replied.

The End