“I did call,” he said.
Did he? I didn’t get any missed calls from him.
“I didn’t leave a voicemail,” he said. “I wanted to surprise you. To make my grand gesture.”
“Well, I’m surprised. But I’m not coming back.” I had to stay firm to my decision even though my heart wanted to remain with Gina and Noah forever.
“I don’t want you to come back,” he said.
“Oh,” I said, a little surprised and a little hurt at his frankness. Why the hell was he here then?
“After Sierra told me that you moved away, I realized that I didn’t want to be in a place that you weren’t.”
I crossed my arms, still confused about what he was doing here.
“So, I followed your advice and sold my company,” he said. His eyes locked on mine and his expression softened.
“You, what?” I asked.
“I sold my company,” he repeated. “You’re right. I have enough money saved up to give Gina everything she’s ever wanted while living comfortably myself.”
“You’re officially retired?” I asked.
He shrugged. “For now. One thing I did before selling the company was open a branch here in Australia, closer to Sydney. So, if I ever want to work again, I can work sales. Which is my real passion. No amount of paperwork or supervisory work is worth missing out on Gina growing up.
I shook my head. “I can’t believe this.”
Noah took my hands in his, and I let him. “Well, believe it. I’m here to stay. That is if you want me.”
“Of course I want you!” I said and embraced him.
His arms were warm around my body. All of my feelings of resentment and anger were gone. He had made the biggest gesture, the one thing I’d wanted for their family.
He leaned his head back and reached up to move my hair away from my face. “I want you, Jess. I want you to be a part of my family. Will you have us?”
“Yes, I will,” I said and then kissed him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Noah
Even after a week of living in Australia, I still wasn’t used to waking up next to the most beautiful woman in the world. I took to retirement a lot quicker than I thought I would have. Jess quit her job at the antique store and took to taking care of Gina alongside me. I had more money in the bank than Jess knew, and if she was going to work, it would be doing something she loved. I no longer needed a nanny for Gina, but at the moment we were content living unemployed and being with Gina.
After making up, we made the mutual decision to tell Gina about us. And in typical Gina fashion, she was thrilled. So, there wasn’t any reason to hide our sleeping arrangements.
“You snore anyway, Daddy,” Gina had said after I told her I was going to sleep in Jess’s room.
But even after a week, Chloe’s house was a little cramped. Most of our stuff was in storage, but we didn’t bring clothes for a week. We brought all of them. Chloe was kind enough to let us stay, but I wanted to show everyone how serious I was about our life change. We needed a place for ourselves. A place we could call home.
I broke the news to Jess and Gina at breakfast. Chloe already knew since she helped hook me up with a real estate agent in the area. She left early that morning to go to work and encouraged me to look at some places outside of Mona Vale. Little did she know that I wanted her in our lives too, so most of the properties I looked at were nearby. Besides, I wasn’t ready to give up the fantastic ocean views in the area. Also, Jess’s relationship with Chloe was better than it had ever been before. Giving Jess the option to stay with us would make it easier if we were close to her mom.
“Can I pick my room?” Gina asked with a mouth full of scrambled eggs.
“Absolutely,” I said.
“Yay! Yay!” Gina said, bouncing in her chair. “New room!” She threw her hands in the air and swung them around.
Jess snorted into her coffee, and I laughed along.