Chapter Thirteen
“I can’t believe this night actually happened.” I pulled my head off Jasper’s shoulder. We’d danced for three songs in a row, neither of us in any hurry to let go of the other. “Between you and all the drama with my Dad . . . tonight felt like a distant dream.”
“And now it’s happening. Dreams do come true.”
“Jasper, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for what you’ve done here, but I want to try.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I do, though,” I said, meeting his gaze. “I have this weird request, and I don’t want you think to I’m crazy.”
I wasn’t crazy. I’d thought about it a lot. Being grounded was easily the best and worst thing that’d ever happened to me. Worst, for obvious reasons. Best, because it’d given me countless hours to think this through. I’d thought Dad would be the hard one to convince, but things were looking up, and now it looked like Jasper was the last to get on board.
If only he wanted on board.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I want you to help me.”
“Help you?”
“Rebuild the business. A real fifty-fifty partnership. We’ll give The Red Barn a second life.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“I thought you said—”
“He’s not,” I said, reading into this thought. “We’re not tearing it down. It’s our lifeline. I’ve already told him. This is how it’s going to be.”
“You’re not joking.”
“Think about it. There are no two people better suited for this than us. We can combine the two things we love the most and create something worth having here.”
“But, Al, you’re still in high school, and I have responsibilities and obligations in Cedar Lake.”
“So we have time,” I said, laughing at myself for not realizing that from the very beginning. How had I let myself get so stuck? “For now, we make plans. We dream big. We get all of our ducks in a row, and then a year from now, we hit the ground running.”
“Okay, weirdo, come back down to earth for just a second. I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful, but . . . have you really thought this through?”
“I have. Spend enough time grounded to your bedroom and you start cooking up some crazy ideas, but . . . this one doesn’t seem so crazy. It’s not. I’ve thought about it day in and day out; I’ve looked at it from every angle. It could work. And I know it sounds absurd, but it feels right.” I pulled him closer. I placed my hand over his heart. “You told me to trust what I feel. Tell me you don’t feel it, too.”
“I do.”
“Then let’s call this what it is: the start of something new. I want to do this with you.”
Jasper smiled wider than ever. “Okay. I’m game. Partners.”
I offered him a hand—ready to shake on it and seal the deal, but Jasper pulled me closer instead, lowering his lips to mine. And it was right then and there—caught in that moment of our very first kiss—that I knew what my future held.
And it all started with change—embracing what could be.
With him, my father, my present, and my future, all I had to do was accept a healthy mix of time and opportunity.
There were moments like this—standing there, wrapped in an embrace with him, that I wouldn’t trade for any other moment in the world. But knowing that we had time to learn and grow together, to build something wonderful with each other, it made me appreciate our future and all of the unknown surprises that were just around every corner.
I trusted my heart. I chased what felt right.
Everything about that moment was magical, and I couldn’t have gotten there without Jasper. Every thought of my future with him felt like an unattainable fantasy, but it wasn’t. It was right there—the chance was ours to take.
We were going to live our dreams. Be with each other. Fall in love. Live happily ever after.
We would have it all—together.
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