Real Men Knit(86)

What a waste. A waste of good time and so much good loving. Damian nudged him in his side. “You just gonna stand here, dummy? Making eyes at her like you’re thirteen?”

“Be quiet, bro,” Lucas said from Damian’s other side. “Don’t worry, he’s got this. He’s not going to screw it up. Not this time.”

Kerry only nodded at them. She gave a smile, but it was so bland—lips only—that he could barely recognize her. Staying on her side of the room, she tended to her kids as the other presenters went through their programs. As it got closer to their time to come up, Jesse could feel his heart race faster. He looked at the kids, then looked back over at Kerry. Normally she looked at him with so much easy encouragement, but he couldn’t find it today. Today all he saw was confusion and uncertainty in her wide eyes. Once again, though, Damian nudged him forward.

Jesse hardly heard Val’s intro, but he did hear when she brought up Mama Joy’s name. Jesse blinked then. “Though we’ll miss Ms. Joy so very much,” Val was saying, “we’ll always remember what she’s done, the skills and life lessons she’s instilled in so many of us in the community. And luckily for us, her legacy will continue on with her sons, the new proprietors of Strong Knits. Today we have speaking three of them, Jesse Strong, Lucas Strong and Damian Strong.” She made a gesture for them to begin, and they were interrupted by the sound of a boy.

“Oh look, Errol, it’s those boy knitters like you.”

Jesse looked over then, for a moment his fear and even Kerry forgotten as his eyes searched for Errol and where the comment had come from. He quickly found Errol sitting by a back table looking straight ahead, eyes bright like he was holding back both his tears and the “eff you” comment he wanted to retort. He stared at Jesse.

Jesse smiled and looked at the assembly. “Yes, it’s us, those boy knitters. Sexy, huh?” He winked, and a bunch of the girls giggled, while some of the teachers did too. “I’d like to also introduce a fellow boy knitter and firefighter, my brother Lucas.”

A bunch of the kids clapped at that, and one girl yelled, “I know him! He came to my house when our grandmother got sick. They had to do CPR on her.”

“And I’d like to introduce another boy knitter—”

“Man knitter,” Damian interrupted, and Jesse sighed. “And certified CPA,” Damian added as Jesse’s eyes went to the sky. This guy.

“But can you knit?” a little girl yelled out, not to be deterred.

Damian frowned at the blunt question as he gave the little challenger a side-eye. Not backing down, the little girl folded her arms and just stared. Finally Damian replied, “I do all right. Socks are my specialty, if you must know.”

The little girl beamed, satisfied, and the brothers continued, talking about what they had learned from knitting and its values—things like concentration, discipline, coordination. They used Noah as that example and showed a video of him dancing.

“Wow,” young Troy, who had teased Errol earlier, finally said. “This must be great for impressing girls.”

Everyone erupted into a fit of giggles, and Jesse looked at Kerry. “Um, I don’t know. There are definitely worse ways, but we could give it a try. You see, when you make something by hand, whatever you make takes time, patience, concentration and your energy. You should value that. So, when you give a gift, you should do it with a clear intention and your pure heart. And that’s the same way you should receive such a gift. That is a lesson it’s taken me way too many years to learn, but I think I finally have.”

Jesse reached around then, his blood rushing, his heart pounding as he pulled out the now finished shawl made from all the beautiful petal remnants that Mama Joy had knitted and collected over the years, plus the ones he’d added after Kerry had gone back to her place. He knew it was time for him to step up and stop relying on her and others to fill in the missing gaps for him, and for him to take the initiative and put himself out there for those that he loved. He needed for this to be—no, hoped it would be—the first step in showing her the man he was and would now be.

“Miss Kerry?” Shit. Was that him calling her name, or was it young Errol? Dammit, he couldn’t let a tween steal his woman!

Kerry looked at him, her eyes wide, beautiful and glistening. Crap, and now he could barely speak. How was it she did this to him when no one else did? If this wasn’t love, then he didn’t know what was. There was a small shove at his back, and then he was moving forward. “Go and get your girl,” Lucas said. Thank God for his meddling brothers.

“Our girl,” he heard Damian mutter.

Nosy-assed bastards.

But suddenly he was right there in front of her, shawl in hand. “Kerry Girl.” Jesse felt her name come out like a breath from his heart. “Will you accept this? Please.” He cleared his throat. The school setting made it feel like he was about to give a holiday report. Talk about pressure. He let out a breath. “Along with my heart, soul and love? Wherever you are and whatever you do, know that I’m always here for you, supporting you and all you are and want to do. I don’t want you to get lost in me. Just know that with you I find myself.” He was sweating. It was official, he was definitely sweating.

But Jesse stared at her, and Kerry was so very quiet as the kids erupted in cheers. She reached out to touch the multicolored, mismatched shawl. He wondered what she was thinking as she touched it. It was so like him, like his brothers and like the two of them. It went with everything and nothing at all. Where would she even wear it? To Netflix and chill, maybe? A perfect metaphor for his life—and he hoped with all his heart that she could accept it.