The Wife Upstairs(32)

I stare at it there on my hand. This gorgeous piece of jewelry on my plain, small fingers, my nails still a little ragged, pale pink polish chipped, and it’s like there’s no breath in my lungs, like my heart is trying to leap out of my chest. I want to tell myself it’s satisfaction, victory, fuck yeah, I won, but it’s more.

It’s so much more. And that scares me, but for the first time, I feel like I’m allowed to want this much.

That I get to have this.

“Oh, shit,” I whisper, and Eddie grins at me, still there on one knee.

“Is that a yes?”

I look at him, at his handsome face, and his blue eyes, kneeling on that gorgeous hardwood floor, and I nod.

“Yes,” I say, and he surges up from the floor, gathers me up in his arms, and kisses me hard. It sparks something inside me, that kiss, and soon I’m tugging him down onto the couch, pulling at his clothes, arching up against him.

Afterward, we lay there in a slightly sweaty heap, our clothes half-off, half-on, and I play with his hair, damp at the nape of his neck.

“I should’ve asked you somewhere nicer,” he mumbles against my collarbone. “Taken you out to dinner.”

“But then we couldn’t have done this,” I remind him, nudging him with my thigh. “Or we could have, but I feel like the restaurant would’ve asked us to please leave and never come back.”

He laughs lightly, then lifts his head to stare down at me.

“You’re sure about this?” he asks. “About marrying me, even though I’m a disaster?”

I lift myself up to brush a kiss over his lips. “I’m marrying you because you’re a disaster,” I reply, which makes him laugh again, and as he settles back against me, I catch a glimpse of my ring over his shoulder.

Mrs. Rochester.





16





I’m engaged.

Motherfucking engaged.

I can’t stop looking at the ring, the way it sparkles in the sunlight, the heavy, cool weight of it on my finger.

But weirdly, it’s more than just the ring, gorgeous as it is.

It’s knowing that Eddie bought it before I even knew I wanted him to propose.

He wanted this. He chose me.

No one has ever chosen me before. I’ve spent my life being passed around and looked over, and now this.

I’ve passed it dozens of times before, the village bridal shop that’s a world away from the big dress emporiums in strip malls and shopping centers. I’ve looked in its plate glass window at the delicate bits of lace and silk on display, and even though I’ve never been a girly-girl, I’d always felt a little … wistful, maybe.

And even now, as I open the door, the little bell overhead jingling, something flutters in my chest.

There’s no overhead lighting, only strategically placed lamps, huge windows, and a skylight. And the dresses aren’t just hanging up on crowded racks, row after row of heavy skirts and beaded bodices, all so jumbled up you can barely tell what’s what.

Instead, some dresses are displayed on old-fashioned wire dress dummies, and others are draped over bits of antique furniture, like the bride just slipped out of her dress and tossed it casually over the nearest armoire.

It’s the kind of place where they’re not scared of anyone getting something on the dresses or messing them up somehow—no one who shops here would be that gauche. So there’s no need for the miles of plastic that protect dresses from all the grubby hands at those cheaper bridal places.

The woman who approaches me has soft blond hair arranged in an elegant chignon, and she’s wearing an outfit that reminds me of the things I’ve seen Bea wear in pictures. It’s elegant but feminine at the same time, a sleek black sheath dress and pearls paired with houndstooth pumps that have a tiny hot pink bow on the back.

Her name is Huntley, because of course it is.

I see the way she clocks my ring, and while I’m sure Huntley here would never be so crass as to actually start adding up numbers in her head, her smile definitely warms a little.

I know plenty of girls dream about their wedding day, but I never had, not really. Maybe it had just seemed like something so far out of the realm of possibility for me, or maybe I just had bigger things to worry about.

Turns out, I fucking love this shit.

We move around the store, talking about shades of white and ivory, the difference between eggshell and cream, whether I’d like my hair up or down, what kind of veil options that might entail.

When Huntley brings out a book full of fabric samples for me to look at, I almost swoon.

By the time I leave the shop, my head is swimming, but I’m pleasantly high, and not just on the two glasses of champagne I sipped while Huntley and I talked.

I’m marrying Eddie Rochester.

I’m going to be his wife, and live in that gorgeous house, and afternoons like this, afternoons not spent walking dogs or waiting tables or driving for Uber or making someone else coffee, aren’t just a temporary reprieve—they’re my future.

“Jane?”

Emily is standing there, paper cup of coffee in hand, her face hidden behind those huge sunglasses.

She glances up toward the striped awning of Irene’s, and her mouth drops open. “Girl. Tell me you were in there for a reason.”

My smile is not even a little bit faked. “Turns out he did put a ring on it.”