Cuff Me(7)

She loved her mother, obviously. And loved the memory of her father, God rest his soul.

And though she had no siblings of her own, the Morettis had filled that gap. And with the recent addition of Luc’s girlfriend, Ava, and Anthony’s new wife, Maggie, she had some amazing girlfriends to add to the mix.

And last, but never least, there was Vincent. Her partner. In some ways her best friend, although in a way that was different from her relationship with Elena.

But as much as Vincent sometimes seemed like two parts of the same whole, he’d always held a bit of himself back from her. From everyone.

He’d made no secret of the fact that he had no intentions of getting married, ever. Any fantasies Jill had had that her partner would one day wake up and see her were long gone.

Which left her a bit… lonely.

She wanted someone to come home to at the end of the long day who would just be there. Who’d pour her a glass of wine, maybe rub her feet and just listen.

Tom offered Jill what nobody else had offered her… ever.

Love. Commitment. A future.

And she knew that he loved her. Fast as their relationship had developed, she could feel it. And she loved him too. At least she was pretty sure.

“Aww, you like him,” Elena said teasingly, reaching out a finger and poking the dimple in Jill’s left cheek.

“I want to be happy, El. I want the happily-ever-after with someone who wants it with me.”

She met her friend’s eyes and saw from the flash of regret on Elena’s face that El understood what Jill wasn’t saying out loud.

I can’t wait for Vin forever.

“I’m assuming you haven’t told him?”

Jill shook her head and looked down at her ring, still trying to get used to the sparkle on her finger. “No. Like I said, not really a phone conversation.”

“He’s going to be thrilled,” Elena said with a small smile. “I mean, he won’t show it, of course, because he’s emotionally barren. But he cares about you, babe. He just wants you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” Jill said.

Elena nodded distractedly, and Jill’s eyes narrowed. She knew her friend well, and something was definitely on Elena’s mind.

“Spill it,” Jill said.

Elena blew out a long breath. “Okay, so it was supposed to be a surprise, but given that huge rock on your finger and the enormity of the bomb you’re about to drop, I just can’t let you go in unprepared.”

Jill frowned. “Go in where?”

“To Anthony and Maggie’s place. There’s kinda sorta a surprise party awaiting you.”

Jill clapped her hands excitedly. “I love surprise parties! Especially when they’re for me.”

“I know you do, I just didn’t know if you were planning to tell everyone all at once, or if you maybe first wanted to break the news to… individuals first.”

Jill rubbed her thumb on the underside of the platinum band as she contemplated. In truth, she hadn’t really thought about how she was going to break the news to her partner. Hadn’t really let her brain go there.

“He was unbearable while you were gone,” Elena said quietly. “Even more so than usual.”

Jill snorted. “Yeah. I’m sure the separation was pure agony. You know, I barely heard from him?” she said absently. “I was gone three months, and I’d say he returned about ten percent of my texts, maybe two percent of my phone calls.”

Elena sighed. “So what’s the plan? I can make an excuse, say you’re not feeling well—”

Jill’s head whipped around. “No! I’m dying to see everyone. And your mom’s cooking…” She rubbed her belly.

“Okay, so what about the rock? You want to take it off for now, wait until you figure out how to tell everyone? Because you know it’s going to take all of thirty seconds for Ava or Maggie to spot that bad boy, and then it’s going to be all over.”

Jill twisted the ring on her finger as she stared down at her cell phone. The cell that hadn’t once buzzed with a message of any kind from her partner. No welcome home, no hey… nothing.

She glanced up at Elena. “It’s worth celebrating, right?”

Elena’s mouth dropped open. “Um, I’m offended by the question. Of course it is.”

Jill reached across and squeezed her friend. “Then I can’t think of anyone I’d rather celebrate with more than your family.”

“Hell yeah!” Elena said, reaching into her purse and pulling out her phone. “I’m totally telling my liquor guy to have a shit-ton of champagne delivered to Anth’s place.”

“I love that you have a liquor guy,” Jill said with a smile. “I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you.”

Elena smiled without looking up from her phone. “I’ve missed you too. We all have.”

Jill’s happiness slipped slightly, and she turned to look out at the slowly passing city.

She was sure that most of the Morettis had missed her, but she wasn’t sure about all of them.

And she certainly wasn’t sure about the one that mattered. The one that had always mattered.





CHAPTER THREE


By the time Vincent found a parking spot even remotely close to his older brother’s apartment, he was a good thirty minutes late to Jill’s surprise party.