Page 39 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

Chapter Three

JESS

“I don’t know if I’m really an antiquing person,” I said with a laugh as I leaned into Demi’s hold.

“I’m totally not one, but I’m learning. My sister comes down here often and said I might like looking at this one place that has reasonably priced furniture. Not quite antique, but unique enough. Especially if I want to sand it down and refinish it.”

I looked over at Demi and raised a brow. “You know how to refinish things?”

Demi snorted. “I’ve done a few projects—not well, mind you—but I’m learning. I figured we could do it together if all else fails. You’re better at crafty things like that than I am.”

I slid my hand over hers, our fingers tangling as we walked down the downtown streets of Boulder.

We had taken the drive up to enjoy brunch and antiquing.

The brunch wait was at least two hours, even on a weekday with a reservation, but that was fine.

They would text us to come back, and then we would eat, have some mimosas, and go back to shopping.

Walking around the college town that had exploded over the past few years was always nice.

And frankly, the cities of Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins were slowly becoming one megacity with the urban sprawl.

So being able to find something a little different over time was nice.

Plus you couldn’t beat the mountain views here.

“Have you ever been up to Estes Park?” I asked and Demi shook her head.

“I haven’t. Isn’t the Stanley Hotel up there?”

I nodded, thinking of the historic and famous hotel that had everything to do with The Shining . “Yes. You can stay the night there, though I don’t. I’m not in the mood for horror and ghosts, even if it might not be real.”

“I heard the drive up there is beautiful though.”

“It’s gorgeous. And honestly, I like going up there when people come to visit from out of town so that way I can go to the chocolate place.”

“Of course you would want to go to the chocolate place,” Demi said with a laugh, squeezing my hand.

Technically, if we were counting dates, this was number eight. Or perhaps eleven. I wasn’t quite sure where we were counting from, and in the end, I knew I would quit counting soon.

Things just felt good.

And that was probably a little scary, but then again, I liked that feeling. It had taken a single meeting at the Montgomerys’ for everything to change, and I still couldn’t quite believe this was real.

“Okay, so I guess we’re going to have to find a chocolate place here .” Demi began to look around the shops, a smile playing on her face.

In the past two months, we had spent every free moment we had together.

Which sadly wasn’t that many. Between both of our jobs, and life in general, it wasn’t like we spent twenty-four hours a day together.

And while everything had clicked between us, it was still relatively fresh and new.

Sometimes it felt as if I was waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop.

And that wasn’t fair to Demi or to me. But it wasn’t as if I could hold back. And that should worry me.

“Okay, you have scrunchie face.”

I blinked up at my girlfriend. “What is scrunchie face?”

“You’re thinking so hard that your nose scrunches in that cute little way. And while it is adorable, it worries me because I don’t know what’s going on in that brain of yours. Are you doing okay? What’s wrong?”

I shook my head and gestured towards one of the freestanding benches they had for people to sit down and enjoy the architecture. We each took a seat, and she turned sideways, one leg up, her other foot on the ground so she could face me.

“Talk to me, Jess.”

Her lyrical voice washed over me, and it felt like I had known her for ages.

Honestly, it scared me how much everything felt right after only two months.

While I had been with Clive for eight years.

Eight years where I had thought he had been the one, but I had never been able to move forward.

And he had never even tried. We hadn’t been each other’s person, and instead he had been with other people.

“I’m just thinking. I’m enjoying the time we’re spending together...”

Her face fell, concern filling those beautiful eyes of hers. “That worries me, you know. The way that you say that as if there’s an ending.”

I cringed and reached out to grip her hand. She looked down at our connection and let out a slow breath.

“That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m really enjoying this.

I love being with you, I love going antiquing even though neither one of us knows what we’re doing.

And I love the fact that we are waiting for two hours for brunch and neither one of us cares.

It was in our schedule for the day knowing that we would wait.

It just makes sense, even though we could have easily eaten at home. ”

“They have cream cheese stuffed French toast and crepes. Of course, we’re coming here,” she teased, but I still saw the concern in her gaze.

“It’s okay if you’re worried that things are going too well.

That’s what I do often. My lot in life is to always wonder if I’m doing things wrong or if things are going well.

I mean, I was a walk-in for that tattoo. ”

My eyes widened as I stared over at the woman who haunted my dreams and my living memories. “What? How did you manage that?”

“Each of them takes at least one walk-in a week. It’s not a true walk-in.

I called to see if they had any space for the week, and they fit me in.

So I wasn’t even on the waiting list. Sort of like a lottery, I guess?

And I got lucky. And well, it happened to be the same day as yours.

Which should honestly worry me a bit at the whole idea of fate, but maybe it’s just because I needed a tattoo, and so did you. ”

I slid my hands over my sternum, where my now fully healed ink lay. “I almost canceled.”

Her eyes widened “What?”

“Clive never wanted me to get this tattoo. He never liked tattoos on women.”

Demi’s eyes narrowed. “Are you serious?”

“Very serious. He thought it was trashy. And yet, I’m covered in tattoos.”

“And so every time you got a new tattoo it was like telling him to fuck off?” she asked.

“Maybe. I just wanted to be me . And I thought with every additional tattoo, when he stayed, maybe I was changing his mind. But it turned out he was just finding other women without tattoos to sleep with.”

“I really hope that I never meet this man. Because if I do, I might actually have to kick him.”

“He’s not worth the foot pain.”

“You say that, but I’m still upset that he hurt you.”

I shook my head, still annoyed at what could have been—though I’d told myself never to live within those regrets.

“The sad part is, I was almost relieved that it was over. Even though yes, he hurt me. But I thought he loved me. And I don’t know…

I didn’t know if I was ready for being serious with anyone afterward. ”

Demi’s eyes tightened for just an instant, and I nearly cursed myself.

“I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t say that to the woman that I’m seeing.”

“No, I understand. We haven’t had that kind of talk.” She paused. “And I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of talk in public like this.”

And I had just killed the mood. “Did you know that my friend Alecia was going to make me go on a dating circle and then I didn’t have to because I met you that night?”

“Alecia said what?” she asked, throwing her head back and laughing.

The two had met soon after our softball date that had turned into something more and had clicked immediately.

In fact, Demi had met most of my friends and everything just made sense.

She had slid into the friend group so easily it was a bit disconcerting.

In fact, everything about this relationship was disconcerting because it felt so stress-free.

“I’m glad you didn’t have to. Though I still don’t know what a dating circle is.”

“Thank you,” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “That’s what I said.”

“You don’t have to deal with that. Although I kind of want to know who Alecia would’ve set you up with,” she said, teasing.

“I don’t know, she’s not really great at setting people up.”

“Ooh, tell me more.”

We stood up then and made our way back to the restaurant because we were at that two-hour mark.

My phone buzzed halfway there, and I figured that was great timing.

We went straight to our table, a tiny two-top on the balcony so we could see the mountains, and everything settled into place just a little bit better.

We ordered our mimosas and coffee, and indeed got the French toast and crepes.

I added a savory omelet to share, and I figured we’d want leftovers.

“Okay, tell me about some of her bad dates,” Demi said, and I grinned.

“Well one time she introduced Claude to Rose, and it turned out that they were second cousins.”

Demi choked on her mimosa and set down the champagne glass. “Are you serious? Did they know before or after.” She paused. “Actually, don’t tell me.”

“They knew as soon as they met each other. She hadn’t given last names, trying to be mysterious, I guess. But they showed up at the restaurant and laughed because they went to numerous family reunions together because they had the same grandma.”

Demi wiped her face, and I just laughed with her. “Okay, that is bad.”

“Alecia always said that they all would’ve gotten along well. Probably because they had similar genes,” I said dryly, and Demi cracked up again.

“Demi?” a soft voice asked, and I turned to see a woman with blonde hair past her shoulders and bright eyes move forward. From her cheekbones, I knew exactly who this was.

I grinned as Demi turned, a similar smile on her face. “Elena. What are you doing here?” She stood up quickly and hugged her little sister tightly. “Elena, this is Jess.”