THE BIRTHDAY LIST
Copyright © 2018 by Devney Perry
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-9983583-5-2
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Editor: Elizabeth Nover, Razor Sharp Editing
Cover Artwork © Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations
Proofreader: Julie Deaton
Formatting: Champagne Book Design
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Preview from Tattered
Acknowledgements
Also Available from Devney Perry
About the Author
“Poppy!” Jamie came rushing out of the office and into the kitchen.
The grin on his face made my heart flutter, just like it always did, which meant I’d been a mess of flutters since the day I’d met him five years ago.
We’d run into each other on the first day of our sophomore year at Montana State. Literally. I’d been rushing out of an economics lecture, my arms overloaded with books, notepads and a syllabus. Jamie had been rushing in, too busy looking over his shoulder at a buxom blond to see me in the classroom’s doorway.
After the two of us had recovered from the crash, Jamie had helped me off the floor. The moment my hand had slipped into his, the buxom blond had been all but forgotten.
That was the day I’d met the man of my dreams.
My husband.
James Sawyer Maysen.
“Guess what?”
“What?” I giggled when he picked me up and set me on the counter, fitting himself between my open legs. Excitement radiated from his body and I couldn’t help but smile at the light shining in his eyes.
“I just added a couple things to my birthday list.” He pumped his fist. “Best ideas yet.”
“Oh.” My smile faltered. “Please tell me these ones aren’t illegal.”
“Nope. And I told you, the fire alarm one might not be illegal. I might legitimately need to pull a fire alarm before I turn forty-five.”
“You’d better hope so. I have no desire to bail you out of jail just because you’re determined to mark an item off your crazy list.”
Jamie’s “birthday list” had become his latest obsession. He’d started it a couple of weeks ago after he’d gotten the idea from a sitcom, and ever since, he’d been dreaming up these grand ideas—though some were more ridiculous than grand.
This list was Jamie’s version of a bucket list. Except, rather than one long list to work through in retirement, Jamie had been assigning himself things to do before each of his birthdays. He didn’t want to tackle some daunting list when he had all but lived his life. Instead, he wanted to tick things off the list every year before his birthday. So far, he’d filled in nearly every birthday until he turned fifty.
We had our own “couples” bucket list—places we wanted to travel and things we wanted to do together. This birthday list wasn’t for that. It was just for Jamie. It was filled with things he wanted to do, just for him.
And though I may have grumbled about some of the riskier and crazier items, I supported it wholeheartedly.
“So what did you add today?”
He grinned. “My best idea yet. Here goes.” He raised his arms, drawing them out wide and framing an invisible marquee. “Before I turn thirty-four, I want to swim in a pool of green Jell-O.”
“Okay.” I smiled, far from convinced it was his best idea yet, but it was Jamie. “But why Jell-O? And why green?”
“Don’t you think it would be cool?” He wiggled between my legs, smiling even wider as he dropped his arms. “It’s one of those things every kid wants to do but no parent will let them. Think of how fun it would be. I can squirm around in it. Squish it between my fingers and toes. And I picked green—”
“Because it’s your favorite color,” I finished, surprised I’d even asked the question in the first place.
“What do you think?”
“Honestly? It sounds like a mess. Besides that, Jell-O stains. You’ll be a walking alien for a week.”
He shrugged. “I’m cool with that. My students will think it’s awesome, and I have you to help me clean it up.”
“Yes, you do.”
I’d help him scrub his skin back to its normal tan and dispose of a pool filled with green Jell-O because I loved him. Some items on Jamie’s list seemed strange to me, but if they made him happy, I’d do what I could to help. For the next twenty-five years—or for however long he wanted—I’d be by his side as he crossed things out.
“What else did you add today?”
He slipped his hands around my waist and moved in a little closer. “I actually added one and crossed it off at the same time. It was for my twenty-fifth birthday. I wrote a letter to myself in ten years.”
“That’s cute.” If I had a birthday list, I’d steal that idea for myself. “Can I read the letter?”
“Sure.” He grinned. “As soon as I turn thirty-five.”
I frowned but Jamie erased it with a soft kiss.
“I need to go run some errands. Do you need anything while I’m out?”
Errands. Riiight. Tomorrow was our one-year wedding anniversary and I’d bet good money his “errands” were to find me a last-minute gift. Unlike me, who had bought his present two months ago and stashed it in the laundry room, Jamie was always shopping on Christmas Eve or the day before my birthday.
But instead of teasing him about his tendency to procrastinate, I just nodded. “Yes, please. Would you mind going to the liquor store for me?” We were hosting a spring barbeque tomorrow to celebrate our anniversary and the only booze we had in the house was
