Cam hardened her expression to stone and kept her tone harsh. “Well, then, I guess there’s only one thing left to say.” She pulled her mother into a tight hug and crooned in her ear, “Thank you.”
Her mother stiffened in her arms. “You’re not angry?”
She pulled away, laughing. “You gave me the best gift ever. A second chance with the man I love. How could I possibly be angry with that?”
“Well, if learning about your mother’s interference has put you in such a good mood...” Jordan interjected, “this might be the right time for a fumblerooski.” He turned his chair so that he directly faced Cam. The others around them all took a step back, and several more guests joined the circle, including Theresa and Marcus, as if they all anticipated some grand event would take place that they’d be witness to.
A befuddled Cam, when asked later, would admit she never recognized the signs. Until Jordan reached into his pocket and took out a small, blue jewelry box she’d seen once before, several years ago. Too much had happened in the last few minutes for her brain to fully comprehend the gravity of the moment.
“Cam, I love you. I’ve always loved you. I’ll go to my grave loving you. But until then, I want to spend every breath we have together with you. On your terms, whatever they may be.” He flipped open the lid to reveal the square-cut diamond glittering on its bed of sapphire velvet. “So, I’m giving you this ring, as a symbol of all I feel for you. The choice is yours what to do with it. Place it on your right hand and we’ll go on at your pace until you feel comfortable with my promise of forever. When you’re ready to talk about an engagement, maybe a wedding sometime far in the future, you can move it to your left hand. Or, you can just keep it in the box for the rest of our lives. The choice is entirely up to you. What do you say?”
She was ready. She was more than ready. Eagerly, she pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto the finger of her left hand. “I love you too, Jordan. And I want to spend every breath I have left by your side. The wedding can wait, but for now, I’m happy to be engaged.”
While everyone broke into spontaneous applause and cheers, he pulled her onto his lap. She roped her left arm around his neck, extending her hand to admire the glint of the diamond beneath the overhead lights.
Nuzzling his collarbone, she whispered, “I can’t believe you kept this ring all these years.”
He chuckled and murmured in her ear. “I kept the suit, too. I thought it might be unlucky to wear it again today, but you gotta have hope, right?”
Hope. Sure, you had to have hope. But more importantly, you had to have love. She gazed at the happiness streaming to them from the people they’d touched, the people who cared, and her focus landed once again on first her mother, and then Jordan.
“Hope and a treasure chest full of love.” She placed her lips on his and allowed love to carry them both forward to their future.
BOOKS BY GINA ARDITO
THE MONEY SERIES
The Bonds of Matri-money
A Run for the Money
That’s Amore!
THE NOBODY SERIES
Nobody’s Darling
Nobody’s Business
Nobody’s Perfect
Chasing Adonis
Duping Cupid
THE AFTERLIFE SERIES
Eternally Yours
In Your Dreams
Waiting in the Wings
THE CALENDAR GIRLS SERIES
Charming for Mother’s Day
Duet in September
Reunion in October
Homecoming in November
Memories in December
Even Now
A Love to Keep Me Warm
Lightning in a Bottle
Echoes of Love
ANTHOLOGIES
Kaleidoscope Hearts 2
DEAR READER,
Thanks so much for reading PLAY ACTION PASS. I started writing this story about fifteen years ago when my son was playing in his local Peewee football league. I was Team Mom with all the responsibilities that entailed: snacks; coordinating parent volunteer services; staying on the field in driving rain, muggy mosquito-filled nights, and blustery fall evenings. I always brought my Alphasmart to write on, and the other parents would tease me about the possibility I’d one day use my experiences on the field to write a football romance.
I wrote the first two chapters of this story during that time, then stalled. And there Cam and Jordan sat, in my “Unfinished drafts” folder on my computer. Until last year.
Fast forward fifteen years, my football-playing child is now in law school, and I needed a quick story I could pull up and finish for an anthology with eight other authors. PLAY ACTION PASS found a home within the pages of KALEIDOSCOPE HEARTS 2. But in order to make it fit the format the anthology required, a lot of scenes and conflicts wound up on the proverbial cutting room floor.
Thus, when the anthology was removed from sale and I reacquired the rights to my characters and their romance, I taped together all the bits and pieces I’d had to cut from the first edition. I loved writing this story the way I’d always envisioned it, and I hope you enjoyed reading this version.
If you did enjoy it, I’d like to ask a favor. Please consider writing a review on your favorite retail site? Amazon, BookBub, Goodreads, or just recommend it on Facebook to your friends and family members! Independent authors such as myself need those reviews in order to compete with bigger names and bigger houses with bigger budgets for advertising. Like other small businesses, I rely on word of mouth to find new readers. Your voice helps. And yes, I do read my reviews. Good or bad, I appreciate whenever a reader takes the time to share their thoughts about my work.
You can contact me at [email protected] or through my website, https://ginaardito.com.
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