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Back First Comes Love Save as PDF
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

I scratch him behind the ears and keep walking through the hidden treasures of our past. Some of the heavier items need three of four balloons to keep them afloat. Like a heart-shaped stone we picked up at the beach, or a small bag filled with seashells, and even two golden miniatures of the Little Mermaid from McDonald’s Happy Meals. And a vial filled with sand.

“Where’s this from?”

“The lake. My parents’ cabin.”

I blush.

“Remember that day?” Jake takes hold of two pictures and shows them to me.

They’re from the day we lost our virginity together. “Of course.” One is my favorite pic of him. Shirtless, he has one arm raised above his head, braced on a tree branch. He’s wearing a surfer necklace, which he wouldn’t take off for the whole summer. The other pic is of me. I’m not staring at the camera, but at the lake. The sun’s shining through my hair as if I were radiating happiness and love. Which I was.

“I don’t remember this picture,” I say, looking at it.

“I had this one. It’s my favorite of you.”

“And this is my favorite of you,” I say, pointing at the other picture. “Remember that necklace I gave you? You never took it off.”

“Wait, it should be here somewhere.” Jake shuffles some balloons around and finds it.

“You should put it on.” I take it from him and tie it around his neck. He gives me that same crooked grin, and I’m so full of love, so full of life I might explode.

Toward the end of the room, I spot a postcard of a beach in Hawaii. Where we promised we’d go for our honeymoon. My heart rate accelerates.

As I reach the very end of the room, a particularly thick cluster of balloons stands out. My heart jumps into my throat as I notice they’re holding a small jewelry box. Dangling below it, there’s a sheet of paper. I snatch it. It says, “Marry me?” Below are two option-squares; one says, “Yes,” and the other says, “Yes.” I look up from the sheet of paper to find Jake has detached the tiny box and is on one knee in front of me with it open. Tears fill my eyes.

“Will you…”

His words are cut off by me barreling into his arms. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!”

As I kneel on the floor in front of him, he takes the ring, a breathtaking square sapphire with a diamond halo, out of the box and slides it on my finger. An electrical tingle sparkles where his skin touches mine and my left hand feels so light it could be made of air.

We lock eyes. “I love you. I want to spend my life with you and fill the Jakebox with so many more memories.”