Chapter 3

The Christmas holidays had been glorious. They had spent nearly every waking moment together over the break. Their conversation that day had been all the fuel either of them needed to rekindle their relationship. Most of their time was spent at the mansion. She had even set up in a spare room so he wouldn't have to make the hour-long drive every day to see her. They steered clear of Ian and Cara most days, only bumping into them on occasion. Their favorite place to be was the library. Amy and Mr. McIntyre had painstakingly worked to recreate Grace's library after the fire. Amy had added many new titles to the volumes already in place and Jake was mesmerized by the choices. Most days they threw a bunch of large down-filled pillows on the Persian rug and Jake would lean against the couch, while Amy would rest her head in his lap and they would both read for hours. Every once in a while, one or the other would spout out some fascinating tidbit from their respective books, discuss it briefly, then fall back into comfortable silence.

She still thought of Evan from time to time and missed him. She guessed a part of her would always feel that way about him. He had been her first love and he was always going to be a hero to her and the others. She finally had come to the realization that Evan would have eventually wanted her to move on with her life, even if he never would. She knew she would never have a chance to repair things with his parents, and for that, she was heartbroken.

School had started back up for the semester and visits with Jake were reserved for the weekends only. Amy and Dan would make the journey to the Rosenbloom manor right off Harvard square and they would spend all weekend with the boys. It was like they were on the hunt again, just the four of them. There were so many wonderful things to do and see in Boston that they never had a shortage of fun. Jake introduced them to his favorite Indian restaurant and Atticus gave them a guided tour of the famous Revolutionary War sites within walking distance of their home. Their father, Mark Rosenbloom, was still on his dig, so they watched out for each other. There was always a little time each weekend for Amy and Jake to sneak off and be alone. Sometimes it was just walking hand in hand around the Peabody Museum where Dr. Rosenbloom had expanded the collection significantly, other times it was snuggling on the couch in the den and watching a movie. Amy admitted to herself that she rarely ever remembered these movie plots as she and Jake were often preoccupied. This thought made her blush.

Time was drawing close for her to decide on a university to attend in the fall. Applications were due soon and she had decided where she wanted to attend. She didn't think Jake would like her choice. He had naturally assumed she would attend Harvard with him. Amy had her sights set a little closer to home.

One weekend in March, before Spring Break, Amy got her answer. She had decided to travel to Cambridge on her own without Dan. She had a letter in her hand and wanted to deliver the news to Jake in person. She reread the letter several times on the hour-long drive from Attleboro to the Rosenbloom Manor. Before long, she had arrived. She thanked her driver and opened the passenger side door of the car at the same time Jake emerged from the front door; he had been waiting for her.

He was wearing dark blue jeans that fit him just right, a gray half-zip fisherman's sweater with a red polo underneath and his hair was perfectly coiffed. He looked like he had just walked out of an LL Bean catalogue.

Amy set down her overnight bag on the circle drive just as he reached her.

"Hello gorgeous," Jake said wrapping his arms around her waist, Amy replied with, "Right back at ya'" They held a delicate kiss for what seemed a long time, but all too soon it was over.

Amy waved her driver away as Jake picked up her bag. They linked fingers as they walked up the front steps.

"I had your room cleaned this week, thought it might be nice for you to have fresh linens in there," Jake said.

Amy stopped and looked at him quizzically, "YOU thought?"

"Well, I guarantee it wasn't Atticus who was thinking about your hygiene." Jake retorted.

Amy and Jake had a familiar pattern to their lives by now. Monday through Friday they lived their separate lives in their respective cities, but Friday through Sunday, one of them would make the journey to see the other. Sometimes Att and Dan were involved, sometimes not. They had 48 glorious hours together before they had to part and say their all-too familiar phrase, "fino a venerdì", which Jake had said to her one of their first Sunday's to part. He had said it was Italian for, 'until Friday'.

They had talked some about Amy's plans in the fall, but Jake never did take her seriously when she mentioned that she was exploring several options for school. His family had such strong ties to Harvard that he couldn't imagine why she'd look elsewhere. Amy had two very strong reasons: Grace and her mother, Hope.

Jake and Amy found their way to the back of the manor to the kitchen. Amy hopped up on the granite island that ran the length of the room and began to swing her legs. Jake made his way to the fridge and took out two seltzer waters and poured them over ice. Amy liked watching him do mundane tasks. It gave her a chance to really study his features. He was so beautiful with that striking chiseled jaw. He caught her watching him and smiled.

"You're doing it again, Ames" he laughed.

"I can't help it, you're much too attractive for your own good," she smiled.

"I'm not, 'a hottie that knows he's a hottie, thereby cancelling the hotness out?'" He joked. This was a phrase she had thrown at him early on before they even were dating. Apparently, it had made an impression on him.

"It depends on your mood, quite frankly"

"Oh, is that so?" he joked. "And what's my mood right now?"

"Well, great, but I wonder what it will be in a few minutes." She said waving the envelope in her hand.

Jake set her water down beside her on the counter and stood in front of her knees as she unfolded the letter.

She began to read:

Dear Miss Cahill,

We are delighted and honored to have received your application to Brown University. We at the admissions office knew your grandmother and mother well and were saddened to hear of their passing. We were honored that you desired to continue the Cahill tradition of an education at Brown. Similarly, we are delighted to announce that you have been accepted as an undergraduate student for the fall term.

We look forward to meeting you at orientation on August 23rd.

Sincerely,

Christina Paxson

President

Brown University

Amy lowered the letter and looked at Jake. He had a very blank expression on his face. It was hard to read.

"Well, what do you think?" Amy asked with trepidation.

"I think we have a lot more 'fino a venerdì ahead of us," he said with a sigh. He put his hands on her thighs and leaned his forehead against hers. "I was really hoping we'd be together this next chapter Ames."

Amy had a lump in her throat. Disappointing Jake was worse than making him mad, but before she could even say anything, it was like he could sense her unease.

"I understand why you want to go there. It's tradition for your family, just like Harvard is for my family," he said lifting his head.

"Providence is only a little past Attleboro, it's not like I'm going to Stanford or Northwestern. You'll be able to see me as often as we are now." Amy said with a small smile.

"Yeah" Jake said, looking at Amy with a longing look. Amy blushed.

Lately, whenever she was with Jake, the urge for him was stronger. She could tell he felt it too. She also knew he would never push her for more than she was comfortable with, and so far, she was just not ready for more with Jake. Not to say she was all prim and proper and nun-like. I mean, he was gorgeous and she did love kissing him. Their 'movie' dates in the den generally were just long make out sessions. Occasionally, she'd let Jake's hand travel over her clothes-but never under.

"Come on, let's go walk. I want to get in as much Amy time as I can this weekend."

That evening, when they parted for bed, they spent a long time in the kitchen. Amy had hopped back up on the counter, her favorite t-shirt and shorts as pajamas. Jake had been standing between her knees, leaning on the counter. His kisses were so sweet this evening. Amy really didn't want this night to end. She even said so.

"Jake, can't we just freeze time, like this, just the two of us?"

"Hmmm" was all Jake said. His head leaned against Amy's. His eyes were closed and she could tell he was tired. His hands were resting on the counter, just behind her back. Her urge to climb the stairs with him and just go to bed with him was the strongest it had ever been. "It would be so easy" she told herself. "We're heading down this road anyway, it's going to happen sooner or later. He's waiting on my signal. What is the hold up?" She couldn't pinpoint it, but she just wasn't ready. She roused him, kissed him one final time and left for the guest room. Jake moaned as he trudged upstairs; He was so tired.

As Amy headed to the guest room, she passed a family photo of Mark, Astrid, Jake and Atticus from about 5 years ago. A pang of jealousy hit her squarely in the face. "I don't have one single family photo. Not one. Cahills are supposed to be the most powerful family in history, but we can't stop fighting long enough to keep ourselves alive, much less sit for a decent family photo."

She sighed. She wished, not for the first time, that she had her mother to talk to. That's when it hit her: Nellie. She needed to call Nellie.