chapter 25
HALLIE
“Keep them closed.”
“I’ve been peeking this whole time anyways, so I don’t understand the sudden need for great secrecy. We’re on the Upper East Side.”
“You are such a cheater.”
I pull my hands off of my eyes and grin at him.
“Yep. Proud of it, too. Like you really thought I was going to be able to keep my eyes closed for an hour-long car ride? Come on. I hate surprises, and that little factoid shouldn’t be a huge shock. I’ve never liked surprises.”
“That’s a sentiment that I don’t think your daughter shares,” he replies, looking mischievous.
“We still need to talk about all of your little surprises.”
“We can talk about it after we pick her up from Diana’s apartment tomorrow morning. My dear sister only has boys to spoil, so I have a sneaking suspicion that you might need to save the lecture for her, too.”
“I have a sneaking suspicion that she isn’t going to send her assistant to FAO Schwartz to get one of each toy in every color.”
“No, but Diana might take her to every children’s boutique in the city to pick out one of each outfit in every color. Lots of pink. Lots of tutus.”
“Save us. Please.”
“Grace deserves to be spoiled. Every girl deserves to be spoiled. Even you, who hates surprises.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call myself a girl anymore, Chris.”
“Fine. Shriveled-up hag, then?”
I punch his arm lightly and fall back against the leather seats of the limousine. Before we got to New York, I thought I was prepared for his lavish lifestyle. I was completely wrong. His absolutely massive second apartment, complete with six bedrooms and an enormous terrace overlooking Central Park, was grander than anything else I had ever seen, his childhood monstrosity included. Before we arrived in the city (via private airplane, of course), I’m also fairly certain that he instructed his assistant to decorate one of the bedrooms in his apartment with every single toy from all of the stores Manhattan had to offer. The thought that I was the one who was going to need to fret about Grace suddenly deciding that she disliked me had crossed my mind, more than once.
No, bird calling wouldn’t have suited him, I think, as I glance through my fingers at the strong line of his jaw. And that’s all right. That sense of extravagance is all a part of the person that I fell in love with a very long time ago. It didn’t mean that I was going to let all of the spoiling, of both Grace and me, slide.
We were definitely going to need to have a long chat about the toys. And the apartment. And the private jet. And the limousines. And the puppy with the red collar with the name Buster imprinted on it.
“Okay. We’re here. Eyes closed for this part. No peeking this time. Cheater.”
I reluctantly cover my eyes as he takes my arm and helps me from the car.
“Okay. Open them.”
I laugh when I see the blinking neon sign reading “Late Night ood.”
“This is where it all started. I was a fledgling movie star, you were a mysterious girl from a party wearing flip flops, which I think was a very sensible choice given the snow, and we were both party refugees.”
“Oh, shush. And this is not where it all started. We met on a balcony. Sorry, wait, what’s the fancy word that you New Yorkers use? A terrace.”
He shudders. “Yeah, well getting back to that terrace would have required a phone call to Sophia Pearce, who’s probably off ruining more lives right now. She’s probably halfway through her fourth marriage.”
I laugh. “So true. Maybe her fifth.”
“So, we’ll just pretend, for argument’s sake, that this is where we met.”
“I cannot believe you dragged me all the way over here to reminisce about old times, Chris. There are a million diners in Brooklyn. We could have stayed there, in case Grace needed me or got homesick or something.”
“She will not get homesick. She’s probably running circles around my nephews right now. Besides, this diner has the best coffee in the city, if we can ever get someone to deliver it.”
“Also true. All right. Let’s get some coffee and maybe you’ll remember to ask for my name this time.”
I toss my head and his laughter follows to the booth where we once sat, where I had once asked a million questions about movies and Hollywood and managed to fall in love with him in the process. I settle back into the booth and grab a menu from the table, and I look around for a waitress, maybe even the same one with yellowed teeth and a faintly annoyed expression, but I don’t see anyone.
“Chris. You’re such a slowpoke.” I look around, but he seems to have disappeared into thin air. “Chris! Where are you?”
He emerges from the back room, carrying an enormous bouquet of roses that obscures his face.
“You are so insane. You can’t let me get used to this kind of thing. I think you might even spoil me more than you spoil Grace.”
“My intention is exactly that—to get you used to this kind of thing.”
He hands the flowers to me and gives me a long, sweet smile. “I love you, Hals.”
“I love you, too, Chris. I have to give it to you—the flowers are completely, absolutely beautiful and I will be a girl about that. I love flowers.”
“I know you do.”
He takes a deep breath and I can see that he’s trembling slightly.
“Are you cold?”
“No.”
He looks up, his eyes shrouded in a haze of uncertainty.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”
“Oh, God, not that again.” I shake my head in exasperation. “I thought we promised to stop apologizing to each other. What was that you said? There’s no changing the past, but there’s plenty of changing to do for the future. If I hear the words ‘I’m sorry’ come out of your mouth one more time, and you’re not apologizing for buying my daughter a puppy, which you should definitely apologize for, by the way, I will…”
“Stop talking, Hals.”
There’s something in his face that makes me listen.
“I want to wake up every morning next to you. I want to read stories to Grace and kiss her goodnight. I even want to go to Disneyland, because you wanted to and we never got the chance. We never got the chance to do a lot of things, but we have another chance to do all of that now. We’re lucky enough to have the chance to do all of that now. Neither of us is perfect, but we’re perfect together and I want to spend the rest of my life basking in that perfection.”
Suddenly, he’s on one knee, holding out a small box and smiling up at me.
“Marry me, Hallie. Marry me and let me love you forever.”
The pressure in my chest spills over and I look into his beautiful face, filled with hope and a tiny bit of fear and I feel myself start to smile.
Fat, happy tears are sliding down my face. I look up at him and, unable to find the right words or any words, I nod. He crushes me to his chest, touching my face and hair and lips and holding me for long minutes that stretch into forever.
He holds out a long silvery chain and offers it to me. “I thought you could wear Ben’s ring on this.”
The fact that he considered even that small thing fills me with indescribable joy. I glance down at it, the simple diamond that Ben and I had bought together, and gently pull it off my finger and slide it onto the chain. I try to put it on, but my fingers are trembling too much to close the clasp, so Chris takes it from me and fumbles for a minute before sliding it around my neck. The weight is cool against my skin, and comforting.
“I’ll give it to Grace when she’s older,” I say, still touching it. Suddenly, I cover my mouth with my hands. “Grace! I can’t say yes without…”
He gives me a quick grin. “Already asked her. In fact, she picked out the ring. I would have gone for simple but elegant. A miniscule diamond, because what was it you said? ‘I’m just a simple girl.’ I thought, well okay. I’ll buy Hallie a small diamond, the most miniscule one that I can find, because she’s a simple girl.”
“Liar.”
“I am not! I fully intended on simple.” He stares at me with wide, innocent eyes. “However, your daughter had other ideas.”
He opens the box to reveal an enormous diamond ring, which I gape at wordlessly. He slides it onto my finger and I stare down at it before opening my mouth to protest.
“Grace said the only way I could ask you to marry me was if I bought you this ring. And was I really going to argue with the logic of a four year old? Certainly not.” He smiles. “However, I do have to admit that I like her taste better than yours. She even had a few redecorating ideas that I might take up. A pool, I think, is in order. Maybe even a water slide.”
“There’s an idea. The neighbors would love us. A water slide in New York.”
“Or Michigan or Lake Geneva or wherever you want to go, Hals. Wherever you want to live. As long as you promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t throw Buster out into the street. It would break Grace’s heart.”
Like I would really throw an adorable puppy onto the street. Still, it’s a bargaining chip.
“Fine. Buster stays. Under one condition.”
“What?”
I look down at the ring and watch as a glint of sunshine hits it, causing light to dance across the room.
“I need to know that this is a forever kind of thing. You and me. And Grace. You don’t get to take this one back.”
He pulls me in for a long, lingering kiss, the kind that still takes my breath away, even after all of these years, and then pulls back to stare deeply into my eyes.
“Hallie, I promise you that this is definitely a forever kind of thing.”