Her mouth drops open, but no words make it out.
I take a deep breath. “Do you remember your answer during the Strawberry Sweetheart pageant? The one about if you had three wishes?”
Her eyes widen.
Catching Dahlia by surprise is easy, but making her speechless? A difficult feat I never thought I would accomplish.
And for my last wish, I’d want to own the blue Founder’s house, she said in earnest, after wishing cancer never existed and being able to have one last conversation with her father.
Her eyes shine, not from the moonlight streaming through the wall of windows, but from the strong emotions threatening to consume her.
“I never forgot.”
A single tear rolls down her cheek, and I kiss it away.
“You made my wish come true without me realizing it.” Her voice cracks.
When the Founder’s house was put on the market a few years ago, I purchased it without hesitating. At first, it was a stupid way of seeking revenge on a woman who had every right to move on with someone else. But every time I planned on tearing it down, I stopped myself and considered how hurt Dahlia would be if she returned to find it gone.
Thankfully, I never went through with the plan. I’m not sure Dahlia would have forgiven me for it, and the way everything worked out was so much better.
“But what about the For Sale sign we drove by after you helped get rid of my engagement ring?”
“I texted Sam about the favor while you were eating the nieve from Cisco’s.”
“You’re joking.” She pauses before speaking again. “And you asking me to help design it…”
“Was originally because my mom begged me to find you a job to help you through a tough time.”
Her bottom lip trembles. “You could have picked any house for us to work on, but you chose this one.”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I knew you wouldn’t resist working on this house…even if it meant teaming up with me.”
“Why didn’t you tear it down years ago?”
“That was the original plan.”
“What stopped you?” She wraps her arms around my neck.
“Angering Gerald?”
She laughs, and I swallow the sound with my lips. I kiss her forehead. Cheeks. The corner of her mouth and the curve of her neck. Everywhere my mouth can reach, I kiss, all while Dahlia does the same.
“What do you say about making this place ours?” I drop a kiss on the base of her neck.
“Tempting, but you know how my mom feels about living with someone before marriage.”
“That can easily be arranged.”
Her eyes roll. “Ask me again in a year.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Until then, I plan on making this woman mine in every sense of the word.
Mine to love. Mine to marry. Mine to cherish for as long as we live.
The End
EPILOGUE
Dahlia
SIX MONTHS LATER
Warmth encapsulates me, and I sigh as I snuggle closer to the source. The band around my waist tightens, tugging me free from the fog of unconsciousness.
I jolt awake in the wrong bed. “Shit!”
For the third time this month, Julian and I failed to stay awake after staying up way too late doing things that would have my mother attending confession on my behalf for the next five to ten years.
Julian rubs the sleep from his eyes before sitting up against the headboard. I quickly become distracted by his chest and the toned muscles rippling as he readjusts the pillows behind him.
He cups my cheek. “Keep looking at me like that and you’re never making it out of here before your mom wakes up.”
My heart skips a beat or two as I lean into his touch. “I should go.” Yet I can’t muster up enough willpower to pull away from Julian’s touch.
To most people, my mom’s rule of not living with someone until marriage might sound archaic—and I wholeheartedly agree—but I don’t plan on challenging her Old Testament beliefs anytime soon, especially when it won’t matter a few months from now.
Julian reaches for my hand before I have a chance to slide off the bed. “We could solve this annoying problem by getting married today.”
I burst into laughter, only to stop when he doesn’t do the same.
“Wait. You’re not joking?”
He traces my ring finger, making me shiver. “Definitely not.”
“You want to get married today?”
“Last night’s weather report said it should be a sunny day without any clouds or afternoon summer storms,” he nonchalantly announces.
I blink a few times before speaking. “You checked the weather report last night?”
“And the day before that.”
“How long have you been doing that?”
He doesn’t blink as he says, “Ever since I bought your ring.”
My eyes threaten to pop. “My ring?” I jump on top of him, trapping his body beneath mine. “You bought me a ring?”
His bright eyes could rival the sun streaming through the crack in the blinds beside us. “Yes, but you said you wanted to wait until next—”
“?Vete a la chingada! ?Necesito verlo ahora mismo!”
The best laugh pours out of him. “You’ll have to find it first.”
“You hid it?”
“Of course. I already caught you snooping around the bedroom last week, so I couldn’t take any risks.”
My cheeks burn. When I found a jewelry insurance receipt underneath the seat of his truck after he spent the weekend in Detroit with Rafa, I was curious about what Julian bought. While my mind immediately jumped to a ring, I talked myself into assuming he had purchased a classic pair of diamond studs for my upcoming birthday.
Still, I snooped around his room, although my search came up empty.
He kisses my forehead. “If you find it, it’s all yours.”
I jump off the bed with a squeal before searching Julian’s bedroom from top to bottom.
The ensuing mess could compete with my sister’s bedroom. “It’s somewhere downsta—”
I take off for the stairs, leaving Julian behind to pick up after me, although based on his laughter, he doesn’t seem to mind.
I check every square inch of Julian’s house, including the inside of the grand piano, the cramped spot behind the toilets, and every pot, pan, and appliance big enough to hide a ring box.
?Necesito verlo ahora mismo!: I need to see it right now.
Where is it?
Either he got smart after I found all his pro-con lists hidden throughout the house, or he never hid the ring here to begin with.
You should have known he would trick you.
My feet are heavy as I head toward the stairs, ready to admit defeat.
“Find it yet?” Julian’s deep voice echoing off the high ceilings startles me.
I follow the sound of his voice into the living room, where I find him leaning against the shelf that displays a few of his prized trophies, including his Little Prince book collection and the two trophies I gave him.
Wait a minute…
I checked behind the trophies but never inside them.
Way to go, Dahlia.
I stand on the tips of my toes and grab the Second Best trophy off the shelf.
Empty.
I could have sworn—
He swaps the one in my hand for the First Choice trophy I gave him last Christmas.