"We can get dressed and go," I say, taking a sip of my coffee. My whole body is one big nerve. When she gets up and walks up the steps, I try to calm myself down.
"I have to shower," she says over her shoulder. "Care to join me?" She wiggles her ass just a touch as she walks up the steps, and she does not have to ask me twice. I leave my hot coffee on the table and run up the stairs two at a time, grabbing her from around her waist and carrying her to the shower.
"Is it hot out?" She sticks her head out of the walk-in closet naked. Her hair is in a white towel on the top of her head. "Is it a shorts or pants kind of day?"
"I think it’s a shorts kind of day," I say, and she nods and goes back into the closet. It takes her thirty minutes to finish getting ready.
I’m texting Shelby when I hear her coming down the stairs and look over at her. She is wearing a pair of green linen shorts tied at the waist with the same-colored belt. Her white spaghetti strap shirt hangs perfectly and is tucked in with three brown buttons. She has never looked more beautiful; it’s crazy, but it’s true. Her hair hangs low over her shoulder, and I push it aside to bend and kiss her shoulder. "Are you ready?" I ask her, and she grabs her phone, and we walk out. I send Shelby a quick text that I’m leaving the house.
The sun is shining high in the sky without a cloud in sight. I open the car door for her, and she’s busy on her phone. "Who are you texting?"
"Everyone," she says, putting on her sunglasses. "And no one is answering me."
"Maybe they are busy." I put the car in drive and make the thirty-minute ride to the cabin. My heart hammers so hard in my chest, I swear she is going to hear it any minute. My hands grip the wheel so tight my knuckles are white.
When we pull up to the cabin, I’m happy she doesn’t see the surprise I had made for her. Her face is buried in her phone as she gets frustrated that no one is answering her. "How is everyone off their phones?” she huffs, walking up the steps, and I open the door.
She stops when she sees the rose petals at her feet. "What the hell is this?" she asks, looking around seeing balloons everywhere. She has a shocked expression on her face. "This looks like." She takes two more steps in. "The night of your wedding."
"Almost." Smiling, I grab her hand and pull her up the stairs toward the bed.
"Well, this is where we ended up." She laughs and gasps when she sees the MR. & MRS. that were not here the last time we came here. She looks at me. "What is going on?"
"Come this way." I pull her and walk to the door that leads to the balcony. Stepping out, I see the setup exactly how it was the first time I brought her here. The picnic basket sits on the cover and a bottle of white wine sits beside it.
"What is going on?" She looks around and puts her hands to her mouth.
"This is me doing what I should have done a long time ago," I say, as I pull her to stand in the middle of the blanket. She looks at me with tears in her eyes as she laughs and a sob comes out of her. She places her hand in front of her mouth to stop it but it comes out anyway. "Harlow," I say, my voice trembling as much as her hand in mine. "The first day I met you, something happened," I start to say and sniff my own tears back. "You literally knocked me off my feet." I smile at her as she wipes the tears away from the corner of her eyes. "And then by some fucking miracle we started hanging out. That night when I walked you home from the bar, the only thing running through my head was just kiss her." She puts her hand on my cheek now, her thumb rubbing back and forth. "We have so many memories together. But the one that holds a special place in my heart is right here. Right in this spot." I swallow down the lump in my throat. "You might not recognize this place. But it’s the place I first told you I loved you," I say and she gasps and looks around. "The time when you promised me to be here on the best day of my life. The whole time I pictured this very minute." I smile at her and get down on one knee in front of her and her hands go to her mouth as she cries and flips her head down. "When I came back home, I bought this land and built this cabin, knowing that it was the only thing I had of you left. Harlow, four years ago I let you go and it was the single worst mistake of my life. But fate had other plans and the universe brought you back to me. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, and I promise you that I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you." I grab the red square box that has been weighing in my pocket for the last month. I open it and turn to show her. "Harlow Barnes, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?"
"Oh my God," she gasps. "Is that my mother’s ring?"
"It is," I confirm. "I asked them for your hand in marriage at the barbecue the first time," I say, and her shoulders shake. "It was a lot more intense than that, but your mother called me the day after and asked to see me. She told me it would be her honor to have you wear her ring." I look down at the ring. "If you don’t like it, we can get you another one."
"I love it."
"So is that a yes?" I smile up at her, my whole body crawling out of my skin.
"There isn’t any other answer," she tells me as she comes to me and grabs my face in her hands. "By the way, this is the last time you propose to anyone." She laughs with her lips on mine.
"Well, considering I never proposed the first time, it seems fitting." I take the ring out of the box. She holds her hand out for me, and I slide the ring on her finger. "I love you." I grab her around her waist and turn her in a circle, and here, right where she promised to be the best day of my life, she fulfills her promise to me.
Chapter 30
Harlow
He wraps his arms around my waist and spins me in a circle as his lips fall to mine. "I love you," I vow between laughter and tears, my hand on his face. "I can’t even," I say when he puts me down. I look down at the ring that used to sit on my mother’s hand. I shake my head, not sure I’m actually awake, or maybe this is a dream. "I’m," I start to say and just come up speechless, my eyes never leaving the ring. "I can’t." I look up at Travis. "My mother gave you this ring?" I ask, not even able to comprehend, and he nods his head. "For as long as I can remember, my father would buy her jewelry, and the one thing she never ever took off was this ring."
"Well, she wanted you to have it, and I didn’t really want to take it, but then she said when she dies." And as soon as he says that, I groan out because of course my mother would threaten with death. "Yeah, well, it’s good to know that my mother isn’t the only one who uses that excuse."
"There is just." I shake my head. "There are so many questions I have."
"Of course, you do," he says, leaning down and kissing my neck. The phone buzzes in his pocket. "Ask away but know that my sisters found out I was doing this today, and well, if I don’t answer them or go see them, they will come here."
I laugh, and I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my whole life. Not when we were together, not when we got back together, not any other time. "Well, one, is this really the place where." I look around trying to find a spot that reminds me of that time.
"It is," he says, looking around also. "My parents own the land, and well, when we broke up."
"When you dumped me," I correct him, and he just glares at me. "Go on."
"I used to come and sit here by myself and then I just asked my mother if I could build a house here, so I did," he explains, looking around. "It was my escape from the world and the only place that was mine."
"But you were going to bring Jennifer here." I know I shouldn’t care. I know that it’s in the past, but well, I’m a girl and that’s the shit we do.
"I was never going to bring her here," he assures me, shaking his head, and I don’t know why but I feel suddenly happier knowing that this is just ours, which is stupid. "My sisters did all that. I booked us a room at the hotel."