“Oh, damn you and your charm!” I teased. “I’m on my way.”
I hurried out of the building, hopped on the E Train to Tribeca, and jogged up the block toward Gabe’s apartment. It was hard to believe that less than four months ago, I showed up at his front door not even knowing he’d be on the other side. None of it made sense then. And while I still couldn’t explain the how, with each day that passed and our relationship blossoming, the why was becoming more and more clear.
Like the ghosts in A Christmas Carol who revealed the past and present so that Scrooge could reconcile his future, the phone booth had given me the opportunity to reconstruct my own. I’d reunited with the man I loved, reignited the career I always wanted, and as long as I had Gabe and Manhattan, my future looked pretty damn bright.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I buzzed into Gabe’s building, and he had the door flung open before I even passed the lobby. He rushed into the hallway and scooped me up into a big hug, his arms tight around me, and lifted me right off my feet. Kissing me playfully with quick smooches to my cheek, he pulled back, setting me down, and said, “Damn, I’ve missed you.”
“Oh good, I was worried you greeted all of your visitors like that. I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder. If I’d known I was in for that kind of a reception, I would have stayed away even longer.”
“Oh, honey, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.” He waggled his eyebrows mischievously, a sexy grin sweeping over his face, and pulled me by the hands into the apartment. “Sit. Relax. Let me pour us a glass of wine. I grabbed a few bottles of that pinot noir that you loved from the Finger Lakes.” His voice disappeared as he turned and made his way to the kitchen.
“What are you up to? What am I missing?” I called out to him as I surveyed the immaculate living room for clues. Did he have a vanilla-scented candle lit?!
He came back into the room carrying two glasses. “Can’t a fella just woo his lady?”
“No, please woo away, but this feels a little too good to be woo. I mean, true. C’mon, what’s going on?”
Gabe chuckled at my misspeak and handed me a glass. “Cheers, to us.” He lifted his and clinked it to mine. I continued to eye him suspiciously as I took a sip, his face distorted through the bulb of the bottom. He scooched a bit closer to me on the couch, took my wine, and set it down beside his before taking my hands into his own.
I could feel his fingers trembling, and I looked up at him, alarmed. “Are you all right? Why are you shaking? What’s going on?”
“I give speeches in rooms to hundreds of people. I don’t know why I’m so nervous right now. I mean, I do, but I thought somehow I’d be a lot smoother,” he muttered.
I looked around, confused. “Are you talking to me?”
“Yes, no, I mean . . .” He breathed out and stood up, drawing a small box from his pocket as he bent down to one knee.
“Oh my God, what are you doing?”
“I kinda thought it’d be obvious,” he joked as he popped open the velvet box to reveal a beautiful teardrop diamond ring surrounded by a sparkling halo of smaller stones. “Every day since you knocked on my door on Christmas, I’ve thanked my lucky stars we were given a second chance. Avery, I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. You are the source of my happiness, the center of my world, and the whole of my heart. Will you marry me?”
I wasn’t aware I had stopped breathing until I heard my pulse booming in my ears. As my vision turned hazy and my head filled with ringing, I surveyed the moment: there were no confetti cannons, no kicklines of Broadway dancers, no Sutton-freakin’-Foster. In fact, it was the exact opposite of Adam’s proposal. Simple. Intimate. Impromptu. It was perfectly Gabe.
My hands were clasped over my mouth, and I struggled to put my words and thoughts together. “Are you sure . . . like really sure? It’s only been a few months.”
And while I knew we had a much longer history than that, it all still felt a little too fast. Maybe I was missing something? What was the big hurry?
He came up off his knee, took his place next to me on the couch, and lifted a hand to my cheek. “Seven years and a few months. We’ve let so much time go by. I don’t want to lose another second.”
He pulled me in for a kiss, and any doubt in my mind that he was serious disappeared off the radar. I relaxed into his body, my chest rising and falling with his, and wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the pressure of the kiss with my fingers in his hair. Soon I was breathless and dizzy from delirium, and he took the opportunity to pull the ring from the box and slide it onto my finger.
I looked down at my hand, the reality of the moment really sinking in. “Gabe, it’s beautiful, but ring or not, you don’t have to worry about losing me. I’m not going anywhere. We’re exactly where we’re meant to be. I, of course, want to marry you, but this is all a lot right now with the audition on the horizon, and what if I actually get this thing? God, I can’t even imagine trying to plan a wedding if I get cast. This is my dream and it’s finally within reach. I need to focus on this final push to Tuesday, and then we can talk about the future. There’s no need to rush things.”
Gabe fell silent as his brows knit together. “No, actually, there kinda is. I’ve been offered my dream job: chief of staff for the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.”
“What? When did that happen? That’s amazing. I’m so proud of you.” I threw my arms around his neck. “But what does having a new job have to do with us getting married? I get that you’ll be busy, and if you’re worried about not being able to take time for a honeymoon, we can put that off. I understand.”
He drew back, allowing my arms to slip from around him, and looked me in the eyes. “Avery, the job’s in DC.”
“DC? Washington, DC? No, what? I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand? I want you to come with me . . . to DC. Come and marry me and we can live happily ever after the way we were always meant to.”
I dropped my head into my hands, feeling a wave of nausea wash over me. “DC? No. No. That’s not how this is supposed to happen. That’s not how this goes.” I backed away from him, hands raised and waving with emphatic gestures. We were supposed to . . . I don’t know, but not this. No version of what I’d imagined our future life together would be had me moving to Washington, DC, in a few months.
“How what was supposed to happen? How what goes?” He stepped toward me, taking me by the wrists, lowering them down, and rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. Just the feeling of him taking me by the arms and caressing my skin calmed me down, and I took a few deep breaths as I watched his lips. “Avery, you’re not making any sense.”