Chapter 64 Tommy
Oh my God, I’m such a mess right now. Sam is so fucking beautiful in her sequin dress for tonight that everything I had planned has effectively left my brain momentarily. The damn wind keeps picking up, threatening to push smoke in our direction and extinguish the candles. We barely got everything set up before she was done because they kept going out.
But I remind myself that, even with the wind, we have everything here and even if not everything stays lit, the symbolism is there. This went so much faster than our test run yesterday, actually. Courtney and Avery were going to have to stall Sam for a while if Bryant hadn’t decided to have the top of the arch woven together and stored under the stage inside. Last night, Sarah and Jesse asked her to meet them at the picnic site so we’d have the time and space to try setting up the arch Bryant and I have been building out back as well as lighting hundreds of pillar candles, the small candles in the globes hanging from the arch, and getting the flowers set. But we did it. She didn’t see any of the components before the auction started tonight because we got it all under the stage until twenty minutes ago when the auction began. Still, I’ve been a nervous wreck the past week.
My nerves from the preparation are nothing compared to how hard my heart is pounding seeing her here. Focusing on Sam’s hand in mine and wanting to show her she’s worth everything and more to me, I start.
“You might have noticed that there are a few candles. Well, there are three-hundred sixty-five. One for each day that I’ve hoped we would be, and stay, together.” Her eyes begin to water, so I pull out the handkerchief Matt told me to have on me and give it to her.
“And, before you worry too much, yes, Susan got all the correct permits and documentation for this to happen, especially the line of candles inside, and no, the sprinklers will not start soaking everyone here tonight. But back to why there are three-hundred sixty-five burning candles right now… Last year, at this very event, actually, was when that hope took root inside of me.” I don’t mention what gave me hope was Jax telling me he and Sam never actually dated when she first moved to Greenstone. “So I wanted you to be able to see that hope and the light you’ve brought into my life.”
I lean forward and say quietly, “I know that was cheesy, but Chuck insisted I keep that line in.”
Sam dabs at her eyes and gives a little laugh and glances at my brothers. Then those beautiful, shimmering blue eyes are locked back on mine.
“There are seventy-eight flowers, one for every time you’ve been on a horse. I’ve ridden next to you for seventy-five of those times, but the first three, I had the privilege of watching. At our feet, there are fifty-six rose petals, one for each time we’ve been out to eat together.”
I don’t mention the thirty-two times we’ve made reservations but stayed in.
“And, if you look up, you’ll see seven glass globes, one for each month we’ve been together.” Bending carefully, so I don’t fall into the dirt like I did last night, I get down on one knee before Sam and release her hand. She blinks back more tears but clasps her hands in front of her, like she’s unsure what to do.
“Now, for the final number,” I say, pulling out a little box from my jacket pocket and popping it open so she can see. “I have one ring that I would like to give to you tonight. This ring doesn’t signify what has gone before, but what’s to come. It represents the years we’ll spend together officially as a family, of being true partners in life. Of facing the obstacles that will surely come our way. It represents a lifetime of you and me and all the ways our love will grow.
“I want to watch all the rom-coms snuggled up with you. I want to always carry a notebook in my pocket just so you can write in it. I want to raise a family with you. I want to grow old and wrinkled with you and hold your hand as we watch the sun set in the evenings. I want everything and every day with you.”
One deep breath later, I say, “Samantha Davies, I love you more than anything. Will you marry me?”
She lets out a choked sob, covering her face with the hankie for a second as she takes a few shallow breaths. Then she nods and everyone gathered explodes into applause with Chuck letting out a loud whoop.
“Yes, of course, yes,” she says in a jumble, letting me take her hand and put the ring on her finger. She looks down at it in surprise. “It fits!”
“I should hope so, isn’t knowing your fiancée’s ring size pretty elementary?” I tell her as I stand up, thinking of the night I spent with little pieces of string to measure her finger while she slept.
“You just called me your fiancée,” she says, her cheeks wet with fresh tears and a smile filled with joy.
“I most certainly did,” I say, wrapping her in my arms. “Can I kiss you now?”
“Yes please,” she replies, draping her arms around my neck as I lean down to give her a slow kiss, my body relaxing with the contact. We’ll have plenty of time to truly savor our engagement tonight when we don’t have an audience, even if everyone here has already seen us kiss a few times.
“I love you so much,” I say.
“I love you so much.” She gives me one more kiss. Avery and Courtney squeal, hugging Sam the moment we break apart while my brothers pat me on the back, shake my hand, and even hug me before they congratulate my fiancé. My heart couldn’t be more full watching everyone here together.
Sam turns to look at me again. “You had this whole thing planned for a while,” she states.
“Down to the very last details,” I say, “with the exception of wind, that was a last-minute stressor.”
“There’s a…” she waves at the arch, “small pergola?”
“Yes and it’s a good thing Bryant designed it to be put together in just a few minutes, don’t you think?” I reply. Bryant blushes.
“How?”
Bryant shifts uncomfortably with everyone watching him, so I pull the group’s attention back to the two of us. “Some things are meant to be mysterious. You don’t want to hear about the frantic scramble that was going on backstage during the auction. It doesn’t matter how things happened, just that the end result was this.”
I grab her left hand and Sam looks down at her ring. It’s a simple gold band with a square cut diamond.
“It’s perfect. The ring, the pergola, the petals, the flowers, the candles…you. Just perfect.”
“Thank God,” I say, the relief evident in my voice. “Because I wanted to give you a glimpse of everything you are to me and how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“You did that and more, Tommy Landen,” she says.
I get to spend the rest of that evening, with the woman of my dreams next to me, knowing that she’ll be there with me for everything to come.
I’m not sure I’ll ever stop smiling.