Chapter 37
T he light of the morning was barely peeking through the window when I peeled my eyes open to see Lex sitting in a chair at the side of the bed, watching me. He smiled, and the sight of it made my breath catch. I thought of how long I’d been wanting to see that smile, the kind that reached all the way to those whiskey eyes.
The dark circles under his eyes were much lighter now, and the tension around them had dissolved completely.
“Hey,” I said softly, reaching my hand out so he would come to me. “What are you—”
“Marry me,” he said, cutting me short.
My eyebrows knitted together. Did I just hear what I think I heard? I shot up to a sitting position, wondering if I’d just imagined that. I was about to ask him to repeat himself, but he got up out of the chair and knelt beside the bed, one knee on the ground, the other pulled forward.
“Marry me, Hadley,” he said again. This time I knew I’d heard him correctly as my heart began pounding in my chest. “I called your mom this morning and asked for her blessing. She asked what took me so long.”
I choked out a laugh as the tears started rolling down my face.
“I don’t have a ring for you yet, but I couldn’t wait a single second longer. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll go out today and I’ll get you the biggest one in the whole damn country, if that’s what you want.”
He pulled me to the edge of the bed and took my hands in his. “I realized a long time ago that I only need two things in this life—I need you, and I need us. I know we still have so much to figure out, but I also know that I’m incapable of doing life without you. So I’m asking you to say yes. Say that we’ll spend our lives together.”
I slid out of bed and dropped down on my knees in front of him. There were so many emotions coursing through me, so many thoughts going through my mind, so many things I wanted to say, but I didn’t.
I pulled his hand to cover my wildly beating heart and said, “Yes.”
His smile was breathtaking as he pulled me in for a kiss that seemed a lifetime in the making. There was still so much we needed to talk about, but I gave myself to this moment, savoring that perfect feeling of belonging to each other.
I drew back to look up at him, my fiancé. My heart turned over in my chest at just the thought of that word.
“I need you to do something for me,” I said, threading my fingers through his.
“Anything,” he responded solemnly.
“I need you to take me to my mom’s.”
Surprise flickered across his face, but he nodded in agreement. In less than ten minutes, we were driving up to her house. Before I could even knock on the door, my mom had swung it open and had me wrapped in a tight embrace.
“You said yes!” she squealed in my ear as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
I chuckled. “How do you know that?”
“One look at Lex and it was perfectly clear,” she replied before pulling him in for a hug.
I glanced over to see him wearing a proud smile as he wrapped an arm around her. His other hand had never left my waist throughout any of my mom’s exuberant displays of affection.
“Congratulations,” she whispered to him as tears started to well in her eyes. I had to turn away before I became a sobbing mess right here on her doorstep.
As excited as I was to share this moment with her, there was something serious she and I needed to discuss. “If it’s okay, I’d like to talk to you and Carl about something, Mom.”
She released Lex and gave me a disconcerted look. “Okay.”
We followed behind her into the house. “Carl, honey,” she called out. “Can you come here for a moment?”
There was a loud, rustling noise before Carl came rushing down the hallway. “What is it? Are you okay?” His face was full of worry until he spotted me standing there. “Oh, Hadley’s here! Hi, dear,” he said, relieved. “And Lex…” He said his name with a hint of uncertainty, as if unsure if his presence was welcome, but then his eyes slid to our intertwined hands.
“Yes. Keep up, honey,” my mom said in faux exasperation. “I swear you miss everything with all the tinkering you do in that room back there.”
“You mean the same room you ask about every morning to check if I finished building the bookcase you wanted?” he said, smiling.
“Oh, is that what you’ve been doing back there all this time?” she replied with a wink.
“Why don’t we all go sit at the table?” I suggested, feeling the nerves gnawing at my insides. She gave me another concerned look as her eyes searched my face.
I started heading towards the table when my mom leaned over to Lex and asked, “Any idea what Serious Sally wants to talk about?”
He shook his head, grinning. “Not a clue.”
We sat down at the table, and I looked around at the most important people in my life.
“Well, don’t leave me in suspense, Hadley,” my mom said. “I already know you’re engaged so what else do we need to talk about?”
“Wait. They’re engaged?” Carl said, wide-eyed. “Since when? And how long have you known?”
My mom rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Carl, if you weren’t so obsessed with that bookcase, you might be more informed with the happenings of the world.”
I sighed. “Mom…”
“Okay, I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hands up in surrender. “What is it, sweetheart?”
I glanced over at Lex. His face held nothing but curiosity as he leaned closer to my side. I took a deep breath and said, “Lex is going back to Sweden.”
I felt him go stiff as a board next to me as his grip on me tightened. I turned to look him in the eye. “And I’m going with him.”
His eyes went wide with shock.
“Really?” my mom said, sounding absolutely giddy.
“Really?” Lex repeated, a hopeful gleam in his eye.
I nodded. “You have to go back,” I said. “You have to finish this.”
He turned his body completely to face me. “But you’re coming with me?” he asked, a hint of unease in his tone.
I smiled. “I can’t let my fiancé go to Europe without me.”
He took me by surprise by leaning over suddenly and pressing his lips to mine. “If I hadn’t done it already, I’d drop to my knees right here and beg you to marry me.”
I kissed him once more before turning to look at my mom who was beaming with happiness.
“But I can’t leave without knowing you’ll be okay,” I said to her.
She opened her mouth to answer but it was Carl who spoke. “She will be,” he said, more like a promise than a statement, as he placed his hand over the one she had resting on the table. “You don’t have to worry, Hadley. I’ll care for her life as if it were my own.” The sincerity in his voice left no room for doubt.
I nodded, my shoulders relaxing a bit. “It’s settled then,” I said, looking to my mom. I was ashamed to admit that I had been so absorbed in my own world over the past few weeks that I hadn’t realized until now just how much her face had changed. Her cheeks were rounder, and the color was completely restored to its natural, vibrant glow. Her face was now the picture of resilience, each line a testament to what she had endured. I smiled at her, and she gave me a nod in return.
“I guess I better get packing,” I said, turning to Lex, who appeared flushed with happiness. He leaned over, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“Wait!” my mom cried out suddenly. “There’s something I want to give you before you go.”
She practically tripped running over to her bedroom, and I heard her start pulling open drawers and rustling through them. She finally came back with a small black pouch and handed it to Lex before sitting back in her chair wearing the biggest smile on her face. My curiosity was piqued as I watched Lex pull open the pouch.
His eyes shot to my mom. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
“What is it?” I asked, barely able to contain my curiosity.
Lex turned to me with a serious look on his face. “I know you’ve already answered this question, but I wouldn’t mind hearing the answer just once more,” he said, taking my left hand in his and dropping to one knee in front of me. “Hadley Marie Olivier, the day I met you was the day my life started to make sense. You are my best friend, my greatest love, and my soul’s completion. Will you—for a second time—say that you’ll marry me?”
I was too stunned to speak as my eyes landed on the mystery object he held between his thumb and index finger. My heart began to race as my mind registered what I was seeing.
“Well?” he asked with a playful smile. It was only now that I realized I had never actually given an answer, though I’m certain he already knew what it would be.
“I’ll say it as many times as you want,” I said, choked with emotion. “Yes. Always yes.”
His answering smile became blurred beneath the steady stream of tears rolling down my face as he slid the ring my father gave to my mother on their wedding day onto my fourth finger.
A perfect fit.
We had been running in circles, chasing our tails, only to come back as we are.