Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Layla
“H ere’s the birthday girl,” Dad yelled into the mic as we walked toward where it looked like everyone from town was gathered by the lake.
This was where we’d sneak off to when we wanted to be alone at the beginning. There was an open grass field off to one side that we referred to as ‘our meadow,’ and it was our special place.
People started clapping and cheering as Mark led me through them, but before we got to where my family were all standing, drums and a guitar began playing, causing me to stop mid-stride.
My family parted in the middle, allowing me to see Jarrod Klein sitting with a guitar and a mic, with two of the guys who worked at Kleins, Cason, and Casy, playing the drums and bass.
The second Jarrod started singing I Drove All Night , I swear my legs gave out. Where Roy Orbison created the perfect song, Jarrod gave it an added depth I didn’t think possible.
“Wait for it,” a voice said in my ear, and I turned to see Cyn and Rockie standing behind me with big grins on their faces. “We got to hear them practice this afternoon,” Cyn told me with a wink. “Major fanny flutters, let me tell you.”
I wrinkled my nose at her. “Fanny flutters?”
“Not American fanny ones, British nunny-fanny ones.”
“I’m not sure that makes it any better,” I told her honestly, but I could see why him singing it would have had that effect on her.
And then Casy and Cason joined in, singing the backing vocals for him. Okay, now I totally got why it had that effect on her.
“Sweet Jesus,” I breathed, grabbing onto the closest thing next to me, which just happened to be Mark’s arm.
“I thought you might like that.”
I seriously doubted he’d thought I’d like it the way I did, though.
I was close to begging them to sing another song when Jarrod squinted against the lights shining on him and pointed at me. “Happy birthday, Layla. We’re glad we could spend this one with you, singing some of my favorite artists.”
Both Casy and Cason said my name into their mics and winked.
“Just so you know, this is what I want for my birthday, too,” Cyn announced, poking me in the back.
“Me, three,” Rockie added. “But naked.”
Then the opening strains of a song I knew as well as I knew my name started—and that’s because I’d been named after it.
It blew my mind that these three men with all this talent at their fingertips hadn’t pursued some sort of record deal, but although he was happy singing now and then, Jarrod was content with living here, working with my brother, and loving his wife, Katy.
My dad walked up and held his hand out, his eyes shining. “Can I dance with my baby?”
Mark didn’t even say anything, he just passed me over to Dad and moved off the dance floor to stand next to his brothers.
“I’m glad I get to spend this birthday at home with you, honey. The ones when you were away weren’t the same for me.”
I leaned my forehead on his shoulder and felt the security of being in his arms. Dad had always been my best friend and my go to, and I don’t think that would ever end. Well, he had to fight for the position with Gramps, but they both had the medals to prove we were BFFs for life. I’d made them with my own hands when I was six and had painted them with Mom’s nail polish.
That’s how the rest of the night went for me, with Gramps, then Dad again, then Gramps again, then Adam and Luke, and then my brothers dancing with me, spinning me around the dance floor and laughing when I tried to trip them up as revenge.
I could see that people were starting to get tired and were finding the people they’d come with to go home when Jarrod, Casy, and Cason said they were on their last song, and the opening notes of You Got It started.
Mark appeared from behind me and led me onto the dance floor for the second time.
“Have you had a good night?”
I smiled brightly up at him. “The absolute best.”
One side of his mouth tipped up in a smile, but then his eyes moved to look over my shoulder at something. Before I could turn to see what’d caught his attention, he’d dropped down onto his knees in front of me.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I started to get down to help him, then thought better of it when I realized how far up my dress would ride if I did it.
It was one thing wearing a short, tight dress and sitting on the grass when it was just the two of us, but it was another flashing people who’d known me since I was a baby.
So, instead, I pulled on his arm and tried to put it around my neck. “Okay, hold onto me, and we’ll get you onto your feet.”
I heard familiar chuckles and laughter from somewhere off the dance floor and cursed my brothers for not helping me when they could see Mark had hurt himself. “Insensitive bastards!”
In my panic, I hadn’t heard Mark calling my name, so when he shook my arm and snapped, “For fuck’s sake, Layla, just listen a minute,” I glared at him.
“Yes, they play the song like a dream, but you’ve hurt yourself.”
“I haven’t hurt myself.”
Straightening up, I scowled down at him and threw my hands up. “So why am I helping you off the floor?”
“You’re not,” he clipped and held out something in his hand. “I’m trying to fucking propose to you if you’ll just let me do it, woman.”
Given that he’d just said he was proposing and was down on one knee in front of everyone, I could gloss over the fact he’d sworn and called me woman, couldn’t I?
Apparently some of the residents from town agreed with me.
“You tell her, Mark. And get that porn temple sorted out so y’all can lend me sugar,” Mrs. Keegan yelled, getting a chorus of ‘yeahs’ afterward.
She was now his biggest fan after she’d finally gotten to see the video of my brother during squirrelgate at the police department.
Mark’s fist unfolded until it was just the palm of his hand, with the perfect solitaire ring in the middle. I’d never dreamed of something huge or a colored stone or extravagant setting. All I’d wanted since I was a kid was a sensibly sized diamond—but not so small that people had to squint to see it—with a slightly thicker band than solitaires usually had to go with it.
“Layla Montgomery.” Mark stopped as my brothers’ growls filtered over to us. “I feel like I’ve loved you from the first day I met you. If I think back to my first memory and play my life back, you’re there in all of it, and I feel beyond lucky to have that history with you that not many people get to have when they fall in love with someone.
“Four years ago, I stole you and took you to Vegas, but I regretted never telling you how much I loved you in front of our friends and families and asking you to be my wife in a way that embarrassed you.”
He leaned around me and winked at the crowd of people watching us. “Definitely one of the perks, right?” There was a chorus of laughter from them all, but then he looked back up at me, and I had his undivided attention.
“You’ve been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and I’m beyond happy that I’ll get to keep you as not just that, but as my wife and the future mother of my kids one day.” He glared at my family. “One day in the future, so stop threatening to kill me.”
I glanced over my shoulder, but they were all smiling at us, so I figured he’d done it for theatrical value… until Gramps drew a line across his neck with his thumb. Jesus.
“But I want to do it properly and give you the wedding day at the lake, with a party in the meadow, like you always dreamed of. So, I’m asking you to marry me—again—but this time properly.”
Some women managed to remain dignified and sophisticated when they were proposed to. Me? I lunged at him, taking him down to his back on the hard dance floor, and kissed him all over his face.
“That’s my sister, ass wad,” Tom yelled, trying to break free from Sonya’s grip on his arm. “I just want to hit him once. You can’t say I’m being unreasonable if I do it once.”
Sitting up with me in his lap, Mark grinned at me, not giving one tiny little iota of a fuck that his face was covered in pink lip marks from my lip gloss. “Is that a yes?”
“Hell yes, it’s a yes,” I shouted, loud enough for people to hear.
Then, with a strength I’d never have, he got to his feet, still holding me, and nodded at Jarrod.
Cason leaned into his mic and smiled at everyone. “We said the last song was the last one we’d play, but that was just in case she said no. It’d be awkward still partying if she turned him down, right?”
People burst out laughing as Mark glared over his shoulder at them. “This one’s a special one, according to Mark. They’ve all been special, but apparently, this was the song he used to sing to Layla when she was having a bad day.”
I stared up at Mark. “Which song is it?”
“Well, this version doesn’t have the long intro to it. See if that narrows it down.”
“ Stairway To Heaven ?”
He scoffed. “When have I ever sung that to you?”
“You used to sing it in the car all the time,” I pointed out. By this point, they’d started playing the song, and I squealed when I recognized it immediately. “I love it!”
“Just so you know, this is our wedding song,” he warned me.
Can I just say I was in total agreement? Shine On You Crazy Diamond was the perfect song for us. Roy Orbison may be my numero uno, but we needed a song that was us, and this suited the brief perfectly.
Pulling me closer, he leaned down to kiss me…
“Leave space for Jesus, kids,” Gramps snapped, squeezing his arms between us and pushing our torsos farther apart. When we both stared at him like he’d gone nuts, he smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, force of habit.”