Chapter 26
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
GUNNER
W indow down, the warm August air hits my arm as I drive toward Penny’s condo. There’s this inexplicable peace surrounding me. This state of being is something I’d never felt until recently, until her. Getting something you never knew existed is surreal. I never knew to wish for this life because I didn’t know it existed. Yet instinctively, I knew to wish for her. She’s always been the key to unlocking this happiness.
Given our start and hatred toward one another, we shouldn’t work. And now… I can’t imagine a life without her by my side. She’s the only one for me. She’s quickly become my entire life. I’ve always felt like a lone island fighting the torrent of the sea, but no more. I have a partner in this life, and it’s so much better.
I’m no longer the closed-off person I was. Penny now knows everything. We’ve talked at length about our pasts and the unfortunate similarity that ties us together—the trauma surrounding our mothers. I held the memories of my mother close to my chest and didn’t share her existence with anyone for years. I thought giving voice to that part of my life would cause a torrent of pain that would swallow me whole. In reality, Penny has given me a safe space to share my love for my mom. Talking about her has brought peace. Denying a voice to such a big part of one’s life is painful. Bringing my mother back to life through stories, both the good and the bad, has healed me when I didn’t know I was broken.
To say that Penny and the love we share has saved my life isn’t an understatement. Sure, without her, I would’ve been alive in the technical term, but I would’ve never known what it feels like to really live . Existing and living are two very separate realities, and I’m so grateful to understand the latter.
I park in Penny’s drive, turn off the car, and grab the pink box from the local bakery and the Trenta-sized Starbucks coffee cup before heading inside.
“Pen!” I call out when I enter.
“In the kitchen!” she calls back, and I hear the clank of dishes being loaded into the dishwasher.
Her distraction gives me time to set the stage. I click on the TV, go to the streaming service, and start season 6, episode 25 of Friends —“The One with the Proposal.” Is this a whole new level of cheese? Yes, it is. But, I’ve always been a go big or go home kind of guy, and if I’m leaning into the romantic cheese, I’m diving in headfirst and slathering that shit everywhere. I do mute it, however, because while it helps to set the stage—it’s not the main event.
Penny enters the living room. Her mouth opens to speak, but she closes it, doing a double take of her favorite show on the television. “What is…” she starts to ask, her voice trailing off when she focuses in on me standing on the other side of the room, a small cake box in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
A wide smile graces her beautiful face, and she skips over to me. “You brought me coffee?”
I hold out the large paper cup. “Not just any coffee.”
She takes a sip, and her eyes bulge. “How did you get your hands on a PSL? They don’t release for eight days!”
“I have my ways.” I supply a smug smirk. To be fair, it wasn’t easy getting her a pumpkin spiced latte early. It required Iris’s friend who works at our local Starbucks and her connection to the store manager, a bit of begging on my part, and VIP tickets to a home game for the manager and his friends, along with a thousand-dollar tip. But I would’ve done anything to get her this cup of coffee. “And I got you a present.” I hold out the pink box.
She sets the coffee down on the mantel of the fireplace. “What is this all for?”
“It’s August sixteenth. Our half birthday.”
She chuckles. “We celebrate our half birthday?”
“We do now.” I smile.
“You are the sweetest.” She takes the box from me and opens the lid. She gasps, her eyes filling with tears.
Inside the box are two frosted donuts with sprinkles. There is a candle in each donut, and wrapped around one of the candles is a platinum, three-carat diamond halo cushion-cut engagement ring.
Her mouth falls open in a gasp, and I take the box back from her to retrieve the ring. I set the donuts on the mantel next to her coffee and drop to one knee.
“My beautiful Penelope.” I hold the ring out to her. “Six months ago, my heart made a wish, and at that time, I didn’t even know exactly what I was wishing for, but I saw you. You have always been the answer. I often wonder why it took so long for me to see that, but I think I couldn’t see it until I was ready for all the beautiful experiences you’ve brought to my life. I am so grateful to you for finding me, the real me, and loving me for who I am with all my baggage. I never knew that life could be like this, and now that I do, I will fight for the rest of my life to keep it, to keep you and love you and make you the happiest woman in the world. Will you please marry me?”
Tears course down her cheeks, and the most beautiful smile crosses her face. She nods enthusiastically. “Yes, Gunner. Of course I will marry you.” She falls to her knees, wraps her arms around my neck, and pulls me in for a hug. Our lips meet, and the kiss is wet from tears and messy from our collective smiles and laughter—and absolutely fucking perfect.
I break the kiss and take her hand. Her hand trembles as I slide the ring on her finger. “Do you like it?”
“Are you kidding? It’s perfect. It’s so me.”
“I thought it was the perfect ring for you.”
She holds her hand out in front of her, the diamond sparkling on her hand. “It is. Oh my God,” she shrieks. “I can’t believe this!”
“Oh wait.” I stand and retrieve the donuts. I pull out the white cardboard tray from the bottom of the box that holds the donuts and retrieve a lighter from my pocket.
Penny stands. “What are you doing?”
“I have a whole plan.” I light the candles.
“You are the cutest. All of my favorite things are in one room— Friends , coffee, and you.” She holds out her hand and admires her ring once more. “And added to that list are now sprinkled donuts and this ring.” She grins.
I hold the candle lit donuts between us. “Something started in February when we blew out those candles, and then in Vancouver when you brought me the stale sprinkled donuts on our birthday just like the ones my mom used to bring me. I’ve never believed in fate and all that, but I do now. We came together despite all odds and our stubborn nature. The universe brought us together, forcing us in that god-awful hotel room. Everything that happened was a sign until so many signs were shoved in my face that I couldn’t ignore my path to happiness anymore. You are my happiness, Pen. I would burn the entire world down for you.”
She shakes her head, fresh tears falling. “I don’t need you to burn the world for me, Gunner. I just need you to walk by my side through this life and love me.”
“I will always love you.”
“And that is all I will ever need from you.”
The candles, half their original size, flicker between us. “To my future Mrs. Dreven, it is time to make a wish.”
She presses her lips into a smile and closes her eyes, visualizing her wish, and then we blow out the candles together. My wish is the same one I made in February.
Only this time, I’m not confused or hesitant. I’m a hundred percent sure. I see her face in bright, vivid color.
And the wish is less of a wish and more of a thank-you because everything I needed has already come true.
I found the love of my life, and she’s just agreed to be mine.