39. Jamie #2
Jamie's smile softens. "She said she'd been praying someone would love you exactly the way she always hoped you would be loved."
Now she laughs and cries at the same time.
***
I lower myself onto one knee and the world seems to become completely still.
I take another slow breath, not because I'm uncertain, but because I want her to hear every word.
"Annette..."
"When we met, I thought you were going to help me heal my shoulder. I never imagined you were about to heal my entire life."
My voice catches for only a moment before continuing.
"You taught me that strength isn't pretending I have all the answers. You taught me that love isn't something you earn by carrying everyone else's burdens. You taught me that home isn't a place..."
I smile.
"...it's the person waiting beside you when the day is over."
I hold the ring a little higher.
"I've spent my whole life trying to become a man worthy of wearing the captain's 'C.' on my jersey."
A tear slips down my own cheek. "But the greatest honor I could ever imagine...would be spending the rest of my life as your husband."
I smile through tears that refuse to stay hidden.
"I love you more than I ever thought was possible to love another person. I want to grow old beside you and to choose you every single morning for the rest of my life."
My heart has never felt so full.
"Annette Whittier..."
"Will you marry me?"
***
For just a second, she says nothing else. She lets the moment breathe. Then the smile I've loved since the day we met spreads across her face.
"Jamie Walker..." She slips my father's silver coin into my free hand before extending her left toward me.
"I would love nothing more than to spend every ordinary Tuesday choosing you."
A tear rolls down my cheek before I even realize it's there.
"And in case I wasn't clear enough..." Her eyes sparkle. "Yes."
The single word echoes through every part of me. "Yes."
She laughs again. "Absolutely yes."
My hands tremble as I lift the ring from its box.
Carefully, reverently, I slide the ring onto her finger.
It settles there as though it has always belonged.
Annette stares at it for only a heartbeat before looking back at me, then she wraps both arms around my neck.
I rise from one knee just as she throws herself into my embrace.
The kiss that follows isn't hurried. It isn't uncertain. It isn't interrupted by pain, fear, or unspoken words. It's the kiss of two people who have finally arrived exactly where they were always meant to be.
When we finally part, she rests her forehead against mine, smiling through happy tears.
"So..."
I brush one loose curl behind her ear. "So." She lifts her left hand, watching the diamond catch the afternoon light. "I think this means I don't have to keep calling you Captain."
I grin. "I certainly hope not."
She slips her hand back into mine. "Good, because I've always preferred Jamie."
I kiss her forehead gently, lingering there for just a moment. "And I've always preferred Annette."
Her smile grows brighter. She lets the moment breathe. Then the smile I've loved since the day we met spreads across her face. Together we stand overlooking the lake, hands intertwined, the ring glimmering in the late afternoon sun.
For the first time since my life changed with one devastating hit...
There is nothing left to heal.
Only a lifetime left to live.
***
Annette doesn't let go of my hand during the drive back to the cabin. Every few minutes she glances down at the engagement ring before looking back at me as though she still isn't entirely convinced this afternoon happened.
Finally, she asks, "I was just wondering something."
"What?"
"How long have you been carrying this ring around?"
"Two days."
Her eyes widen. "Two days?"
"I checked my pocket approximately every seven minutes."
"I wish I could have seen that."
"It wasn't dignified."
"I don't think I would have cared."
The road curves toward the lake. Toward home, soon our home. The thought still feels wonderfully unbelievable.
***
As the cabin comes into view between the trees, Annette smiles.
"I don't think I've ever been happier to see this place."
"I was hoping you'd say that."
Something catches my eye. The porch lights are already on.
I slow the truck and Annette notices immediately. "That's odd, I thought you usually turn everything off."
"Hmmm”
She looks toward me as I do my very best to look innocent. She narrows her eyes.
"You have that smile again."
"What smile?"
I pull to a stop beside the porch. Warm light spills from every window, then...laughter.
Annette freezes. "Do you hear that?"
"I do."
She turns slowly toward me. "You invited someone."
"I may have."
"Jamie Walker..."
She isn't even trying to hide her smile anymore. "How many people?"
I pretend to think. "More than two."
She laughs. "I walked right into that."
"You did."
Before we reach the porch, the front door flies open and Liam bursts outside with all the subtlety of a fireworks display. "I KNEW IT!" His voice echoes across the lake.
"I TOLD EVERYBODY SHE'D SAY YES!"
Behind him Toby appears, laughing so hard he’s bracing one hand against the doorframe.
"You absolutely did not tell everybody."
"I told twelve people."
"You told three."
"I rounded."
Colby steps onto the porch behind them, shaking his head with a quiet smile. "I believe the official number was fourteen."
Liam points dramatically. "Details."
Annette laughs until she has to lean against my chest. "I should have known."
"I was sworn to secrecy," Liam announces proudly.
"You shouted it before they got out of the truck," Toby replies.
"I was overcome with emotion."
Coach appears in the doorway; hands tucked comfortably into his jacket pockets.
He surveys the scene for a moment before looking directly at us.
His eyes settle briefly on Annette's left hand. A smile—small, genuine, unmistakably Coach—touches the corners of his mouth.
"Well... About time." And he nods.
Everyone laughs.
My mother reaches us first. She wraps Annette in a hug that says everything words can't. "I've been trying very hard not to call you my daughter for weeks."
Annette laughs through fresh tears. "You don't have to wait anymore."
She hugs her even tighter. "And I've been waiting a very long time to hear that."
Dad steps forward next. He looks at the ring. Then at me. His eyes say exactly what they said when he handed me the silver coin.
You chose well.
He pulls me into one of the strongest hugs I've ever received. "I'm proud of you, son."
"Thanks, Dad. You've built a wonderful life with Mom; now I'm getting started."
***
Across the porch, another familiar voice calls softly.
"Sweetheart..."
Annette turns to see her own parents standing just inside the doorway. For one heartbeat she simply stares, then she runs. Her mother catches her first, wrapping both arms around her while her father pulls all three of them into one enormous embrace.
"We had to try so hard to keep the secret," her mother says, laughing through tears.
"You knew?"
Her father smiles. "We've known for two days. We had to fly in, or your mother would have disowned me."
She walks back across the porch, takes my face in both hands, and kisses me with absolutely no concern for the audience now cheering around us.
Liam cups his hands around his mouth. "I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE CHARGED ADMISSION!"
Coach doesn't even look at him. "Liam."
"What?"
"Be quiet."
"I am supporting romance."
"You are interrupting it."
"I suppose that's fair."
The porch erupts in laughter again.
Inside the cabin, someone has arranged flowers across the dining table where a homemade cake waits in the center. Across the top, written in careful blue icing, are three simple words. Forever Starts Today.
Annette looks around the room slowly, her eyes filling once again. "You did all this?"
I shake my head. “We did."
I glance around the room, my parents, her parents, Coach and his wife. The guys. The women.
The people who carried me when I couldn't carry myself.
The people who loved Annette long before she knew they would.
Family. Not all related by blood, but every one of them chosen.
Tonight... I finally understand.
Joy, hope and love look like this, a cabin full of people you love, the woman you've chosen for forever standing beside you, and the beautiful certainty that home isn't a place you return to.
It's the life you build together.