Chapter 45
Charity
Turning Page – Sleeping at Last
God, how I loved a winter wedding. A winter wedding on a ranch on Christmas Eve was even better—but when that wedding was your boyfriend’s sister’s, then nothing could top it.
It made it perfect. New snow had fallen during the night laying a smooth white carpet over the ground.
A lot of brides would freak, getting married in a barn, albeit a beautiful one designed specifically for weddings, but not Tally.
She squealed with delight, clapping her hands and stamping her feet in time to the music playing from a speaker on the table in the huge dining room where we’d set up.
“Good job you don’t have far to go,” Lily, Nash’s wife said as she threaded baby breath through Tally’s hair. “And you’re sure you want to walk?”
“Of course I do. It’ll take me five minutes at most.”
“Dad might slip over,” Alice, Tally and Liam’s mom chipped in, painting her nails a pretty pink color.
She then turned to me. “You’ve done such a great job, honey.
I knew my Liam would find a good woman one day.
” The beautiful smile she gave to me filled my chest with warmth.
We’d met a few times over the last seven months, Liam and I had taken a week’s vacation in Florida as well as them coming home a couple of weekends.
They’d stayed at their old family home while Liam stayed with me, and he hadn’t really left since.
Tally reached for my hand. “Thank you, Charity. For everything. The wedding, taking care of my grumpy brother.”
“He’s not that grumpy.” I giggled. “Not all the time. And as for the wedding, it’s my job.”
She shook her head. “You’ve gone over and above for our wedding. Don’t think I don’t know that you added extra flower displays for the barn.”
I felt my cheeks heat up, not sure what to say. I’d hoped to keep it a secret. “Call it a wedding present.”
“On top of the beautiful blanket chest that you and Liam got us. I don’t think so.”
“And don’t forget the booze Liam is paying for,” Alice quipped, all of us laughing because it was the most expensive apology ever.
The door flung open taking all our attention and Bertie barreled in with Cassidy, Gunner Miller’s wife, following closely behind.
“Can I put my dress on yet, Aunt Tally Ho, because Aunt Cassidy said not yet.” She paused and stared at Tally.
“Wow, your hair looks beautiful. Momma, you’re amazing.
Imagine if you hadn’t come back and Daddy was in charge of the wedding hair?
” She threw her hands in the air and shook her head.
Lily wasn’t her biological mom but was Nash’s high school sweetheart who’d disappeared from town for ten years.
When she came back and they reconnected, after some major drama with the Miller brothers’ dad, she adopted Bertie.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” The look Lily gave her daughter tugged at my heart.
Maybe one day I’d be giving a child of mine that look.
That led me to thinking about Liam again.
My beautiful man who, before the sun had come up that morning, had given me an incredible orgasm and told me that he loved me.
“And no, you can’t put your dress on yet,” Lily continued.
“I know you and you’ll decide to either play hide-go-seek in the barn with Billy or use your bed as a trampoline while you’re wearing it. ”
“I will not!” She sounded deeply affronted, but from what I knew of the little girl she most definitely would.
“Considering I caught you about to get your paints out, I think it would be a good idea to wait.” Cassidy ran a hand down her niece’s hair which was curled at the ends. “Now, what can I do?”
“Nothing,” I told her. “All you ladies need to do is get dressed in…” I looked at my phone. “Thirty minutes.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Alice shrieked. “It’s nearly time.”
And it was. I think I was just as excited about it as the bride because a swarm of butterflies took flight in my stomach.
As the music played softly in the background, I rested my cheek against Liam’s chest, swaying in time with him.
It was almost the end of the night, the bride and groom were on their way to the airport for a honeymoon in the Bahamas and only a handful of guests were left.
Mainly family. Nash was dancing with Lily, Billy, their toddler, asleep on his father’s shoulder while Bertie did some crazy dance with her friend Lucas.
Gunner and Cassidy were doing shots at the bar with Cole, while Liam’s mom and dad, Eddie, were talking with Lily’s mom, step-dad and grandma.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.
“I love this song,” I whispered.
“Hmm, me too, Sunshine.” His hand moved slowly up and down my back, warm, gentle and comforting. “Maybe this should be our song.”
Looking up at him, I grinned. “Wow, you really are a romantic, aren’t you. But I like your thinking.”
As Ruelle continued singing ‘I Get to Love You’, I felt Liam stiffen.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, watching as he chewed on his bottom lip.
“Come with me.”
I blinked slowly. “Come with you where? Are you thinking of leaving town or something?”
He shook his head. “No. Grab your coat and come with me and maybe put on those pink rain boots of yours.”
“In this dress?” I looked down at the tight purple, velvet dress I was wearing.
He shrugged. “They do it for me. They were one of the first things that attracted me to you.” I frowned at him. “The day you came to the site—they’re very sexy.”
Rolling my eyes, I gently pulled away from him. “They’re in my car, come on, let’s go to this mystery destination.”
Ten minutes later, we were walking past the barn toward a meadow that had been rewilded with wildflowers and was the home for dancing butterflies in the summer. At the edge was a path lined with beautiful lantern lights.
“Apparently, Nash had this path put in earlier this year,” Liam told me, his fingers linked with mine. “He figured it would be a great spot for guests attending weddings at the barn.”
“Where does it lead to?”
“You’ll see. Just a couple more minutes.”
The path finally wound around the back of the meadow and under a canopy of trees and hurricane lamps leading our way.
As we reached the end of the path and turned the corner my breath left me in a rush.
The sight was beautiful. A large pond lit up with lights in the water and with bench seats at intervals around it.
Rocks created a barrier to the water, while more trees and plants enclosed the area, making it feel like an undiscovered oasis.
“Liam, it’s beautiful.”
He was looking ahead, his hand shoved into the pocket of his dark blue pea coat, while his other still clutched mine. “Nash made this too. Well, I think he got a contractor in, but it was all his idea. I saw it when I came to visit Tally one day last summer and just fell in love with it.”
I could understand why. It was serene, the sky glowing with a soft silver haze, snowflakes like pieces of moonlight shaken loose whispering to the ground. Even the air felt suspended, our breath rising in soft white clouds as though the night itself was holding still, waiting.
“I can see why,” I told him. “It’s beautiful.”
When I turned to him, Liam was looking at me intently—his gaze soft as snow fell onto his cheeks and lashes, giving him a boyish look.
“Not as beautiful as you.” His fingers touched my cheeks reverently, his emerald eyes telling me so much. Giving me so much honesty. “I love you more than I thought possible. More than I thought I ever deserved.”
“I love you, too. So much.” I leaned into him, wrapping my arm around his waist, my other hand on his stomach over his coat. My fingers stretched out feeling secure in the fact that I could touch him.
After a few moments of serenity, Liam’s arm tightened around my shoulder.
“Sunshine, I need to ask you something.”
He sounded unsure and it put me on edge.
“Okay?”
His tongue wet his lips and then disappeared, as he inhaled sharp and deep.
“Liam?”
Pulling us apart he took both my hands in his own, one warm, one cold and looked down at me. His gaze never leaving mine. Something in his eyes told me this wasn’t just a walk. Liam had that look, the one he got when something big was sitting on his chest and he needed to share it.
“Charity Dawson, will you marry me?”
It was as if those butterflies I’d had early in the morning had been practicing. They instantly took flight. Whirling and swirling without any rhythm just intent on beating their wings as fast as they could.
“Really?”
His smile was soft, his eyes bright as he nodded.
“Yes, really, Sunshine. I’m not good with fancy words, or huge gestures, but I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
Loving you, living life with you, having a family with you.
Only you. There has never been and never will be anyone else for me.
You saved me without even trying, without even knowing it.
” He dropped his forehead to mine, breathing me in and making my heart thud faster.
“I don’t even know how I managed to get through a day without you.
I don’t know how I missed you for so long.
I just thought you were a beautiful woman with sunshine in her hair.
The one who wore stupidly high shoes and looked incredible in tight skirts.
” He laughed quietly, like he couldn’t quite believe he’d said it.
“Then you stormed into that flower shop ready to demand I do something about the dinner, but you didn’t do that.
You paused and you saw me, Charity. Really saw me.
Saw the pain I was in, and you gave me the space to breathe.
You didn’t push, but in your quiet way told me that you were there if I needed you.
” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And fuck did I need you, Sunshine. I will always need you. Always want you. Always love you.”
I let the tears roll, as my chin trembled with emotion, with the joy that was bursting from me.
“For someone who isn’t good at romance or big gestures, that was pretty incredible, Mr. Brown.
” The lump in my throat was huge, barely able to let the words pass.
“And the answer is yes. A million times yes.”
He sagged, his lips finding mine, whispering against them. “Thank God. I thought you might say no.”
Tasting salt water on my lips, I shook my head. “Never.”
His hand went back to his pocket, and he pulled out a small velvet box and tentatively held it out with a slight tremor. “If you don’t like it, we can change it.” Lifting the lid, he held his breath.
I gasped. “Liam, it’s beautiful.”
It was a stunning oval shaped yellow diamond which sat majestically with smaller dazzling white diamonds that looked like sun rays around the edge, accentuating its beauty. It was gorgeous and elegant. Another piece of perfection in a perfect day.
“Do you want to change it?”
“No, no way. I love it.” I held out a shaky hand. “Think maybe you could put it on?”
“God, yes. Sorry.” Placing the ring on the end of my finger, he breathed out when it slipped on easily. “I took one of your dress rings for the size.” Grinning, he looked up at me. “It looks good on you.”
As he pressed a kiss to my lips, it felt like fireworks going off in my chest, the euphoria and joy of the moment better than anything I’d ever experienced before.
“This is it,” Liam said, soft and low. “The start of everything good for us, Charity.”
“I can’t wait.”
“You know I asked your dad for permission?”
“You did.” I was surprised. He and dad got along, but I hadn’t realized men still did that.
“Not permission as such, but I told him I was going to propose.” I laughed at his low determined growl. “He asked me why I wanted to marry you and so I told him, because she’s the one person I can’t live without.”
“You did?” I swiped more tears from my cheeks as they fell.
“Yeah, I did and I told him that no one would make you as happy as I would.”
“And what did he say to that?” I asked, knowing my dad was an advocate of only promising what you knew one hundred percent you could make happen.
“He said, ‘Well, aren’t you just full of yourself’ and then told me to make sure I always put the toilet seat down because that would definitely make you happy.”
Smiling through my tears, I had to agree with Liam.
I knew he would make me the happiest woman alive.
We’d been two lost souls, both desperately trying to wade through the mess of our lives, and we’d found each other.
He’d been my rock, and I’d been his comfort, and together we’d found a love that I knew would be everlasting.