Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THEN
November 2018
SO, THINGS DIDN’T EXACTLY go as planned. I was supposed to propose on Thanksgiving with the entire family there, but the universe had other plans. Michaela and Dad came down with a nasty stomach bug, Nick wasn’t in the mood to spend the holiday with the Villa family, and Alex got stuck in Boston. Brina told me to do it anyway; everyone would understand, but I refused. I wanted everyone to be there when I popped the question…again.
That was a week ago, so we’re going for round two, and almost everyone is here. Uncle Jim had a doctor’s appointment, and Alex had class. Nick had to run the garage. At least, that was his excuse. Could he take off? Yeah, probably. But I knew he wouldn’t show without his dad or brother, not if it meant having to deal with the Villas. When I called to inform him of the new date, he declined, and I reminded him he wouldn’t be able to avoid the Villas forever. For example, at the wedding. “I’m not avoiding them, I’m just busy,” he said, but we both knew that was (mostly) a lie.
Everyone else is here, except Nina and Elizabeth. Since the weather was nice and considerably warm for the end of November, the ruse was the girls were coming to meet Michaela for wine and sunset-watching on Jupiter Beach. Poor Nina. She is so excited to surprise Elizabeth that I can only hope Elizabeth is able to play along to spare Nin’s feelings. My parents, Michaela, and the Villas hide, trying to stay out of sight but still get a view of the action.
In the distance, I can see Nina lead Elizabeth down the boardwalk and over the dunes, ending at the beach. They slow their approach, reaching the candles that have been buried in the white sand to create a pathway leading her to me. I stand on a white sheet laid out in the middle of a large square formed by roses—their stems stuck down in the sand to stand at attention.
Seeing her walk toward me, that feeling I got while I helped her decorate the house for Christmas a few weeks ago forms in the pit of my stomach. The same one I felt when I proposed two weeks ago in her bedroom. It’s hard to explain, the feeling, but I think it’s…love.
Yeah, it’s love.
I’ve fallen in love with the woman in front of me, but I don’t know how to tell her.
You became my husband the second we signed that damn paper three years ago.
Her words have echoed in my mind ever since, and even if she’s never said it, those words told me she feels the same way I do. There isn’t anyone else I’d want to do this with. How sick and twisted is that? I mean, what a fucked up way to find the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, right?
Nina hangs back a few steps and Elizabeth’s steps falter when our eyes meet just outside of the box of roses.
Wow, she mouths, and I laugh.
Wow, indeed.
This isn’t how I would have chosen to propose. The simple ask in her bedroom is more my style, but the Villas would never allow it—well, Ric maybe, but not Nina or Brina. Especially not Brina.
Elizabeth takes a final look around and takes a deep breath. “Nina?” she asks, implicating her friend in the choice of décor.
“More Brina and Michaela, but she had some input.”
She laughs, and it’s a sweet melody that puts my nerves at ease. Taking a deep breath, I whisper, “You ready?”
“No turning back.”
I drop to one knee, this time digging a small velvet box from my pocket, and Elizabeth covers her mouth in a shocked expression, really selling the moment. “Maybe a little less dramatic.” I chuckle.
I was proud of myself. I had picked the ring out without help (unless you count Nick). Nina had offered to set me up with a jeweler in Charlotte—it was Tiffany & Co., shocker, I know—but I told her I already had one in mind. There was a local jeweler in Winchester that Finn introduced me to years ago and I wanted to see what they had before I went running off to endure my first Pretty Woman moment.
It only took five minutes from walking in the door to finding the ring I wanted. The diamond was cut into the perfect oval shape—not too thick, but not too slender either—and it sparkled like the stars in the sky on a cloudless night. It rested in a white gold diamond-studded band. It was on display with a wedding band full of diamonds slightly larger than the ones embedded in the engagement band. The two rings looked beautiful together and they were exactly the kind of thing Elizabeth would want. I wasn’t nervous about my choice until I brought Nina along to pick them up, but my worries faded the moment she opened the box. She didn’t stop smiling even after we walked out of the jeweler, telling me over and over that Elizabeth was going to “be over the moon about them.”
“You know they’re eating it up,” Elizabeth says.
With another calming breath, I open the box to reveal the ring and her eyes widen. “I meant what I said the other night in your bedroom, Sugar.”
Her smile falters slightly when she realizes I’m no longer playing around. She looks between me and the ring three times before finally landing on me. And this time, she covers her mouth in true shock, as real tears cloud her vision. “Josh,” she whispers.
“I can’t imagine life without you. Regardless of how this ends for us…I don’t want a life without you in it. I know this isn’t how you imagined your life would turn out or how you’d find your husband, but I don’t regret it. And I promise to make this whole thing as painless as possible. So, I’m going to ask one more time…Elizabeth Regina Cain, will you be my wife?”