Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41
MARIAM
C hristmas at Deb’s was as wonderful, joyous, and festive as always. Everything was going just like it did every year, with the exception of Leif and Laurel getting engaged this afternoon after we’d opened the gifts.
I was ecstatic for them. Noah and Gemma were back together too and seeing my friends so happy meant the world to me. The house was full of friends, family, love, and laughter. Lunch had been delicious, an absolute treat that had left me so full, I wasn’t sure I would eat again until the new year.
I’d loved every minute of it so far, the people, the traditions, the food…
The only other thing that was different this year was that I wanted Arland here to celebrate with us. In a way, the day just didn’t feel complete without him. After a late lunch, the men went out to squeeze in another game of football before sunset. Laurel, Gemma, and I sat on the back porch, watching them but also just spending some more time together before we’d all go our separate ways again.
Gemma was flying out first thing in the morning with Noah, heading to New York to host an exclusive event with him and the band. Laurel would be spending a couple more days in Austin before she went back to Franklin and I was supposed to have stayed here too, but I’d decided to change my flight to tomorrow afternoon.
I missed Arland too much and Laurel would be spending all her time with Leif anyway. There was no real reason for me to stay.
“You’d better call us before you start planning even a single detail for the wedding,” Gemma said to Laurel, giving her an unbelievably stern look. “I mean it, girl. We plan on being there every step of the way even if we’re all in different states.”
As I turned to our friend. I crossed my arms and forced my own features to mimic the expression on Gemma’s face. “Considering that you haven’t asked us to be your bridesmaids yet, we need you to stay yes to this. Not a single stitch of planning without us.”
Laurel laughed. “Oh, please. Who else am I going to ask to be my bridesmaids and why would I try to plan anything by myself when I have the world’s best event planners as the bridal party?”
I smiled. “Atta girl. That’s what we like to hear.”
“Keep the compliments coming,” Gemma joked, leaning over to grab Laurel’s left hand again. She let out a dreamy sigh. “I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life to see this ring on your finger.”
“Same,” I agreed, bending over to get another closer look at it myself. It was gorgeous with a huge, sparkling diamond right in the middle and intricate detail molded into the band. “He sure made us wait for it, but I suppose it’s better late than never, right?”
Laurel giggled, admiring the ring herself before glancing up at us. “You do know you’re going to be planning your own weddings soon as well, right? I’m pretty sure that you’re both getting rings within the next year or so. At most.”
“I can’t wait for it to be my turn with Arland, but let’s just focus on one wedding at a time.” I winked. “Unless of course Gemma has been keeping something from us and we’ll be planning two weddings.”
“Do you really think I’d be able to keep something like that from you? Never.” Gemma scoffed down laughter and shook her head. “You’ll be the first to know.”
The faint sound of the doorbell ringing reached my ears. Laurel frowned and pushed to her feet. “Mom must’ve invited someone else for dessert. She always does this. The whole neighborhood has to come by on Christmas.”
I chuckled. “That’s what makes Deb so special. Everyone is always welcome.”
“Fair enough.” Laurel smoothed out her shirt and smiled, leaving to go answer the door. As she left, Leif tossed the football to Jack and jogged up the stairs to go after his fiancée.
Gemma smirked as she watched him disappear into the house. “Want to bet on whether we’ll be seeing them again before we leave?”
I laughed. “Nope. I’m pretty sure they’re going to sneak out, so unless we can find someone willing to bet against us, there’s no wager to be made.”
“Truth.” She leaned back in her chair and glanced at me. “Are you okay? You’ve seemed so sad all day.”
“I just miss him,” I admitted quietly. “So much that I decided to head back early. I’m flying back out there tomorrow.”
She shot me an understanding smile, but her gaze caught on something behind my head and excitement flashed in her eyes. “You know, you might want to stick around a little while longer.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Looks like Santa left one more gift for you,” she said, standing up and motioning for me to follow her. “It just took a little longer to get here.”
Features scrunching up in confusion, I shook my head but went with her inside. Laurel and Leif were standing near the door, which was still open, but Leif’s body was blocking my view of who they were talking to.
Even so, my heartrate accelerated and butterflies fluttered in my stomach. It can’t be, can it?
Leif shifted and it felt like my world shifted right along with him. Standing there in the doorway with the sun sinking low in the sky behind him was Arland. He had a friendly smile on his face as he chatted to my friends, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
As if he sensed my presence the same way that I had just sensed his, his gaze suddenly snapped to mine and the smile turned into a huge grin. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and muttered to my friends as he brushed past them. “Excuse me.”
Leif chuckled. “Get in there, bro.”
Although I was aware of Gemma practically swooning at my side and Leif wrapping an arm around Laurel’s waist to pull her to him, it was almost like I was seeing all of that in a dream. The only thing that felt real right then was the warm, blazing light in Arland’s eyes and the heat of his arms as they slid around me.
I sank into him without giving a damn about who was watching. Tears welled in my eyes. I tipped my head back and wound my arms around his neck. “What are you doing here?”
“Being where I should’ve been in the first place,” he murmured before he bent his head to mine. “I love you, Mariam.”
“I love you too.” I pushed myself up on my toes and kissed him, suddenly feeling like everything was right for the first time all day.
Arland kissed me like it’d been weeks instead of days, finally only wrenching his mouth away from mine when I felt him growing hard against my stomach. He groaned softly, bringing his mouth to my ear so no one else would hear him.
“We either need to stop, or we need to leave.”
I chuckled, but my heart was racing and my nipples were standing at attention, my panties already damp and my cheeks as flushed as they could be. “Have you eaten? There’s lots of leftovers and you couldn’t have had lunch if you’re already here.”
“I had a big breakfast,” he said, pulling away to look into my eyes. “Merry Christmas, my love.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Stone,” I teased before finally reaching for his hand and officially introducing him to everyone he hadn’t met before.
We spent a couple hours with my friends and family, but we never let go of each other’s hands. By the time we finally left, I was more than ready to be alone with him. I brought my hand to his leg as we drove away from Deb’s.
“Is your family mad as hell that you missed Christmas with them to be here with me?” I asked, finally giving voice to the one thing that had worried me since I saw him standing in that doorway. “I’d really hate to be known as a holiday-wrecking Grinch.”
He chuckled. “Nah. If anything, they were mad at me for letting you come here without me. It didn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone when I said I was flying out here to surprise you. Besides, I didn’t miss Christmas with them. I was there all of yesterday and this morning. The rest of the day is mostly eating anyway, so I was there for the important bits.”
Relief surged through me, but with that worry lifted off my shoulders, I finally turned my attention to more pressing matters. “Where are you staying?”
He glanced at me with heat in his eyes and a smile on his face. “Well, I would’ve loved to tell you I was hoping to stay with you at Gemma’s, but I got a hotel room. I couldn’t stand the thought of sharing you with your friends tonight.”
I chuckled. “That’s a good thing. I wouldn’t have wanted to share you either, but I’ve been trying to give Noah and Gemma some space since they got back together, so I’ve mostly been staying at my parents’ place.”
“That definitely wouldn’t have worked for me.” He covered my hand on his leg with his own. “How are they feeling about us now that it’s had some time to sink in?”
I blew out a slow, long breath, relaxing back in my seat. I thought about all the conversations I’d had with them since I’d been in town. “At first, they weren’t terribly supportive. They, uh, were worried that you were taking advantage of me and that even if you weren’t, I wasn’t entirely aware of how hard it might be for us to have a life together.”
“And now?” he asked. “Do they still feel that way?”
I shook my head, smiling as I squeezed his leg. “I finally sat them down and gave it to them straight. I told them everything. Well, almost everything. So let’s just say that I told them about everything they needed to know.”
Arland chuckled. “Does that mean you spared them the details?”
“Exactly.” I inhaled deeply, relieved now that I’d had all those tough conversations with them before he’d arrived. “It wasn’t easy, but I finally got them to see that I really love you and that I don’t care about their approval. Strangely, that seemed to be what convinced them in the end. They said that if I was willing to be with you even without their blessing, it meant that I had to be serious about what we had.”
He risked another quick glance at me before moving his eyes back to the road. “We have their blessing?”
“We do.” I turned my hand under his and stroked the strong contours of his fingers. “We’re in the clear, Mr. Stone. Even with my parents. They’d like to get to know you better, though.”
“Yeah,” he said absently. “We’ll get there. I kind of thought they’d be there this afternoon?”
“They were, but they left after lunch. I’m sure they would’ve loved to see you.”
“Let’s not go quite that far,” he teased, then blew out a deep breath and smiled at me again. “Your brother said not to race back. Apparently, you changed your flight to tomorrow?”
I groaned. “Asshole. I can’t believe he ruined my surprise.”
Arland laughed. “Well, I’m grateful for it. Especially because he only told me when I was already here. I texted to let him know I wouldn’t be at the Chalet tomorrow, and when I told him why, he finally caved and said not to worry about rushing back.”
We pulled into the parking garage of a five-star hotel downtown and I fell silent, so overwhelmed with gratitude and joy about him being here that I just needed a minute to process. Arland seemed to understand, just holding my hand. He guided me to his suite and ordered up some drinks for us.
We spent all night lost in one another, both of us crashing into the other’s arms as soon as our drinks were done. Stumbling to bed, we crawled under the covers, and the next morning, we were still there, just holding each other as we lazily woke up.
Arland finally left the bed first, striding over to his overnight bag and grabbing something from it before he came back to me. I sat up in bed, leaning back against the headboard and wondering what he was up to.
“What have you got there?” I asked with a smile. “If it’s another condom, I’m going to need breakfast first. Actually, while we’re on that subject, will you please remind me to make an appointment with a doctor when we get back to Sun Valley? I’d like to talk to someone about getting on birth control.”
His eyes widened and it looked like he was having trouble breathing all of a sudden. “Birth control?”
“Yep. Unless you like condoms?” I teased. “I’m not overly experienced with this, but as far as I know, men aren’t the biggest fans of those things.”
Arland cleared his throat and then laughed. His head shaking, he crawled onto the bed with me and brought his lips to my stomach, kissing a path up to my mouth. “I’ll remind you to call a doctor. God, I can’t believe we’re talking about this right now.”
“Why not?” I asked, leaning back and spreading my legs to make space for his body between them. He pressed a kiss to my lips before moving to my jaw, my eyes, and even the tiny crease between my eyebrows. “What happened to breakfast first?”
“There’s something else I’d like to talk about before we get to that,” he murmured against my skin, kissing me one last time before he pulled back to look into my eyes. “Trust you to start talking about birth control instead, though.”
“Do you not want me to go on birth control?” I asked curiously, feeling a strange thrill shooting through me at the thought of him getting me pregnant sooner than I might’ve been anticipating. “I suppose we could think about it.”
“No, Mimi.” He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut before he chuckled and looked at me again. “I want you to go on birth control. I want to be inside you without anything between us and I want to do it as often as you’ll let me without either of us having to be worried about a baby until you’re ready.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “What do you want to talk to me about, then?”
Arland moved to his knees between my legs. As I watched, he went onto just one knee and then he produced a small, velvet box from between the creases in the duvet.
My breath caught and my heart started pounding. “Is that what you took out of your bag just now?”
Wordlessly at first, he simply nodded and worked his thumb into the seam of the box, putting pressure on it until it popped open. My eyes remained locked on his, but my breathing quickened and my pulse spiked even more.
“What is this?” I breathed, too scared to hope just in case I was wrong.
Arland smiled, his eyes alight with hope, joy, and anticipation. “This is me asking you to spend the rest of your life with me.”
He took my hand in one of his, the other still holding the open box. I finally allowed my gaze to drop to it, sucking in a sharp breath at the sight of the dazzling ring inside. It had beveled edges and three diamonds the size of pebbles laid into it. I wasn’t sure I’d trust me to wear something as expensive as that had to be, but he sure seemed to want me to wear it.
He released my hand to take the ring out, presenting it to me pinched between two of his fingers. “With you in my life, Mariam, I’m suddenly excited about living again. You’ve opened up a world of possibility to me that I thought was lost. Things I believed I would never have, but because of you, I know life isn’t done surprising me in all the best ways just yet.”
Moisture started shimmering in his eyes. “I love you, Mariam Walker. I know that this is fast, and if you’re not ready, then I’ll just keep asking until you are, but on the off chance that you’re ready now, I figured I had to take my shot.”
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. What we have is once in a lifetime and I don’t want to waste any more of mine without you by my side.” He finally picked up my hand again, his gaze on mine as he positioned the ring at the tip of my finger. “Will you marry me, Mimi?”
I glanced down at the ring again, feeling the sudden urge to pinch myself to make sure this was real. As I lifted my hand and brought it to his cheek, the slight scrape of his stubble against my palm broke me out of my dreamlike state. I nodded, the widest grin I’d ever felt on my lips as my heart galloped and soared.
“Yes!” I exclaimed as soon as I found my voice again. “Of course, I will. I love you, Arland Stone, and I’m ready. I’m so freaking ready. I feel like I’ve been ready since the very first day I met you.”
Leaning forward, I grabbed his face and brought it closer to mine, whispering against his mouth before I sealed my answer with a kiss. “I can’t wait to make every single one of our dreams come true together, Arland Stone. Our lives are only just beginning, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of mine with you.”