Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
ALORA
What?
My heart stops.
He drops to his knee as he holds my hands in his. “Marry me, Alora.”
“Edward,” I gasp as I drop to my knees too. “We don’t have to rush…. I mean…of course…but so soon…. I mean—”
“It’s a yes or no question.” He cuts me off.
My eyes search his. “Are you seriously asking me to be your wife?” I whisper.
“I am.” He smiles softly. “When you know, you know.” He takes my face in his hands and kisses me. “And I know.”
His silhouette blurs. “I know too.”
“So answer the question. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I smile through tears. “Oh my god. Yes.” His lips take mine and we kiss and it’s the perfect moment in time.
Kneeling in a field of wildflowers at his beloved home, so simple and yet so out-of-this-world romantic.
“You have two choices for your engagement ring.” He smiles over at me, his eyes full of love.
“Is this real?” I laugh out loud.
“You can have my family heirloom ring. Or you can have a new one, the choice is yours.”
“Oh….” I think for a moment. “Was the family ring your mother’s?”
“Yes.” His eyes hold mine.
I think for a moment. “I would like that one, please,” I whisper.
His nostrils flare and I know that it means a lot to him.
“Good choice.” He digs a red ring box from his pocket and opens it to reveal the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.
It’s an Edwardian antique style, a large European-cut center diamond with diamonds around it, all encased in filigree rose gold.
“Oh my god.” My hands fly over my mouth.
He takes my hand and slides it onto my finger and once again my vision blurs. “Oh…Edward. It’s so perfect,” I whisper as I hold my hand out to look at it. “It looks like a diamond flower.”
“It does.”
I laugh out loud. “What the hell just happened?” and he laughs too.
“We got….” He shrugs as if unable to believe it himself. “Engaged.”
“Are you sure?” I ask as I continue to stare at my hand, I can’t take my eyes off it for even a second. “This is very soon, we can wait if you want.”
“It took me thirty-six years to find you, Alora, and I’m not wasting another minute.”
My eyes search his. “We’re really going to do this?”
“Yes…. To forever.” He takes my face in his hands and kisses me. “Mrs. Prescott.”
“Ha.” I laugh against his lips. “It sounds so grown up.”
He chuckles and pulls me to my feet and we kiss again, our lips lingering over each other’s in a perfect moment of tenderness. “I love you so much,” I whisper.
“And I love you.”
“When are we telling everyone?”
“Right now.”
I turn and run across the field, unable to control my excitement. “I’ll race you back to the house.”
He takes off after me and we laugh as we run and as we get to the top of the hill I see Harold, Charlotte and Spencer waiting for us with a small table set up on the grass. There’s a silver ice bucket, a bottle of champagne and five flutes.
“They knew?” I laugh as I gasp for air.
“They knew.” He smiles as he catches up to me. “From the minute they met you, they knew.”
“What happened if I had said no?” I pant.
“Then I would have killed you and buried you in the field so that nobody ever found out.” He takes my hand in his and holds it up in the air as if he just won a title fight and they all cheer and jump around in excitement.
“FaceTime your father and brother and sister,” he says. “I want them to celebrate with us.”
“I hope my dad answers.” I take out my phone.
“They’re expecting your call.”
“You called already?” I get a lump in my throat.
“Of course I called them.”
Oh….
“I love you,” I whisper through tears, he grabs me and takes me into his arms and to the sound of cheering in the distance, he kisses me with everything that he is.
A moment so perfect that it will forever be burned in time.
Forever his.
EDWARD
The fire glows, flickering warmth filters through the room and I know there’s something I have to do before the day ends…an elephant in the room, I have no idea how to bring this up without ruining the perfect day. But then if I don’t, tomorrow it will be worse…it’s already eating me alive.
Alora is lying with her head on my lap as I sit with my feet up on an ottoman and a glass of red in my hand. My fingers aimlessly run through her hair and every now and then she lifts her hand to look at her ring as if still in disbelief.
“Doe.” I twist my lips, trying to find the right words. “There’s something we need to run over.”
“Yeah?” She looks up at me with those big, beautiful innocent eyes.
“Umm….” My stomach sinks…. Fuck.
“What is it?” She sits up.
“I….” My eyes hold hers.
“Edward, spit it out.”
“I have something that I need you to take to your lawyers when we get home.” I stand and open the drawer and pull out a large white envelope.
“What’s in that?” She frowns.
I sit back down, put it on the coffee table and puff air into my cheeks, wishing I was anywhere but here having this conversation. “It’s a prenup.”
“Okay.” She shrugs and looks around the room. “Where’s a pen?”
I frown as I stare at her. “No, no.” I shake my head; she obviously doesn’t understand what this is. “It’s not something that you sign willy-nilly. You take it to your legal team and they negotiate with my legal team.”
“Willy-nilly?” She smiles as she gets up and walks to the desk. “Who says willy-nilly?”
“I do.” I smirk. “Will you be serious for a moment, please?”
“I am being serious.” She pulls out a drawer and grabs a pen and clicks it. “Let’s go.”
“No, Alora.” I take the pen from her. “This is a ninety-eight-page document. You are not just signing it without legal representation.”
“I don’t care about money, Edward, you know that.” She snatches the pen back from me. “If we break up I don’t want a penny of yours. I already have everything I need.” She begins to flick through the pages. “Wait a minute.” She looks up at me. “Is there anything in here about children?”
“What do you mean?”
“The only thing I would want is equal shared custody of my children.”
“Oh….” I frown. “No. God no, there is nothing about children at all. This is a monetary-only prenup.”
“Okay.” She flicks through to the last page.
“What are you doing? Read it, take your time. This isn’t something you just sign.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Alora, don’t be ridiculous.”
“I trust you, Edward.” She smiles over at me. “I know you would never….” She shrugs. “You know.”
“You shouldn’t trust someone this much, Alora.”
“I trust you with my heart and that’s the only thing of value that I have.
” She signs her name on the last page and dates it.
“And your heart is the only thing I would ever want. If we break up and I lose that, no amount of money would ever compensate for losing you.” She leans over and kisses me.
“I’m going to take a shower babe, see you upstairs? ”
I nod, the sound of my heartbeat echoes through my ears.
I listen to her go upstairs and I stare at her signature on the last page. She didn’t even read it.
She trusts me.
Alora Sorenson is the only person apart from my family who has ever trusted me.
Ever really loved me.
I pick up the thick wad of paper and its envelope and walk over, open the safety grill, and put it into the fire.
I watch the red flames blaze high as they burn the paper. Weeks of work from my legal team goes up in flames.
I sip my wine as the red glow lights my face, her heart really is the only thing worth value and if I lose that, I have nothing.
“I choose to trust you too.” I watch it burn. “For better or worse.”
ALORA
I stare at the headstone.
Angelique Prescott
Loving wife, beloved mother.
Forever in our hearts
Edward carefully places the bunch of pink roses into the vase and wipes the headstone. He makes a cross symbol across his chest with his finger as if having done this a thousand times before.
We are in the meadow across the hill and over the stream, there, beneath more oak trees is a family cemetery.
Surrounded by an ornate iron fence, climbing roses grow over statues, there’s a large circular water feature made from white marble with lilies floating on top of the water, surrounded by perfectly kept lawns.
Old tombstones are in lines, Prescott after Prescott, and I try to imagine the people who are buried here.
Edward’s ancestors, every single one of them.
And it’s one thing to visit your mother’s grave, but for her to be buried in the grounds of her own house is something else. In one way, it’s comforting that she’s close. In another way, it’s a constant reminder that she isn’t above the ground anymore.
That she lies here…. Her life in the past.
A distant memory of love that echoes in the wind.
Edward stares at the tombstone with his hands in his pockets, his face void of emotion. He doesn’t introduce me. He doesn’t seem happy; in fact, we only came here to say goodbye to her before we leave for home.
I wonder does he do this every visit. Come to see her only before he leaves. I get the feeling that he does, but then I may be misreading the situation.
I do know that this week after our engagement I have missed my mother more than I have in a long time. She should be here celebrating with us, helping plan a wedding. Sharing in my joy, and I wonder if he feels the same.
He holds his hand out for me. “Come.” I take his hand and we turn and begin to head back to the house. His mood is somber and I glance back at the tombstone of his mother.
Goodbye, Mrs. Prescott, I promise to take care of him.
“Goodbye.” I hug Harold, and then Charlotte.
“Goodbye.” They smile and wave as I get into the car. I watch through the car window as Edward says goodbye to them; his father holds him close for an extended time and tears up. He wipes his eyes as he pulls out of the hug. Edward then turns to Charlotte and she does the same.