Chapter Three #2
The land the house sat on was gorgeous, of that there was no doubt.
Marit saw water views every day, all day.
She’d thought she was immune to the beauty of coastal Maine.
But she was wrong. The sun was just starting to set, the trees around the cove were in full bloom, and there was a slight breeze, making the temperature comfortable, if not a little cool for her in her T-shirt.
She could see Chad and Britt wandering hand in hand on the pebble beach, beyond the deck where they were all standing. Every now and then, the couple would stop and lean down to inspect something on the ground, then continue meandering along slowly.
Then, as Marit and the rest of the Youngs watched, Chad reached into his back pocket and subtly dropped something behind him.
He immediately called to Britt and pointed to whatever he’d surreptitiously dropped.
She joined him, crouching to take a look .
. . and by the time she’d stood up and turned around, Chad had gotten down on one knee.
Marit could hear Linc snapping pictures with his phone as the scene played out in front of them.
One of Britt’s hands flew up to her mouth as Chad took the other, holding the ring he’d pulled out of his pocket and sliding it onto her finger.
They all saw Britt nod, and then she threw herself at Chad.
He kept them both from falling to the ground, holding Britt in his arms. He swung her around in a circle, then stopped and took her face in his hands.
He said something before lowering his head to kiss her.
It was a long, intimate kiss that clearly showed how much the couple was in love.
Marit wasn’t a romantic woman. She’d lived too hard a life to have so much as a romantic bone in her body.
But standing on the Youngs’ deck in the waning light of the day, watching two people she’d just met—and found she actually liked quite a lot—pledge to spend the rest of their lives together .
. . it made her long to find someone who loved her as much as Chad obviously loved Britt.
To find someone who understood her, who would support whatever it was she wanted to do with her life.
Someone she could laugh with, cry with, and simply coexist with peacefully in the same space.
And it was that last bit Marit wasn’t sure she’d ever find. It had been her experience that peaceful coexistence was the hardest part. Her own family couldn’t figure out how to do that. How could she find it with someone who didn’t share her blood?
But then again, she was watching proof that it could happen. At least for some people.
“That was beautiful,” Evelyn said as she sniffed.
Knox handed her tissues he’d obviously brought outside with him, prepared for his mom to cry at watching one of her sons get engaged.
Then Linc let out a whoop, scaring the crap out of Marit. Knox joined in, yelling exuberantly and clapping enthusiastically. Zach whistled, adding to the cacophony of excitement. Evelyn clapped as well. Then yelled, “Please tell us she said yes!”
“Of course I said yes!” Britt yelled back. Then she threw her head back and laughed as Chad spun her in a circle once again.
This was . . .
Marit couldn’t wrap her mind around what was happening.
Intellectually, she understood, but it was so far from anything she’d ever experienced.
Genuine happiness and camaraderie between siblings.
Chad wanting to share this intimate and huge moment with his family.
Allowing himself to be vulnerable in front of those he loved.
What would’ve happened if Britt had said no?
But she supposed he had to have been pretty sure she was going to agree to marry him, if he chose to ask in such a public way.
She thought about her own brothers. They would’ve no sooner invited her to be a part of asking a woman to marry them than give her a helping hand if she was hanging off a four-hundred-foot cliff, ready to plunge to her death.
They’d be more likely to stand by and berate her for being idiot enough to get herself into that situation in the first place.
She felt like an interloper here. Zach had brought her home thinking it would be a quiet dinner with his mom and one brother. He had no clue they’d be witnesses to a marriage proposal.
“This is awesome,” he said, turning to Marit with a huge grin on his face.
She did her best to return his smile, but she had a feeling it missed the mark when his grin slowly disappeared. He stared at her intently, as if reading her mind and knowing she was two seconds from bolting off the porch and going to sit in his car.
Before she could blurt out that she wanted to go home, Chad and Britt returned to the deck.
Everyone took turns hugging the newly engaged couple while Marit stood back, feeling even more awkward and out of place.
She was surprised when Britt actually hugged her too.
She didn’t say anything, but Marit could literally feel her happiness.
The atmosphere on the deck was thick with excitement. She sensed nothing but genuine pleasure for the couple.
“There weren’t any boats in the cove blowing their horns, and there’s no lobster dinner, but I did manage the beach, the ring, and my family cheering from the deck,” Chad told Britt, as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side, once everyone had gotten their hugs out of the way.
Britt laughed. “It was perfect. Having your family here was the icing on the cake.”
Again, Marit felt as if she was in the twilight zone.
The comparisons between this family and her own were like night and day, and she was struggling to wrap her mind around the dynamics.
No wonder Zach had wanted to come home to Maine to help his mom.
If Marit had been as close to her brothers as the Youngs were to each other, she had a feeling her life would be much different.
“We have one more thing to share,” Chad said with a huge smile on his face, as he looked down at his fiancée.
“You’re pregnant!” Evelyn blurted excitedly. “Please tell me I’m going to be a grandma!”
Everyone chuckled.
“We’re pregnant!” Britt confirmed. “Well . . . we think we are. It’s a little too early to know for sure, but I missed my period and the line on the test was faint, but still there. I’ve already scheduled a doctor’s appointment, but if we’re right, we’d be due in April!”
Instead of whooping with joy, Evelyn burst into tears.
She was immediately surrounded by her four sons, all clearly panicking at seeing their mom cry as they tried to console her and figure out what was wrong.
“I’m so happy!” she exclaimed finally, as the tears continued to course down her cheeks. “You all have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment!”
“Actually, we do,” Linc said dryly.
“Yeah, it’s not as if you’ve been subtle in your hints that we all need to find women and settle down and give you grandbabies,” Knox added.
“Well, at least Chad listened to me,” Evelyn grumbled, as she wiped her cheeks.
Everyone laughed again.
Marit had already taken a step backward toward the door to the house. She needed to get away from all this happiness. Her emotions were all over the place. She was honored that she’d gotten to be a part of Britt and Chad’s big evening, but she really felt like she shouldn’t be there.
As if he could feel her pulling away, Zach said, “Happy for you, bro. You too, Britt. Thank you for sharing your moment with us. But unfortunately, Marit and I need to get going. We both have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Her to go lobstering, and I need to get to The Lobster Buoy and start cooking. If you need anything, give me a yell. We’ll talk soon. ”
Before she could blink, Zach was leading her back through the house toward the front door. She’d had just enough time to give her thanks to Evelyn for the dinner and let the others know it was good to meet them.
Being polite in public was one thing her brothers had always insisted on . . . behind closed doors, that was another story.
Zach didn’t say anything as he led her to his car. When he’d taken her hand in his, she couldn’t say, but she was grateful. It felt like if he wasn’t holding on to her, she’d splinter into a thousand pieces.
She wasn’t sure why she was struggling so much with everything that had happened and what she’d witnessed.
She’d always thought she was pretty tough.
She could withstand freezing temperatures on a lobster boat, spend hours doing the backbreaking, monotonous work without complaint, and she could hold her own against men a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than her.
But emotionally? She was obviously a freaking mess.
She kind of zoned out while Zach was driving back toward Rockville, lost in her own mind. Trying to sort through her emotions without much luck. It wasn’t until she felt the car stop that she blinked and looked around.
They weren’t in Rockville. Zach had parked in a tiny gravel parking lot of sorts, and she could see a sign indicating they were at some kind of conservation area.
“I know it’s late, but I thought maybe you could use a walk to clear your head. It’s about half a mile to the shore from here. There’s an easy trail. Flat. So even though it’s almost dark, it won’t be dangerous. You want to walk? Or have me take you home?”
Looking over at Zach, she saw he was staring at her with a concerned expression on his face.
His brows were drawn together into a frown .
. . and she felt guilty. He should be on top of the world.
His brother was engaged and he was apparently going to be an uncle.
Instead, he was clearly able to read her like a book—and was worried about her.
It was a weird feeling. To have someone see her so clearly. Marit was used to fading into the background most of the time.
“Walk,” she said quietly. Maybe he was right. Maybe it would help settle her mind.