Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Zander
S hawn and Sally Shepard arrive with Scarlett’s best friend, Anna, in tow.
Scarlett and I didn’t speak after I made her talk to me when she showered earlier today. I waited until her parents arrived to get ready to leave.
But before I did, I kissed Atlas and whispered to him how much I love him before handing him back to Scarlett. I glanced at her as she stared at me with red-rimmed eyes.
It guts me knowing the tears she’s cried the last few hours are because of me, but we’re at an impasse. If she can’t trust me, we have a foundation filled with gaping holes, not just cracks.
I hug Scarlett and kiss her forehead before turning away and grabbing my duffel bag from the floor. I can’t linger for long because I’ll stay. I packed a few changes of clothes; I plan to crash on my couch in my office at the bar.
I nod at her parents and best friend and then start out the front door. As I’m about to reach my truck, I hear footsteps behind me. “Zander, a word?”
It’s her dad, Shawn. Things may have started off rocky when we told them about the baby, but when they explained their story, it made a little more sense. And they’ve been very close to Scarlett once those bridges were mended.
I open my truck door and toss my duffel in before turning to face Shawn. “Sure.”
“Look, I know you don’t want me to butt in where I’m not wanted, but please be patient with my little girl. The last year has been a lot on her, on both of you. The hormones in pregnancy and even well after can affect her emotions and the way she responds to things. And I’m sure you know that. But I see the way you look at her. I know you love her, so don’t give her up because it’s not as easy as you thought it would be.”
I reach into my pocket and pull out a black velvet ring box. “I have no plans to give her up. Scarlett and Atlas are my world, but I can’t do this if she doesn’t trust me.”
He nods. “I understand. And I don’t know much about what happened to you, but I know it was similar to what happened to her. I also know you’ve had quite a bit more time to recover from it than she has. Think about it from her perspective.”
“I am. That’s why I’m staying away for a few days to let her clear her head. I don’t want to be without them for even a second. But she needs space from me to figure this thing out for herself. The ball is in her court,” I tell him and open my truck door again.
Before I close the door, he says, “I can respect that. But don’t stay away too long or lead her on. The protective instincts you feel for Atlas are the same ones I feel for my little girl and my grandson.”
I nod in understanding, but he stops me one more time. “By the way, you have my blessing to marry my daughter. If you can get past this hurdle, I think this wedding will be the one that sticks,” he says before walking back into my house to stay with the woman I love and our son.
The first night without Scarlett and Atlas is torture. She sent me a video of him sleeping and texted me goodnight and she missed me. I told her the same. Because I do with every breath I take and every beat of my heart.
I’ve second-guessed my choice to stay at the bar at least a dozen times last night and a dozen more today. Dad keeps giving me a look that seems to be a mix between sympathy and frustration. I’ve asked him his opinion, but only told him the bare minimum details.
I think he sees why I’m here instead of at home where my heart is, but he’s also irritated at the situation enough to have called my mom. She dropped in a few times to check on me, but she made it clear I better take my butt back home where I belong in a couple more days. I love that they love her and Atlas the way they do. I knew they’d be great at being grandparents, but seeing the love they have for Scarlett is something else. She’s not just some woman to them, she’s the one that gave them everything too when she brought Atlas into this world and saved their son from a loveless existence.
It’s Thursday and the dinner rush is almost over, so I decide to take a break and head to my office. I’m about to check my messages, but realize I left my phone in the kitchen where Dad is. I talked to Scarlett earlier, but it’s past time to check in again.
I start for my office door after grabbing a bottle of water out of my mini fridge but stop short when Vivian fills my doorway. “Hi, Zander. I was hoping to catch you.”
“What do you want?” I say through gritted teeth.
She starts to touch my face, but I sidestep away from her.
“Don’t be that way. I’ve missed you. I miss us. I told you before I wouldn’t give up,” she says in a voice that I used to long to hear but now I find downright whiny.
“I’m not interested, Vivian. We’ve been over for a long time. I’ve moved on and I have a son. I’m happy,” I tell her.
“Oh really? Because it looks like she has your son at your house without you.”
“You really are spying on us, aren’t you?” I grit out and walk past her to the hallway leading to the bar area.
“I had to see for myself whether you were happy or not. And you’re clearly not. You’re only with her for the baby. You’ll see that as time goes on. And I’ll wait for you…as long as it takes. You’re it for me, just like you said I was it for you,” she says as she wraps her perfectly manicured hand around my arm.
I turn and face her. “Where’s Sam?”
“We weren’t a good fit. I made a mistake,” she says cryptically like she did during our first encounter.
“He left you, didn’t he? Or you caught him cheating on you the way y’all went behind my back. That’s the only thing that makes sense. It’s been years, so why now?”
I struck a nerve because her cheeks redden and her eyes narrow. “He didn’t appreciate me. I figured it out way too late.”
“And you expect me to just take you back with open arms, like the last few years didn’t happen? Like you didn’t leave me for my best friend moments before our wedding?”
She rises on her toes and kisses my cheek, and I stiffen. “I’m so sorry. But if you give us another chance, I’ll make it up to you every day for the rest of our lives. It should be us that just had a baby, not you and some girl you had a one-night stand with.”
I’m about to tell her to leave when I get the feeling someone is watching me. I glance up and find Scarlett’s blue gaze on us. She looks tired and beautiful. But she also looks like I’ve struck her. Vivian notices too and tightens her grip on my bicep.
I walk toward Scarlett as she stands there with her pain-filled gaze stuck on me. When I reach her, Vivian isn’t far behind and the entire crowd in this bar turns their attention to us. That’s another thing small towns are known for…there are no secrets. Everyone knows what’s going on, but they know nothing all at the same time.
Scarlett’s chest rises and falls and her beautiful blue eyes shimmer with unshed tears as she speaks. “Will you please come home? I choose you,” she blurts out.
“What?” I ask. I heard her, but I need to hear her say it one more time.
“I choose you, Zander. Yesterday, today, and every day after this. I choose you. I love you and I trust you to keep my heart safe. I trust you completely. This is me standing here, telling you the truth from the bottom of my heart and asking you to choose me too. I know we’ll have storms, but I don’t want to weather any more of them without you,” she says as her chin wobbles.
I stand in awe of her courage and her beauty. This woman…I’ve known for a while that she’s it for me. I’d walk through fire for her. I’d do anything just to show her how much I love her.
“Will you choose me, Zander?” she asks as she blinks away tears, her eyes wide and full of hope.
“I—”
Vivian cuts me off. “I told you he’d always love me. I tried to warn you. We were just talking about getting back together before you came here and started embarrassing yourself and begging,” she says with a sneer on her face.
“This is between Scarlett and me. Back off,” I say to Vivian. I haven’t told her to leave yet, because I want her, this small-town crowd, and the whole world to know Scarlett is mine.
Scarlett looks from Vivian to me as the tears start to drop off her chin. She’s waiting for my answer even though she’s scared it won’t be the one she wants.
I walk up to her and take her face in my hands so I know she’s listening and will hear me this time. “I choose you, Scarlett. You are the only one for me. Thank you for trusting me with your heart and our son’s too.”
I hear a gasp from Vivian behind us, but the entire bar is so quiet you could hear a pin drop aside from the radio playing through the speakers mounted on the walls in this bar.
“I have a question for you too, sunshine,” I say as I fish the ring box from my pocket. Ironically the proposal I’m about to make isn’t the first proposal to happen in this bar. Hawk proposed to Brittney here too, so maybe this bar is lucky.
I drop to one knee and Scarlett covers her mouth and her eyes widen in surprise.
“Scarlett Shepard, you barreled into my life without warning. I was enamored by you, but I never could’ve dreamed we’d be standing here today. I know we’ve been through a lot in a short amount of time, but, Scarlett, you shared your sunshine with me. You pulled me out of the dark hole I’d found myself in…you brought me back to life. So, I’m kneeling before you now asking you to share your sunshine with me from this day forward. You’ve given me a son, and I want to give you the world, because you and Atlas are mine. And if you’ll let me, I’ll start by giving you my last name. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to say you’re my wife and share the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
She laughs with tears in her eyes as her gaze finds the diamond ring in my hand. These are happy tears. She kneels with me. “Yes. I’ll marry you.” She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me like no one else is in this bar with us.
Clapping and cheers erupt around us as we break our kiss. I slide the engagement ring on her finger and help her to her feet. “It’s beautiful. How long have you been carrying this?”
“Long enough. Your dad gave me his blessing a couple days ago,” I say close to her ear as I hold her in my arms.
Scarlett taps me on the shoulder, and I turn in time to see Vivian storm out of the bar and hopefully out of our lives for good.
“Will she keep trying?” Scarlett asks quietly.
I answer honestly. “I don’t know, sunshine. But it doesn’t matter. Because you and Atlas are all I’ll ever want. You’re not getting rid of me, even if you try.” I wink and kiss her again.
“We’ll face whatever storms are out there, together. I have my very own ray of sunshine to chase them away,” I tell her and keep her in my arms.
She giggles and says, “I wish I could make love to you right now.”
“Calm down, baby. We have plenty of time for that. And I plan to explore every inch of you once we get the green light from Dr. Ray. Maybe a month longer, right?” I ask.
“Something like that. But hey, are we going to trash my dress this time? We trashed the other one because it wasn’t the right fit for me…in more ways than one. But this one…well, maybe we should trash it because I’m never wearing another one,” she says with a cheeky grin on her pretty face.
“Maybe I’ll trash my tux too. We can create whatever magic you want that day. I know some good photographers that don’t mind taking direction from one of their own,” I tell her and wink.
“Oh, and Atlas can be our ring bearer! He’s going to be so handsome!” she says.
As I stare at her, I can see the little crinkles at the corners of her eyes that tell me her smile is real and her happiness is genuine. I can’t wait to live life with her and the little family we created. And I know I’d trash anything and everything she wants me to, just to catch a glimpse of the sunshine in her smile. Some people never figure out how to capture the sun, but loving Scarlett is the closest I’ll ever be. Waking up next to her is a picture I get to take every day for the rest of my life.