Chapter Thirty-Four
What.Is. Happening. Right now? This sweet, sweet man is down on one knee, his injured leg bent behind him, and he has the cutest little plastic turtle ring in his fingers, of which I have no idea when and where it came from. But he hasn’t said the words yet, so my brain hasn’t quite figured out what is going on.
“Will you marry me, Sunshine?” The words come out as a whisper, and… welp, there are the words, and now I am one hundred percent certain what is going on. Had he been planning this? But how? I can see the moisture in his eyes, but I won’t point it out. Apparently, I won’t do anything because all I can do is stare. I shake my head to hopefully dislodge some thoughts from my brain, and I think he takes it as a no because the ring lowers and his eyes fall to the ground before me. Shoot. No. no. no. no. no. Can I get a do-over, please? This was not how it was supposed to go. He pushes himself back and somehow manages to sit on his butt, his hand coming up to his face to hide whatever expression he doesn’t want me to see. But I still can’t move. It’s shock. I must be in shock. He is just sitting there. The poor, sweet man is just sitting there, and I haven’t said anything. He told me he loved me. He wants to marry me. Yet all I can do is stand here like one of those statues in the Louvre, frozen for all time and eternity. Snap out of it, Molly.
I lower myself to sit cross-legged before him and move his hands from his face, his watery eyes searching mine. Clasping his hands in mine, I blink back the tears from my eyes and muster the courage to answer him, my heart beating like the wings of a hummingbird as I prepare myself to say the words I have been wanting to say for days. But before I say them, I take the little plastic turtle ring from his hand and slide it onto my ring finger, a perfect fit if I ever saw one.
“Are you stealing that ring, or do you have an answer for me, Miss Thatcher?” He squeezes my hand in his, his thumb running back and forth over the little turtle.
“Sure.” I say, shrugging my shoulders as he looks me in the eyes, his eyes promising retaliation for making him wait so long.
“Sure? I ask you if you will marry me, and all you can say is sure? For the love of all that is holy woman, you’ve gotta give me more than tha–,” But he doesn’t have a chance to finish because I’m on him in an instant. Instead of him kissing the heck out of me this time, I kiss the heck out of him, and then some. When we finally pull apart, we are both out of breath, but not enough for me to finish telling him what I wanted to say. But without interruptions this time. I climb onto his lap, being careful not to jostle his injured leg, and thread my hands behind his neck as he wraps his arms around my back. “I would love to be your Mrs. Heyes, Coop, and before I forget, because I plan on kissing the crap out of you again in a minute, I love you too,” and that is all the breath I have words for, because my plans go out the window and he takes charge, kissing me with reckless abandon, until a throat clears behind us, causing us to stop.
“Well, I suppose there’s something the both of you should tell me?” Coop and I laugh as I try to help him off the ground, his dad hovering in the doorway of the boat.
“Yeah. I suppose,” Coop responds, shrugging his shoulders, “but I think you already know what’s going on, Dad.” His dad has a sparkle in his eye as he looks at me, and I’m also pretty sure he knows.
“Well, Molly, did you agree to marry my boy, or am I going to have to deal with a mopey grown manchild for the rest of my life?” Coop frowns at his dad, and I laugh at the both of them, taking a few steps towards Coop”s dad so I can be closer to him.
“Well… that depends on a few things, Dad.” I throw my arms around Mr. Heyes’s middle and squeeze him tight, but not too tight. “How would you feel about having a not-so-mopey son and a very happy daughter for the rest of your life?” He chuckles as I squeeze him to my side, and he wraps his arm around my shoulders, motioning for Coop to move to his other side.
“I think that sounds like the best news I have had in a long while, Molly, but how long am I going to have to wait?” He looks from me to Coop, and we lock eyes, grinning at one another.
“I’m pretty sure I know a judge in town who is pretty flexible with fast weddings. Sunshine, how do you feel about getting married next week? We can fly in whoever you want, and everyone I know already lives here. You would even have a few days to find a pretty dress.”
I’m pretty sure my body is vibrating with excitement. His dad lets me go, and I take one final leap into Coop’s arms, forgetting about his injured leg and almost causing the both of us to fall over. I carefully lower myself to the ground and bounce on the balls of my feet. “Yes, yes, yes. Let’s do it.” I can’t help myself, and apparently I can’t contain my joy in front of his dad because now I am kissing him in a not-so-PG way.
“Alright, alright. I’ll leave the two of you alone.” He waves goodbye and shuts the door behind him as I continue to kiss my fiancé’s face off.
The End