Chapter 13 #3
“It’s all because of you, you know.” He’d rehearsed this moment a thousand times in his mind, but now that it was upon him, the words he’d practiced didn’t seem adequate.
“What is?"
“Everything. Everything is perfect because of you and how much I love you. I was a wreck of a man when I met you, and slowly but surely, one day at a time, you put me back together. You gave me back my life, Daisy.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “You did the same for me,” she said in a hushed tone.
“After everything that happened with Truck,” she said of the ex-boyfriend who had abused her, “I couldn’t imagine taking a chance with any guy again.
But there you were, every night after long days at work, coming to check on me.
You were so sweet and caring. You made me forget all my plans to stay single forever. ”
“Thank goodness for that,” he said, smiling as he took her left hand and kissed the back of it. “You mean everything to me, Daisy. I hope you know that.”
She moved onto his lap, straddling him and taking his face in her hands to kiss him. “I do. Of course I do. How could I not when you tell me every day?”
David drew her in closer and fell into the kiss, his tongue rubbing against hers and setting off a predictable reaction. He broke the kiss and redirected his attention to her neck. “Do I tell you too often?”
“No,” she said, laughing as she tilted her head to give him better access. “I never get tired of hearing how much you love me.”
“I hope you’ll never get tired of that or of me.”
“Never. No way. I love you so much. Sometimes I think you have no idea just how much. You say I put you back together. How about what you did for me? You were the first guy I ever dated who treated me with respect and kindness and sweetness. I’d never had any of that until I had you.”
“You deserve all that and so much more. You deserve everything.”
“As long as I have you and us, I have everything I’ll ever want or need.”
She had given him the perfect opening to pop the question.
“Could I get up for a second?” he asked.
“Oh, sure.” She moved back to where she’d started out, legs under her as always.
For the rest of his life, he would never forget how her expression went from baffled when he moved the coffee table out of his way to astounded when he dropped to one knee before her.
“David,” she said, gasping. “What…”
He took hold of her hand once again. “My beautiful, sweet, adorable, sexy Daisy. Would you please do me the huge, enormous, life-changing honor of being my wife?”
“Yes! Oh my God, yes. Yes, yes, yes.” She threw herself into his arms and kissed him.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” he said when they came up for air.
“Was there any doubt?”
“Not really, but thanks for not making me suffer.”
“I would never do that to you.”
“Wait! I forgot the most important part.” He hadn’t forgotten, but now he couldn’t wait to give her the ring.
Still smiling at her enthusiastic response to his proposal, he retrieved the ring from his pocket and slid the three-carat stunner onto her left hand.
A two-carat princess-cut diamond was framed by another carat of smaller diamonds that continued all the way around the platinum band.
“David. Oh my God.”
“Do you like it?”
“Do I like it?” she asked, laughing as tears ran unchecked down her face. “It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen! How did you do this? You never left the island!”
“A jeweler on the mainland helped me out. I told him I wanted something spectacular for the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. I said it had to be as special as she is. A hundred emails later, I think we got it.” Her reaction made all the effort to get it right worthwhile.
She continued to stare at the ring, moving it this way and that to catch the light from the candles and the tree. And as she studied it, her smiled dimmed ever so slightly, enough that he noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
“How could anything be wrong?”
“Daisy, I know you well enough by now to know when something is troubling you. Please just tell me what it is.”
“You’ll think I’m silly.”
“Never.”
She looked up at him shyly. “I worry that you spent too much money.”
Knowing how frugal she’d had to be in her old life, he’d expected her to feel that way. “If I’d spent ten times more, it still wouldn’t have been enough.”
“Yes, it would!”
“No, it wouldn’t. I don’t want you to worry about money anymore. I make a very nice living, and so do you. We’ve worked hard and have earned the right to have nice things and enjoy life. It made me happy to buy this ring for you. It’s the ring I wanted you to have.”
“It’s incredible, David,” she whispered. “I can’t stop looking at it.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it.” She looked up at him with big eyes gone liquid with emotion. “I’ll never forget this night. Not ever.”
He moved back onto the sofa and took her into his arms, kissing her. “And we haven’t even begun to celebrate. How about some champagne?”
“I’d love some—after you kiss me some more.”
“I can do that,” he said, thrilled to have the rest of his life to kiss her and love her and have everything with her.