Chapter Twenty-One #2
“Dramatic much?” Harper muttered.
“Learned it from Ginger. That girl is the biggest drama queen ever. But seriously, you’ll stop feeling bad about what happened, right?
It wasn’t your fault, you got to me as soon as you could.
I’m not messed up in the head over it, and Linc is right, we have to look at the good things that have happened as a result of the bad. ”
“I’ll try.”
“Let Linc help you. He makes you happy.”
“He does,” Harper agreed. “And I’ll do my best, as long as you promise to talk to me if you ever start to get depressed about what happened.”
“Deal. But I’m not going to get depressed. I’m good. Can we go soon? I’m hungry, and Zach said he was making some good old-fashioned comfort food. Tacos.”
Linc chuckled. He wasn’t sure when tacos became comfort food, but if that’s what Kash wanted, that’s what he’d get. He grabbed his SUV keys off the counter and held them out to Kash. “Want to go start the car? Pull it around?”
“Seriously?” Kash asked, pulling out of his mom’s arms. “I can drive your SUV?”
“You can pull the car around,” Linc repeated. “That’s not exactly driving, but yes, you can.”
“Sa-weet!” Kash exclaimed, snatching the keys out of Linc’s hand.
“Jacket!” Harper called out as he jogged toward the door.
“No need! It’s hot out!” Kash hollered back.
After he was gone, she rolled her eyes. “It’s warmer, yes. It’s not hot. Why are kids so reluctant to wear coats?”
“Don’t know. But does it really matter? Are you okay?” he asked, wanting to see where her head was at. Kash had made some very good points, and he hoped Harper really took what her son said to heart.
“I’m better,” she admitted. “I still feel guilty that we were having wild monkey sex all over this house while my kid was suffering. But Kash is right. We didn’t know. And . . .” She hesitated, then licked her lips as she looked at Linc. “I have to admit that last weekend was . . . amazing.”
“It was,” Linc agreed.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Are you ready for today? It’s going to be crazy.”
“I know. But I think we all need this. Need to be around the people we love the most.”
“Agreed.”
“And Zach and Marit are going to tell your mom that they’re married. I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”
Linc laughed out loud. “Mom’s gonna lose her mind. But she’ll be fine with it in the end, because all she really wants is for us to be happy. And about twenty-three grandchildren.”
Harper giggled. “You aren’t wrong.”
“What do you think? Should we do my brother a solid and distract her with our own news?”
“What news is that?” Harper asked.
“That we’re engaged.”
She frowned. “We are? Funny, I don’t remember a proposal,” she sassed.
“That’s what I’m talking about. I have a ring in my pocket. I’d like to ask you to marry me today, while we’re surrounded by our friends and family. I’ve already asked Kash’s permission, and he granted it.”
“Wait, you did?” Harper asked.
“Uh-huh. Told him that I loved him and his mom and couldn’t see living the rest of my life without you guys. Said I’d eventually like to officially adopt him, but that would be up to him, and no matter what he decided, he’d always be a son to me.”
Harper’s eyes filled with tears. “Linc,” she whispered.
“Will you marry me, Harper? Live in this wreck of a house that will one day, hopefully, be completely renovated? Will you be my sleep aid, my confidant, my best friend? Let me love you like you deserve to be loved? Support you and Kash, share everything I have with you, and treat you like the queen you’ve always been? ”
The tears in her eyes spilled over. “Only if you’ll let me do the same to you in return.”
“Yes,” Linc said without hesitation. “Since you asked so nicely, I’ll marry you.”
Harper giggled. “That’s my line,” she protested.
Linc raised a brow, waiting for her to say it.
“Yes, Lincoln Young. I’ll marry you.”
“Thank fuck,” he breathed. It wasn’t as if he’d thought she would say no, but things had moved quickly between them, and Kash going missing was a huge disruption in how well things had been going, so he thought she might want to wait.
“You said something about a ring?” she asked with a smile, wiping her tears away with her shoulder.
“I did,” Linc confirmed. “You want it now, or do you want to use it as a way to distract my mom from Zach and Marit’s news that they went off and got married without inviting her?”
“You’re a good brother,” Harper said. “Fine. I’ll let us be the distraction. But tell me this—is the ring big?”
“Huge.”
She smiled. “Emerald cut?”
“What else? That’s your favorite.”
“I love you, Linc.”
“Love you too. One thing, though . . . I want the whole shebang. Chad did the family thing, Zach did the secret thing, I want the wedding ceremony with all the trimmings. Bridesmaids, groomsmen, Kash as my best man, flowers, you in a beautiful white designer dress, your dad walking you down the aisle, a weeklong honeymoon somewhere warm where I can drool over you in a bikini . . . all of it. You have any objections to that?”
Linc didn’t know why he wanted or needed that, just that he did.
“No objections,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears again.
“Good. Because I’ve already reserved the Samoset Resort for a year and a half from now.”
Harper’s eyes widened. “You did?”
“Uh-huh. It’s beautiful. We can get married on the coast overlooking Rockville Harbor, have the reception there as well, so no one has to drive from one venue to another.
They can put up a huge tent, so if it’s raining it’ll still work out.
And since it’s right by the Rockville Breakwater Lighthouse, our guests can walk the mile or so out to see it if they get bored.
What really convinced me though was this one picture I saw on their website of a couple standing on the grounds at night, with the stars and Milky Way behind them. I thought Kash would love that.”
She was still staring at him, and Linc couldn’t read the look on her face.
“What? Too soon? You don’t want to get married there? It’s fine, I can still get the deposit back, I just thought—”
“No! It’s perfect. I love that place. I just . . . I’m so happy.”
“I’m glad.”
“Do you think your mom will want to help me plan things?”
“I think she’d love that,” Linc said, thrilled beyond belief. “She’s dreamed about planning our weddings almost as long as she’s yearned for grandkids.”
“And a year and a half is perfect. Thank you, Linc.”
“I’d marry you tomorrow if I could, but I want to give you a fairy-tale wedding, and in order to do that, we need time.”
Harper leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. For the first time in a week, Linc felt his Harper in the kiss. The one before Kash’s ordeal. She wasn’t simply going through the motions. He hoped that meant she was well and truly starting to heal from the trauma of her child being missing.
A loud honk sounded from outside, and Linc pulled back with a laugh. “Guess Kash is ready to go, huh?” he asked.
“Sounds like it. Thank you for including him in your proposal,” Harper said.
“Of course. This is as much his decision as it is yours. I realize he’ll only be here for another five-ish years before he heads off to college to live his life, but since we’ll be together the rest of our lives, I wanted him to be okay with everything.”
“He loves you. Thank you for stepping up. For loving us both.”
“He’s a part of you. I couldn’t love you and not love him. Now, let’s get going. Since Kash mentioned them, I have a hankering for Zach’s tacos as well. He does something to the meat that’s amazingly good. He refuses to say what seasoning he uses though. It’s so annoying.”
“Little brothers usually are,” Harper said with a chuckle. “Wait, should we talk about how this is going to go down? How you’re going to propose?”
“I already proposed,” Linc corrected her. “And you and Kash both said yes.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m going to get down on one knee, you’re going to cry, my mom is going to cry, probably the girls too, since they’ve got those pregnancy hormones going on, and you’re going to say yes. That’s how it’s going to go.”
Harper rolled her eyes again, and Linc couldn’t help but think about how much he loved that glimpse of sass. She would keep him on his toes for sure.
“I meant, when.”
“Whenever Zach breaks the news to Mom that he’s already married.”
“You’re hopeless. Should we tell Zach what we’re planning?”
“Nope. Let him sweat it. Serves him right for not letting Mom be there.”
“You’re mean.”
“Big brothers usually are,” Linc said, riffing off her earlier words.
The horn sounded again.
“Right, let’s get going before Kash wakes the dead,” Linc joked. He held Harper’s jacket as she shrugged it on, then kissed her once more. He’d never get tired of touching her, of seeing the joy in her eyes when he told her that he loved her.
This woman was his everything. He’d never thought he could be as happy as he was right this moment.
His future looked brighter than ever, and he was excited to live every day with Harper and Kash at his side.
They made him a better man, lover, friend, brother, son.
He was determined to always be there for them both.
He’d make mistakes, because he was human, but together they could get through anything. That had already been proved.
He was looking forward to today. To spending time with his family and friends. To sharing the news that he and Harper were getting married. To seeing the joy on his mom’s face when she realized she’d get to finally plan the big wedding she’d always wanted.
He hoped Victor would be on his best behavior, especially since he wasn’t thrilled about Linc marrying his daughter. But if not, he wasn’t worried. Linc had plans for that grumpy bastard too.
Nothing big. Just being the best son-in-law in the whole damn world. Loving Victor’s daughter and grandson unconditionally. And supplying the man with all the craft beer he could ever want.
It would take time, but Linc hoped the man would eventually realize he was the best thing that had ever happened to Harper.