Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
Bryson
I’m probably not going to be winning any awards for getting this done in a timely fashion, but I think she’ll forgive me for the delay when she sees what I’ve pulled together.
As much as I think my father is a total cock sucker of a human, there’s one thing I’m thankful for when it comes to him, and that’s my grandparents. His parents were amazing people. They did a fuckin’ atrocious job of raising their son, but they were good people.
My grandmother passed away when I was a teenager, and my grandfather left us about a year or so ago.
I think about him from time to time, but after receiving the phone call I got a month back, I felt guilty for not thinking about him more frequently.
It was his lawyer on the phone. Ironically, he’s my father’s biggest competitor in the area. He’s about seventy years old, and he knew my grandad personally. He’s not like any lawyer I’d ever met before, and I’ve met quite a few.
Turns out my grandfather left me a house, he left my sister one as well, and each of us a chunk of inheritance money.
Apparently it was some legal loophole that my grandfather’s lawyer came up with that meant the reading of the will wasn’t done until a year after passing, and that somehow meant it couldn’t be contested. At least I think that’s what he said. Legal chat has never been my forte. Regardless, I only just found out about my inheritance, and there wasn’t shit my father could do about it, should he have tried.
The will remains unchanged, and now, the house is legally mine.
Soon it’ll be ours . At least I hope it will.
I think we’ll be happy here. This place holds nothing but good memories for me. Of staying here by the beach, without my parents.
We used to come and stay here a lot as little kids, before Grandma got sick and they moved closer to the hospital.
I never realised they’d held onto this place. I assumed they’d sold it. I haven’t set foot inside this house for about fourteen years.
It’s a little way out of town, but I don’t think Sophia will mind. She’s not really a city-living kind of girl, and even if she was, I doubt there’d be anything that couldn’t be swayed by the view in front of me.
Watching the small waves lulling into the shore is so peaceful. I can’t wait to wake up to the sound every morning.
I look around, making sure that everything is in position – that I haven’t got anything wrong.
I threw away anything and everything that I associated with that night. I didn’t want to bring even the faintest bit of it here with us.
All that’s left to do is show her.
I’ve organised for Toby to lure her out here, under the false pretence of needing a hand to lift something he’s purchased on marketplace. They’re on their way right now.
I can’t believe she even fell for it, Sophia is the last person you’d ever ask for help to lift something heavy. Bless her, her intentions are always the best, but she’s about fifty kilos dripping wet. She’s not exactly bringing the muscle.
But they’re on their way, and that’s all that matters.
She’ll be here soon, in our new home, and we can start the rest of our lives.
It’s been bittersweet these past few weeks with Josh being sent back to prison, awaiting trial. We were hoping that he’d be offered a deal, which would save Sophia having to go to court and do everything all over again, but it’s looking unlikely that he’s going to be shown any kind of leniency this time around.
I’m glad he’s out of the picture. He can rot behind bars for all I care, but it’s been hard on Sophia. She’s dealt with so many lawyers and so much bullshit.
She’s so strong, no matter what life throws at her, she just keeps on going, usually with a smile on her face.
She deserves a break. I hope this place will give it to her.
I hear the car pull up in the driveway and smile.
She’s here.
I wait out of sight, near the front door. I can hear her voice.
“What are you buying from here anyway?”
“You’ll see in a minute,” Toby replies. I’m surprised he hasn’t given it away, I can hear the amusement in his voice.
“Ari-bug, come hold Mumma’s hand. This is a nice place, we can’t touch anything, okay?”
I chuckle. That instruction isn’t going to hold firm for long. She’s going to take one look at the bedroom filled with all her toys and shit, and lose her mind .
There’s a knock at the door and I grin.
Show time.
I can hear Aria chattering away before I swing open the door.
“Bryson?” Sophia asks, frowning. “What are you doing here?”
“Welcome home, baby.”
“Dadda bear!” Aria yells, pushing past her mother’s legs to throw herself at me.
She started calling me that about a month or so ago, and it makes me melt every single time.
What a fucking privilege this life is.
“Ari-bug,” I reply, picking her up and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She claps her hands and smiles at me. “Ari go play?”
I put her back down on the ground and usher her inside. “Sure can, go and look around.”
“I don’t know what’s happening,” Sophia says, looking back and forth between me and Toby.
“Don’t look at me, I was just the uber driver,” Toby tells her before turning to me. “That’ll be fourteen fifty.”
“”I’ll write you a cheque,” I drawl.
“Can someone please explain what’s going on?”
“I asked your brother to create an elaborate ruse to get you here, so I could surprise you with our new home,” I tell her.
Her jaw drops. “Oh my god, Bryson, this place looks expensive, can we even afford the rent?”
“The landlord owes me a favour.” I smirk.
She eyes me curiously, trying to figure out what I’m talking about.
“I’m going to leave you two love birds to it,” Toby announces, already backing away towards his car.
“Wait, you’re leaving? You don’t want to see the house?”
“I’ve seen it, sis, we’ve all been sneaking off here to help him get it ready for you.”
“You’ve all been in on it? Mum and Dad too?”
“Yeah, we’ve all been bonding behind your back, it’s been magical,” he teases her as he climbs into the driver’s seat. He pulls away, waving to a still baffled-looking Sophia.
“Do you want to see inside?”
She looks around in disbelief. “I don’t know why anyone would want to go inside with a view like that out here.”
I chuckle. “I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the concept of windows, but I promise this place has some good ones.”
I hold my hand out for her to take and lead her inside.
“We’re seriously going to live here?” she asks as she looks around, wide-eyed.
“We sure are, baby, all of our stuff is already here.”
Aria comes running back out then, a huge smile on her face. “Mumma, Ari toys in woom. ”
“That’s your room, Ari girl,” I tell her, crouching down to talk to her. “Do you like it?”
“Ari play baby, baby ush-chair.”
I grin. She’s always leaving the ‘p’ off pushchair. I’ll be sad when she grows out of that.
“You can play with whatever you like, honey.”
She hasn’t seen those toys in so long, she probably thinks they’re all brand new.
She lights up even more and runs away back down the hallway.
“God I love you,” Sophia says.
My eyes find hers as I stand back up and there is so much love there. I’ve never known what it’s like to be so completely adored by someone. It’s pretty great.
“And I love you.”
She rushes towards me and throws her arms around my neck as I catch her. Her lips find mine, and I hold her there, making the most of every second of kissing her.
“Come and see the rest of it,” I tell her as I put her back down, and take her hand in mine again.
I lead her through the kitchen, living room and down the hall to the bedrooms. Aria is so happy in her room she barely even looks up when we come by. I show her the bathroom, the spare bedroom and finally our bedroom and bathroom.
“This place is beautiful, I love the style, it’s so classic and cosy.”
She’s got no idea how much I agree .
“Can we seriously afford this, Bry? This place is so nice, I bet it cost someone a fortune to keep it in such good condition.”
I lead her back out through the living room and onto the front terrace that looks out towards the beach. It’s my favourite spot of the whole property.
I turn to face her and take her other hand in my free one.
“It’s ours, Soph. I inherited it from my grandparents when they passed. I only found out about a month ago, but it’s ours. Clean and clear.”
“ What ?” she breathes. “You inherited a house ?”
“Sure did. It’s our home now.”
“Oh my god, Bry, it’s amazing, I can’t believe this place is yours, it’s so beautiful.”
“ Ours ,” I correct her.
She rolls her eyes. “It’s yours, Bryson, your grandparents gave it to you .”
I was banking on her arguing with me; it wouldn’t have been any fun if she’d let it slide.
“Well then I guess I’ll just have to marry you then.”
She laughs. “Yeah, sure, call the celebrant in and we’ll do it right here.”
She’s just kidding around, but I couldn’t be more serious. I’d love nothing more than to marry her right here, in this very spot.
For now, I’ll have to settle for a proposal.
I drop down to one knee as she looks on in confusion. It’s not until I produce the gold ring from my pocket and hold it up to her, that recognition dawns.
“Maybe we could start with the ring,” I suggest.
Her eyes widen and then well with tears as she fully comprehends what’s about to happen.
“Sophia.”
She lets out a sob. She’s going to have a hard time getting through this if just her name is making her cry.
“Stay with me, baby,” I say with a smile.
She nods her head, tears now streaming down her pretty face.
“Sophia. You’re literally all I’ve ever really wanted in my life. Everything I want to do, achieve, experience… I want to do it with you by my side. Not only you, but Aria as well. You and her, you’re the loves of my life, and I know it’s the only life I’m ever going to want.”
She squeezes my hand but doesn’t try to talk.
“I promise to spend every day loving you exactly the way you deserve. Will you do me the tremendous honour of being my wife?”
“I will, of course I will,” she manages to choke out.
I’ve got the hugest lump in my throat, I’m so fucking happy. She throws herself into my arms again and I wrap her tight in a bear hug.
Fuck, I’m so fucking lucky.
“I can’t believe this,” she says, her voice muffled against my chest. “Does my family know about this part too?”
I loosen my hold on her enough that I can see her face. “Only your dad. I asked for permission. Tradition and all that.”
“You did?” She looks like she’s going to burst into another round of happy tears.
“Of course I did. Can’t ask for a woman’s hand without running it by her daddy.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “I know that would have meant a lot to him.”
It’s the least I could have done. I like and respect Derick, there’s no way I was going to start off forever on the wrong foot.
“Do you think I could give you this thing?” I ask her, holding the ring up again over her shoulder.
“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, I forgot about that part.” She holds out her left hand to me.
I slide it onto her ring finger, where I already know it’ll fit perfectly, because I left no detail to chance.
It’s perfect. Made for her. Literally .
“Are you kidding me with this ring?” she gushes, holding it up to the light. “This is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Chose every detail of it myself,” I say proudly. Cost me a fortune too, but that’s the least important detail about it, especially now I have my newfound inheritance money. I’d have spent every spare cent on it, if that’s what it took. This isn’t just a piece of jewellery, it’s something for her to treasure for the rest of her life.
“You did?”
“Yeah. I got a local guy to make it for you. I saw that thing when it was just a lump of gold and a stone in a little bag.”
“Wow,” she mouths, still staring at the shine.
“It’s stunning. I love it so much.”
“I love you so much.”
She’s beaming. The contrast between her right now, and the scared, bruised girl I took away from that house is so stark, I almost can’t believe it’s the same person.
We’re good for each other and it shows.
Aria chooses that moment to come out dragging a toy dog on a leash.
“Mumma, dog go woof woof.”
Sophia crouches down immediately. “It sure does, Ari-bug, hey come here and see what Mumma has.”
Aria runs over to her and Sophia holds up her hand to show her the sparkly ring.
“Oooh, Mumma shiny.”
“It’s so beautiful, right honey?”
“Ari have?” Aria holds out her hands as though Sophia might like to drop it into her hands.
“Not this one, darling, Mumma can get you one at the store. ”
Ari pouts, but is quickly distracted by the shiny ring. “Pwetty,” she coos.
“How about you have this one, princess?”
Aria and Sophia both look up at me. Aria expectantly, and Sophia in surprise.
“Hold out your arm,” I tell her.
She sticks out one of her adorable little wrists towards me.
I pull the little gold bangle out of my pocket and slide it over her hand, onto her arm. It’s the cutest thing.
I turn it to show her the three little diamonds I had set into it, one for each of us.
“You’ve got sparkles too.” I show her.
“Mumma, look!” she says excitedly, thrusting it in Sophia’s direction.
“Oh my gosh, it’s so beautiful, baby, I love it,” she gushes to her daughter. “Did you say thank you to Dadda bear?”
Sophia looks like she’s about to burst into tears again.
Aria turns around and flings herself at my legs, wrapping her arms around me. “Fank you, Dadda!”
“Thank you,” Sophia mouths at me. “I love you so, so much.”
“And somehow I still love you even more.”