38. Erik #2
"The island inquiry stays open," I continue. "It may take most of a year. The state keeps a file on me regardless of whether charges ever come from it. I don't walk away clean because Orell was worse."
Rowan looks at me without interrupting.
"I'm fine with that." I mean it. "I wanted a life where you and the babies don't inherit what I inherited. There was always going to be a cost."
She steps close enough that the front of her coat touches mine. "You don't get to decide all the cost belongs to you either."
"I know."
"Do you?"
I almost argue, then stop. "I'm learning."
"That answer is acceptable."
I smile and lead her toward the plaque.
Jeremy Bennett's name has been polished enough that the brass catches the weak afternoon sun. Rowan stops in front of it and reads the new line again, though I know she's already seen it.
JEREMY BENNETT
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
IN RECOGNITION OF HIS SERVICE TO BLACKTHORNE UNIVERSITY
AND HIS ROLE IN EXPOSING FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT
Rowan touches the edge of the plaque with two fingers.
"I hated you here once." She looks up at me. "Not this exact spot, but close enough."
"You hated me in several locations."
"You made it easy."
"I worked hard."
A laugh slips out of her, then fades when I reach inside my coat.
She watches my hand.
The ring box has spent enough time traveling through bad decisions.
I hold it between us without opening it.
Rowan looks behind me at our audience. Harper abruptly turns toward Serena. Callie becomes intensely interested in a bare tree branch. Makari looks directly at us because he refuses to participate in pretending.
"You recruited witnesses."
"They volunteered."
"Callie volunteered everybody."
"That's possible."
Rowan looks back at me, and the amusement in her face is covering nerves now.
I open the box.
The ring is the one I carried through the island and brought home again.
"I bought this before I knew there were three babies." I take the ring from the box but keep it between my fingers. "I was going to ask you at the shoreline house before Makari called."
Rowan's mouth trembles once before she presses her lips together.
"I don't want you to hide again." I keep my voice low enough that the others can't hear every word. "I don't want you to leave law school, stop fighting with people who deserve it, or make yourself smaller because my life takes up too much room."
Her eyes shine, and she looks down for a second before meeting mine again.
"I won't ask you to become easier to protect." I close the box and put it into my pocket, leaving only the ring in my hand. "I'll ask what you need. I'll disagree when I disagree, and I'll probably annoy you frequently."
"That seems guaranteed."
"It does."
She laughs through the tears starting to gather.
I lower myself onto one knee.
Behind her, Callie makes a noise that Laura immediately shushes.
Rowan looks down at me and covers her mouth with one hand.
"I want the house we talked about. I want your books in the office and three cribs in the room beside the library. I want arguments about security cameras, law-school deadlines, and whatever else you decide I'm wrong about." I hold the ring up between us. "Rowan Bennett, will you marry?—"
"Yes."
I stop.
She's already laughing.
"You didn't let me finish."
"I recognized the direction of the question."
"That's not how proposals work."
Rowan wipes beneath one eye. "I'm a lawyer."
"You're a law student."
"That distinction doesn't change my answer."
I stand because remaining on the ground to argue is absurd. "You're impossible."
"You knew that before you bought the ring."
I take her left hand and slide it onto her finger.
It fits.
Rowan looks down, then back at me. "You knew my size."
"I pay attention."
"That's a very diplomatic way to describe how terrifying you are."
I kiss her before she can improve the accusation. The people twenty feet away abandon all pretense.
Callie reaches us first and wraps Rowan in a careful hug before turning on me. "You almost took too long."
"I was speaking."
"She said yes."
"I'm aware."
Laura follows more slowly and kisses Rowan's cheek before touching the ring. Harper hugs her next while Serena stands beside me and makes sure nobody squeezes Rowan hard enough to require medical intervention.
Makari stops on my other side.
"You interrupted the first proposal," I tell him.
He looks at the ring on Rowan's hand. "Apparently, you recovered."
Peter arrives behind him. "He would've taken another month without the island."
"I had a plan."
Peter gives me a look. "You always have a plan."
Liya hands Rowan a glass of sparkling cider from a small table I hadn't noticed beneath the trees. "This one only required thirty-five witnesses, a restored memorial, and enough coordination to make Erik complain for two days."
"I complained about Callie's group chat."
Callie points at me. "It was necessary."
Harper lifts her own glass. "You replied to every message."
"Because half of them contained contradictory instructions."
Makari takes a glass from the table and passes it to me. "You're arguing at your engagement celebration."
Rowan looks at me over the rim of her cider. "That seems appropriate."
I can't disagree.
The celebration stays small because Rowan still tires faster than she admits. Laura brought food from a bakery near campus, while Callie arranged flowers that are already shedding petals onto the tablecloth. Peter eats two pastries while claiming he doesn't like either one.
Harper stands beside Makari near the edge of the group.
They aren't touching.
They also aren't standing far enough apart to fool anyone.
Harper catches Callie staring first. "What?"
Callie takes a long drink and looks innocent. "Nothing."
Makari notices Serena watching him and moves half a step away from Harper.
Harper immediately notices that.
I look at Rowan. "Three months."
She follows my attention. "At least."
Makari looks toward us. "Do you need something?"
"No." Rowan takes another sip. "We're discussing statistical probability."
"That's never reassuring."
Before Rowan can answer, Vanessa approaches from the direction of the law school.
She stops several feet from the table when she notices how many people are gathered there. The hesitation on her face nearly sends her away before Rowan sees her.
Rowan sets her glass down.
Vanessa walks over without looking at anyone else. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Harper starts to move, but Rowan touches her arm.
"It's okay." Rowan steps away from the table without going far enough that anybody loses sight of her.
Vanessa keeps both hands inside the pockets of her coat. "I heard the board restored your father's plaque."
"They did."
"I'm glad." She looks toward it before facing Rowan again. "I wanted to apologize. Not because Evelyn manipulated me or because I was angry with Erik. I chose to take those pictures. I chose to use them, and I knew what it could do to you when I did."
Rowan listens without rescuing her from the silence.
Vanessa swallows. "You trusted me enough to be around you when things were bad. I used what I saw because I wanted leverage. I'm sorry."
Rowan takes a moment before answering. "I accept the apology."
Hope appears too quickly on Vanessa's face.
Rowan doesn't punish her for it, but she doesn't encourage it either. "I don't trust you."
Vanessa looks down and nods. "I know."
"I don't know whether that changes someday." Rowan shifts one hand into her coat pocket. "It doesn't change today."
"That's fair." Vanessa looks at the ring and manages a brief smile. "Congratulations."
"Thank you."
Vanessa leaves without asking for anything else.
Rowan watches until she reaches the law-school steps, then returns to me.
"That went better than I expected," I tell her.
"She apologized without explaining herself into innocence." Rowan picks up her cider again. "That helped."
"You're not forgiving her?"
"I did forgive her." She looks toward Vanessa once more. "Forgiveness isn't access."
I like the distinction enough that I keep it to myself.
The afternoon cools quickly. Serena eventually announces that Rowan has been upright long enough, which results in an argument Rowan loses because every person present sides with Serena.
Callie packs the leftover pastries. Laura gathers the flowers, Liya takes the glasses, and Peter somehow leaves without carrying anything.
Rowan and I start across the quad together.
Her ring catches the light when she takes my hand.
Behind us, Jeremy Bennett's name is back where it belongs.
Halfway toward the parking lot, Rowan stops.
I stop with her.
She doesn't speak. One hand releases mine and presses against the lower curve of her stomach.
Every protective instinct I possess wakes at once, but I keep my voice level. "What happened?"
Rowan looks up at me, startled.
Then she smiles.
"One of them moved."