Chapter 33 #3
“That’s reassuring.” His mouth curved, but the nerves remained in his eyes as they reached the doors leading onto the terrace. He stopped there and turned toward her, lifting their joined hands until he could press his lips against her knuckles. “You look beautiful, Glens.”
The tenderness in his voice nearly undid her before she had any idea what he was doing, and Glenna reached up to smooth her fingers along his jaw. “You already told me that upstairs.”
“Didn’t say I wasn’t done looking.” Tyrone turned his face enough to kiss her palm, then drew a breath and reached for the door. “Come on.”
Tiny lights stretched over the terrace, while flowers filled the tables and spilled along the stone balustrade, and the last of the evening sun shimmered across the Ligurian Sea.
Everyone they loved was there, dressed up and waiting, but Glenna barely made it past the first sweep of familiar faces before she turned toward Tyrone.
He wasn’t looking at the terrace; he was looking at her, and the expression on his face sent her heart racing as understanding arrived all at once, and Glenna felt tears sting her eyes before he’d said a single word.
“Oh, Ty.”
Tyrone exhaled as he brought both of her hands into his, and for several seconds he seemed to forget there was anyone else around them. “I had a speech.”
Glenna laughed softly through the emotion already gathering in her throat. “Was it a good one?”
“Best fucking speech I’ve ever written, and I can’t remember a damn word of it.” His smile came slowly, and made her heart squeeze. “Apparently you walking toward me in that dress wasn't part of my rehearsal.”
“You rehearsed?”
“For weeks.” Tyrone’s thumbs moved across her fingers as his smile faded into something softer. “Wanted to get this right.”
The admission broke through every defense Glenna possessed, and she moved closer until there was barely any space between them. “Then stop worrying about getting it right and tell me what you want.”
Tyrone stared at her for a long moment, and when he finally spoke, his voice had lost every trace of the speech he’d planned.
“You. That’s what I want.”
Her breath caught.
“I want mornings with you when neither of us wants to get out of bed. I want dinner together and stupid arguments and you stealing my coffee even though yours is sitting right there.” His smile appeared when hers did, but the emotion in his eyes never wavered.
“I want nights when we stay up too late talking about nothing, vacations we haven’t planned yet, birthdays, Christmases, anniversaries, and every ordinary day in between. ”
Her eyes filled as she listened, because there was nothing complicated about what he was offering her.
A life. Their life.
Tyrone lifted one of her hands and pressed it over his heart, and the rapid beat beneath her palm made another tear spill free.
“I want to grow old with you, Glens. I want enough years that we’re both gray, you’re still telling me I’m impossible, and I’m still wondering how the hell I got lucky enough to wake up beside you.”
“You’ll always be impossible.” Her voice trembled with the laugh she couldn’t quite contain, and she brushed her thumb across his shirt because touching him was the only thing keeping her together.
“Absolutely.” Tyrone smiled as he lifted her hand from his chest and kissed her fingers, but his eyes shone when he looked at her again. “I love you. I love who I am when I’m with you, and I love the life we’re building together. I want more of it. As much as we can get.”
Then his hand slipped from hers. He reached into his pocket and lowered himself onto one knee.
Glenna’s breath left her in a rush as both hands flew to her mouth, and whatever chance she’d had of keeping the tears under control disappeared when he opened the small velvet box and looked up at her.
The man was shaking. Her Tyrone was actually shaking.
His smile wavered as he held her gaze. “Glenna, I want every tomorrow I get to have you in it. Will you marry me?”
Her heart felt too full for her chest, and for one ridiculous second she couldn’t force a single word out of her mouth. She looked at the man she loved, at the nervous hope in his eyes, and the answer felt so enormous she couldn’t understand how three letters could possibly hold it.
“Yes.” Her voice broke as the tears spilled freely, and she laughed when Tyrone’s eyes closed for a fraction of a second as relief swept over his face. She reached for him because she couldn’t stand another moment with him down there.
“Yes, Ty. Of course I’ll marry you.”
Tyrone was on his feet before she finished, and Glenna went straight into his arms as the terrace erupted in cheers and applause.
His mouth found hers, and she wrapped her arms around his neck while he lifted her against him, kissing her until the cheering and laughter around them became little more than background noise.
When he finally lowered her feet to the ground, he kept her wrapped tightly against him, his forehead resting against hers while they both tried to catch their breath.
“You made me wait,” he said.
Glenna laughed as she slid her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck. “It was about two seconds.”
“Longest two seconds of my fucking life.” The nerves had disappeared completely, replaced by so much happiness that Glenna’s heart squeezed all over again as he kissed the tip of her nose. “Love you, Glens.”
She looked into the face she wanted to wake up beside for all those mornings he’d promised her and smiled as she pulled him back toward her.
“Love you too, Ty.”
Then she kissed her future husband while everyone they loved celebrated around them.