“I’m in love with you too, kid.”
I smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I’d practiced this speech in my head dozens of times. But my stomach was filled with butterflies and somehow them flapping around messed with the plans in my brain. I shook my head, like I could clear it of my nerves. “I…” my voice trailed off. Screw the plan. I handed him the box. “Open it.”
He pressed his lips together, like he wanted to say something. But instead of speaking, he slowly unwrapped the paper and took off the lid.
There were two rings inside. One that would fit me. And one that I hoped would fit him.
“We can’t really get married legally. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get married.”
He looked up at me.
“What matters is what’s in our hearts. And my heart aches for you. I love you and only you. I’m sorry it’s taken me forever to figure this out…” I got down on one knee. “Richard Miller…will you marry me?”
There were tears in his eyes as he pulled me into his lap. His lips crashed against mine. And as happy as I was that this probably meant ‘yes,’ I needed him to know exactly what he was agreeing to.
I put my hand on his chest. “There’s something you should probably know.”
“Kiss me, Brooklyn.”
I smiled as he tried to kiss me again, but I pulled back. “There is one contingency to this marriage.”
“The answer is yes, to whatever it is.” He kissed me again.
I laughed. “Miller, I’m serious.”
“Okay.” His eyes searched mine. “What is it?”
“We have to get married tonight. Because this is a shotgun situation.”
His eyes slowly traveled to my belly. “What?”
“I’m pregnant. I took the test this week.”
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.” I held my breath waiting for his reaction.
“You’re pregnant?” he asked again.
My heart started racing. I was good at reading him, but right now I had no idea what he was thinking. “I think I’m a few months along.”
He placed his hand on my stomach. “You’re pregnant.” This time it wasn’t a question. And a smile spread across his face. “You’re pregnant!” He stood up, pulling me with him, twirling me around.
I laughed as I moved my legs around his waist. “We’re having a baby.”
The tears were back in his eyes. “I’m going to be a dad.”
This joy in his voice brought tears into my eyes too. “Yes.”
He kissed me and this time I let him. I wasn’t sure why I’d been nervous. Miller and I were in this together. We’d made roots in this town. This was our home. And we were going to be a family.
“We should probably make this thing official,” I said.
“I’m more than ready to consummate our marriage.” His hands slid to my ass.
I laughed and slowly unwound myself from him. “No. Well, yes. But come with me first.” I grabbed the box of rings and pulled him to the back door.
One of my presents to him had been a pair of matching flannel pajamas for us. We’d changed into them right away this morning and we were both still wearing them. I knew we looked ridiculous as we stuffed our feet into boots and grabbed our winter coats before heading outside.
I hadn’t realized it, but it had started snowing. Light flurries danced around us. I plugged in the fairy lights, lighting up the snow falling from the sky. It was magical. It was perfect.
I didn’t have any more words planned. So I just pulled Miller into the middle of our backyard and spoke from the heart. “I’m sorry it took me so long to be ready for this. But it was always you. I’ve always loved you. Do you promise all the marriage things that I can’t remember right now?” I said and lifted up his ring out of the box.
He smiled down at me. “I do.”
I slid the ring onto his finger.
He grabbed my ring from the box. “I will spend my whole life loving you, Brooklyn. The life we created here together is better than anything in my wildest dreams. Us against the world.” He put his hand on my stomach. “The three of us against the world.”
I couldn’t help the tears streaming down my cheeks. The wind blew sending flurries dancing between us. And I had the strangest sensation that this was all a dream. Because my life had never felt this good. My life had been riddled with so much heartache up until this point. But I felt whole now. Like none of those bad things had happened. As long as Miller was beside me. I could spend a lifetime of happiness with this man.
He smiled down at me. “Brooklyn, do you promise all the marriage things that I can’t remember right now?”
I laughed. “A million times yes. I do.”
He slid the simple band onto my finger, right next to the engagement ring that had sat there alone for far too long. We stood there in our pajamas, both smiling so hard it hurt. And even though we weren’t dressed for a wedding, it felt as momentous as a real one. And as beautiful. I looked up at the lights in the sky and the snow falling harder around us. This was perfect. I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful wedding.
“We’re going to be a family I said,” looping my arms behind his neck.
“We already are a family.” He leaned down and kissed me. He kissed me like I was his whole world. And I knew I kissed him back the same. Miller was my whole world. He had been for years.
I’d broken two firsts now. Two firsts I’d promised to Matt. But it didn’t hurt. I barely even remembered what Matt had sounded like when he’d called me a liar.
And I wasn’t a liar. I was allowed to be happy. I was allowed to live my life. And this was the life I wanted. Miller was who I wanted it with.
Chapter 44
3 Months Later - Saturday
“Hey, Alice,” I said as I balanced the bakery boxes in my arms. I set them down on the hostess stand.
“I’m so glad you came back,” she said. “You rushed off so fast earlier, I thought something was wrong. I guess you just forgot the boxes in the car?”
My hands froze. “What?”
“When you came in a few minutes ago. I asked you where the boxes were and you hurried off without responding.”
My heart started racing. “I wasn’t here a few minutes ago.”
“Of course you were. I saw you with my own eyes, Jane. Although, you were wearing different clothes.” She frowned. “Weren’t you just in high heels?”
High heels? It was like I could hear the click of them echoing around me, like I was back at Empire High dreading the sound. I hated to admit it, but there was only one person who could pull off looking like me. Someone who shared my DNA. And someone who I’d only ever seen in heels. Even at private family dinners. I turned around, like I could feel Isabella’s eyes on me.
“Is everything alright?” Alice asked.
“Yes. I just…is Mil…” I cleared my throat. “Is George here?”
“Yeah, one second, I’ll go get him.”
As she walked away I hurried outside and looked both ways. I swore I saw a black SUV speeding down the street. Or maybe it was just a normal car. I blinked and it was gone. Maybe it hadn’t been there at all.