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“Thanks, Harper.”
“Always happy to help, and I won’t tell a soul, but you should know rumors are swirling. People already suspect something is up with you two, so coming out as an engaged couple…people might say ‘I knew it.’”
How on Earth do people know anything when we’re so good about sneaking around? I’m so over Buzz Wheel.
“I don’t care what other people say or think.”
She nods. “I know. That’s why you’re perfect for her. Always have been. She should have listened to me sooner.” She walks away while I go to pay for the ring.
Signing my credit card receipt, I think about the look on Palmer’s face when I propose to her. Harper’s questions about whether I’m making the right decision surface, but I push away the doubts.
Adley went over to Harper’s place, and Palmer thinks it is so we can have some time alone. Turns out having houses right next to one another isn’t ideal when you want to sneak around, and you have an almost four-year-old. Adley’s constantly going from house to house, so there are no sleepovers. But hopefully after tonight, that all changes.
Last night, I made an elegant dinner, and we watched a movie, made love, and talked for hours about nothing and everything. I held her in my arms the entire night, kissing her skin every time I woke.
She’s still sleeping, so I sneak downstairs to set my plan in motion.
I make pancakes because I want to give her breakfast in bed. Had I known all those years ago what our life could be, I would’ve proposed sooner. Forced Palmer to see how good we can be. But I push all that shit and wasted time away and walk up the stairs with a tray full of pancakes, butter, syrup, and juice.
I take a deep breath, opening my bedroom door where Palmer is still sprawled out asleep. Not ready yet, I watch her for a few moments, then I place the tray on my side table and crawl into bed with her. She moans and stretches, her usual catlike one. I can’t wait to see that every morning.
I grab her cochlear implants next to the bed and put them on her. “Good morning.” I kiss her briefly.
“Good morning,” she says, eyeing the tray of food. “You’ve been busy.”
“I have.” I grab the tray and place it on her lap. “Enjoy.”
“Pancakes.” She sighs and smiles at me. “Share some of mine?”
“I will, but you start.”
She picks up her knife to butter her pancakes, and my heart pounds. There’s no turning back now.
She lifts the first pancake and pauses, staring at the ring. “What the?” She drops the knife and picks up the ring, turning to me. “What is this?”
I take it from her hands and kneel on the mattress, sitting back on my ankles. “Palmer Ferguson, you stole my heart at the bar on the night we met. I tried to give it away to others, but I was foolish to think it could belong to anyone but you. I love you and only you, and I always will. Will you marry me?”
She picks up the tray and puts it by her feet on the bed. “Hudson…”
My heart sinks into my stomach.
“We don’t need a marriage license. You didn’t need to spend that kind of money on a ring. God, how much did it cost?”
I lean back, speechless.
She must see my expression, the two of us able to read each other’s minds all too often. “I mean, we’ve talked about how being married doesn’t stop anyone from cheating or making mistakes. It doesn’t make that person any more yours. It’s just a piece of paper.”
“Things change.”
She shakes her head. “They didn’t. I don’t need the state of Alaska to give me a certificate so I know I love you. I only need you to know it and believe it.” She gets up on her knees, facing me. “And I do love you. So much. So much more than I ever thought I could fall in love with someone. I’ve fought my demons, fought the urge to run away from this.”
“Exactly. I want you to be my wife. I want you to have my last name. I want everyone to know how much I love you, how much we love each other.”
She scoffs. “A piece of paper doesn’t prove that to people. Them witnessing our love, being around us will have them seeing how much we mean to one another. Standing in front of a group of people and promising each other a bunch of things isn’t love.”
Fuck, Harper was right. My chest squeezes to the point that it’s hard to breathe.
She grabs my hand and brings it to her heart. “This is yours. You own my heart, Hudson. But I don’t want to wear that much money around my finger just to prove to others that you love me. I don’t want some big wedding where we spend all Adley’s college fund to show off that I found the perfect man. I like our life as it is now.”
