Page 106 of Thick

“In a minute,” he said.

Standing at my side, my father reached around my shoulder and gave me a hug. I glanced at him and grinned, and then looked at Tate.

He’d been in the sand long enough.

I reached toward him with my left hand. “Come on. Get up.”

“Bobbi.” He inhaled a shallow breath and looked up. “In front of my family, your father, and God’s greatest creation, I want to ask if you’d bless me with a lifetime of your presence.”

He pulled his hand from his pocket. A very eloquent diamond ring was pinched between his fingers.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

My entire body began to shake. The man of my dreams was on his knees in the sand, in front of his MC brothers and my father, asking for my hand in marriage.

I was afraid if I spoke, I’d burst into tears. I glanced at my father.

He smiled and gave a nod of approval.

I looked at Tate and nodded eagerly. “I will,” I murmured. “I’d be honored.”

He slipped the ring on the finger of my shaking hand and then stood.

After kissing me, we turned to face the house. Crip slapped his hand against my shoulder and congratulated me. I quickly admired my ring and then looked up.

The entire party was lined up along the barrier that separated the lawn from the sand. Side by side, they stood, watching us. With long beards, goatees, shaved heads, and tattooed hands, they faced us, each wearing a smile.

Someone started clapping. Then, another. Soon, they all joined in. Elated, slightly embarrassed, and madly in love, I walked in their direction.

Halfway there, I took a long look at the ring. The round center diamond was surrounded by a large group of smaller ones. The stones crept down along each edge of the ring, causing it to sparkle regardless of where I looked.

In short, it was a work of art.

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “I can’t stop staring at it.”

“Thank you,” he said. “It took me a long time to make it.”

“You made this?” I gasped. “By hand?”

He smiled and nodded. “I sure did.”

I should have known.

In my time with TD Reynolds, I’d learned there was always a little more truth to his books than anyone would ever realize.

Or that he’d ever admit.

Epilogue

Tate

Side by side, sitting three rows back from the screen, we waited with baited breath for the movie to start. The red velvet curtains parted. The crowd, which had been whispering while we waited, fell silent.

The opening scene was exactly what I’d hoped for, but not at all what I’d come to expect from the film adaptation of a book. A little boy sat on the beach, twisting a piece of wire as he gazed out at the vast ocean.

The camera slowly zoomed in on his hands. With precision, he worked the wire into the shape of a tiny – but very detailed – rose. Then, another piece of wire was twisted into shape. And another. With a delicate touch, the boy threaded the wire rope through the back side of the rose, and formed the ends into a perfect round shape. As the camera panned to a wide angle, taking in the entire horizon into view, the boy slipped the ring he’d fashioned into the pocket of his shorts.

Slightly out of focus, a man and a woman stood behind him, holding hands.