AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
Wednesday November 15
“Oh my God,Connor, it’s a boy! A boy!” I find Connor in his office at theLittle Bird Café.His new assistant, Glory, takes Connor’s iPad from him. That iPad, the same one I gave to him in New York, stays almost permanently attached to his hands these days. He and Glory are probably managing next week’s order with it. That woman works magic with Connor. She keeps him organized, sends him home at a decent time and only allows him two candy bars a day with nary a wrapper in sight. I adore her.
“A boy? When?” Connor asks.
“This morning. Oh, Connor. I have a nephew. Isn’t he beautiful?” I slide my finger across the screen of my phone to show him the half dozen photos that Willow and Stephen have sent, but he’s distracted by something. Glory just nods and slips back to her laptop at her desk.
“Glory, make him pay attention to me,” I pout. “Look at those eyes. And that sweet chin. Oh, Connor his toes. Couldn’t you just eat them up? Look!”
Connor laughs out loud at me. Even Glory fails to keep her amusement under wraps. “That’s kinda weird isn’t it? To want to eat a baby’s toes?”
“It’s not. Connor, just look at them. Are you looking?”
“I’m looking, Lainey Bird. I’m looking. But I don’t want to eat them. Sorry.”
Connor rests his chin on my head while I continue scrolling through pictures. Things between us have been incredible. But today I feel his attention being pulled away again as Glory shows him something on the iPad, then goes back to her computer.
“Do you want me to come back? You seem really busy.” I start to feel like my intrusion is merely being tolerated while other important work is being neglected.
“I’m sorry. Forgive me. I’m all ears now. Tell me everything.”
“Well, he has a beautiful head of dark curly hair and Willow’s eyes. He was nine pounds, six ounces and twenty inches long.”
“Damn, poor Willow,” Connor says.
He glances at something Glory has handed him to look at on his tablet. He nods and swipes with his finger as if he’s signing something. I’m starting to grow a little frustrated with him.
“What’s his name?”
“Willow didn’t send that to me. But he’s gorgeous.”
“He’s a tank. That’s what I’m going to call him. My nephew, Tank.”
“Connor, that’s so sweet. He’s not technically your nephew, but you can be his UC, just like you are for Ginger.” I smile widely. I haven’t brought up the matter of his proposal since the day he mentioned it. But every once in a while, he reminds me it’s coming. And I believe him. But a gentle reminder that I’m still waiting can’t hurt, right?
Connor gives me a smile. Oh, that smile. The one that’s only for me. It’s my favorite curve on his entire body. It means he loves me. And he knows when he smiles at me like that, all I hear is “I love you.”
“I love you back,” I answer to his unspoken declaration.
“We’ll find out his name from Willow and Stephen when we get there tonight.” He looks over at Glory who is giving him the thumbs-up sign.
“Flight leaves in three hours, Mr. Rose,” she says in her light Southern drawl. “I’ll arrange everything else while you’re en route.” My mind spins, looking down at Connor and watching Glory disappear, closing the office door behind her.
“I have this idea,” Connor says. “A little surprise for you. I thought we’d fly to San Diego and meetournew nephew. We can stay a few days, so you can be with Willow and the baby and your parents on Thanksgiving. I need to talk to your father, too. Then we can rent ourselves a little RV and head to Vegas. We can get married there and honeymoon all the way back home. There are lots of rest areas along the way.” He arches a brow suggestively.
My mouth falls open. One hand claps over it in shock as Connor drops to one knee and pulls a small black box from his pocket. He lifts the lid to reveal a stunning engagement ring blinking back at me.
“Marry me, Lainey Bird,” he commands. And my heart can do nothing but obey.
“I want you to be my wife,” he says, peering up into my misty eyes.
He slides the ring onto my finger. Then, he kisses me softly. “Please, say you’ll be my wife, Raven. Be my evermore?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply, happy tears splashing down my cheeks. “Yes. Always. Evermore.”
