AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty-Seven
In the week after confronting David and her mother, Saoirse let Arthur baby her ‘round the clock except when she was filing police reports about Mark Teufel and David, contacting her law school to inform them of Teufel’s behavior, and doing a thousand other stressful things that came with reporting assaults. His brave girl.
Renata had called to say she was filing for divorce from David, which was certainly good news. Though she also told Saoirse that she wouldn’t speak with her again until she ended things with him.
He’d told Saoirse, heart in his throat, that he would understand if she chose her mother or if she wanted to take a break until Renata could be convinced this wasn’t the end of the world.
The thought of losing her had made Arthur’s stomach churn—he’d wander around the house like a ghost missing her, wishing for her to come back. Make him whole. But Saoirse had told Renata that she chose the person who had always been there for her, which was him.
He couldn’t celebrate their estrangement but there was a deep sense of pride that he’d been able to provide a home and a life for Saoirse where she felt safe and loved and could flourish. Hopefully in time Renata would come to see how deeply he loved Saoirse, how well they fit together. And until then, he would give her all the love and care he could.
There was something, too, he wanted to ask her.
He waited for a night when Saoirse wanted to have a grown-up dinner, asked her to dress up and fired up the grill to make her favorite homemade meal—surf and turf. Got some flowers, lit some candles, even bought a little blowtorch so he could make creme brûlée properly, the whole nine yards.
After she said she couldn’t eat another bite of steak or shrimp, he cleared their places and came back to the dining room with a pounding heart and a velvet box in his pocket.
He’d thought about waiting until she’d decided about going back to school, maybe even until she graduated or had passed the bar. He didn’t want to pressure her.
But the thing was, he didn’t want to wait. He knew what he wanted and it was her. She made him happier and more fulfilled than he’d ever been and he didn’t want for her to think of him as a piece of the puzzle of her life she had to fit together. He just wanted to be there always and forever.
Stepping into the dining room to see her playing with a fork and spoon and making them have a conversation made him more sure than ever. She was a million delightful things all at once and he loved every bit of her.
Saoirse flushed when she noticed him watching her from the doorway and he smiled.
“No need to stop on my account, princess. I like your stories.”
She shrugged and ducked her head in that sweet way she had. “I was just waiting for you to get back, Daddy. You’re here now. I’d rather talk to you.”
“I’d rather talk to you too, pretty girl,” he said as he tapped her on the tip of her pert little nose. “I actually had something important I wanted to ask you.”
Saoirse looked up to the ceiling and put a finger to the edge of her mouth. “Mmm, yes, I would like dessert please.”
Arthur laughed and shook his head. “You’ll get dessert, don’t you worry. I made it special just for you. But before we get to that, there was something else. Something even more important than dessert, if you can imagine it.”
Saoirse made a perplexed face implying she couldn’t. That was fair—creme brûlée was delicious.
But when he got down on his knee and pulled the box from his pocket, her expression changed from a caricature of confused to genuine shock.
“Arthur…”
“Ah, please hold all comments and questions to the end.”
Her pink lips pursed as she tried not to laugh and gave a tight nod.
“Do you remember a few months ago when you said you chose me? Well, after being with you and getting to know you as a woman, as a little princess, and seeing how brave and smart and strong and persistent you are, I want you to know that I choose you, Saoirse Imogen Sullivan. Now and forever. And I’m hoping now that you know the stakes you’ll still want to choose me too.”
Saoirse covered her mouth, and there were tears gathering along the fringe of dark lashes that framed her beautiful bright blue eyes. Perfect as a china doll, as always. He wanted to look at his little princess every day for the rest of his life.
She dragged her hands away from her face, and clenched the napkin in her lap instead.
“Really?” she asked, looking for all the world like she’d just gotten news so good she couldn’t believe it was true.
“Yes, really. I want to spend the rest of my days with you, I know for sure.”
Saoirse bit her lip. “Will I still have rules?”
“Of course. We can negotiate what they are, but yes you’ll have rules and be expected to follow them. And when you don’t, you’ll be disciplined accordingly.”
