Page 51 of Almost Him

“In the living room watching for the pizza delivery.”

“Come on, we have some news for you guys too. And your dad got you an engagement gift.”

We all move to the living room again. Alden pulls me into his lap when I start to sit beside him. “Are you certain you want to wait?” he murmurs in my ear.

“It’s not because I’m not sure. It’ll give us time to find a house, plan the wedding, get organized.”

“Okay, but I’m going to go ahead and consider you my wife from now on so deal with it.”

I could not love this man more. I lean to put my lips to his ear. “I’m sucking you so good when we get home.”

His gaze rolls over me slowly. He tightens his hand on my leg. “I’m hard in your parents’ living room. Thanks for that.”

Oliver looks over at us when I laugh. His smile is forced and brief. He doesn’t look like he’s having a good time. Maybe he and Breanna had an argument or something.

“You said you have news?” Garrett says.

Mom perches on the arm of Dad’s recliner, and he smiles up at her. “We’re retiring,” she says.

“In Florida,” Dad adds.

It’s definitely not something I expected to hear. “You’re moving to Florida?”

Mom nods. “We’ve hired a realtor and put in an offer on a house yesterday.”

“You’ve never mentioned moving to Florida before,” Garrett points out.

Dad rubs Mom’s back. I hope Alden and I are like them, still affectionate after twenty-five years. “You can blame Ella,” Dad says, tossing a grin at me. “All those trips down there to visit her in college. We like it. Your mom wants to be somewhere warm and close to a beach. I want to relax and go fishing all year round.”

I stand up and cross the room to hug Mom. “I’m happy for you, but I’ll miss you.”

“We’ll talk every day. We have a wedding to plan.”

“What about me?” Dad teases.

“Do you want to talk about the wedding every day?” I ask.

“Well, that seems a bit excessive.”

I lean down to hug him. “You deserve to retire and be happy. I hope you love it there.”

After they accept congratulations from all around, Garret asks, “Are you selling the house then?”

“Yes, we had it appraised and the realtor plans to list it this week. You’ll have time to get the stuff you might want from your rooms.”

My room will be gone. Maybe that shouldn’t bother me as an adult. It’s not like they were going to keep it as a shrine to my childhood, but the thought is sad.

“Speaking of keepsakes.” Dad gets to his feet. “I want to be the first to give you an engagement gift.”

He walks out of the room. The absolute giddiness of Mom’s demeanor tells me he’s up to something. It doesn’t escape Alden’s attention either.

He fake whispers loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “This is where he comes back with a gun and a shovel because I stole his daughter, isn’t it?”

“Before moving out of state would be an opportune time to bury a body in the yard,” Garrett says.

It’s not either of those things, but whatever he’s carrying is large and draped in a sheet. Alden gets up when Dad approaches him and holds the gift out.

“You didn’t have to get us anything,” I say, while Alden removes the sheet.

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