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Laney hated that her mind immediately reminded her she’d heard similar words before. It wasn’t the same thing. Kyle wasn’t leaving her. He wanted to move to Chicago in a few months like a short-sighted fool in love, didn’t he? She was the one putting the brakes on, slowing their relationship down. Had she sent mixed signals?
She’d been dodging this discussion for too long. Time to put on her big girl panties. “Okay, I’m listening. How do you want to live your life?”
“Can we eat dinner first? You’re starving.” She stomped her foot and he grinned. “Okay, dinner can wait. Let’s go sit on the couch.”
He tugged her into his lap and squeezed her arm. It felt like reassurance, and she relaxed against his chest. His heartbeat was slow and strong, as always. “First of all, I love you. So fucking much.” She smiled into his neck. “I felt that. Laney, I know that I didn’t choose you a long time ago, but you gotta know that from now on, there’s nothing else that matters to me. First priority for me is spending every night in our bed, every morning making your coffee and every evening sharing dinner with you.”
“And what about work?”
He sighed. “Yeah. I love teaching. Love it. Used to think that I lived for it. But it looks like I might need to take a break for a little while.”
“So you want to come here and what?” She pushed herself up and turned to straddle him. She had been kidding about the house husband thing, but maybe that could work. “You’re social enough, I’m sure you’d find something to do, but…”
“I’m not asking you to support me, Laney. I’ve got savings.” The look on his face was priceless, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh god, no, that’s not where I was going! Although that wouldn’t be a problem, at all—seriously, you don’t think I’d care about that?” He shrugged and she smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Kyle! What’s mine is yours and all that jazz. No, I meant...I don’t want you to regret this.” I don’t want you to resent me. “Are you still going to be happy being a house husband a few years down the road?”
“Oh sweetheart, I don’t think it’s going to come to that.” He laughed and stroked her cheek. “As much as I would love to be at your beck and call, I’ve got a new plan.”
“But I thought you said that it would be difficult to get hired.”
He nodded. “That’s why I’m going back to school.” He wiggled his hand under her thigh and pulled something from his pocket. “After my meeting, I dropped in at the university. Turns out they have a pretty decent Faculty of Education.”
Something bright sparked in her chest and she sat a little straighter. “And—“
“And the admissions officer thought I’d probably be a good fit for their M.Sc. program.”
She squealed and flung herself on top of him. “That’s brilliant. Totally perfect. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that—you are going to be the hottest grad student on campus. I’m going to buy you a backpack.”
He chuckled into her hair. “I already have a backpack.”
“This one’s going to have Laney’s Boyfriend embroidered on it so all the coeds know to keep their mitts off of you.”
He hugged her tight, then eased her off his lap.
She moved back toward their dinner, but turned when she realized he wasn’t following. It took her a second to process why he was kneeling in the space between the couch and the coffee table.
“Kyle?” She breathed his name, her voice filled with hope and longing, and she didn’t care because even though she should have gotten it before, even though he’d shown her in deed and told her in word, now she really knew that this was forever. And she didn’t care about being a cliché, not one little bit.
“Laney.” In contrast, his voice was rich and deep, loaded with confidence. But there was hope too, they shared that, and hearing all of that in just her name, the tears started. “Oh sweetheart, if you cry, you’re not going to hear the good part.”
“It’s all pretty good,” she whispered, stepping closer to take his outstretched hand.
“Delaney Calhoun, I’ve loved you since the seventh grade. I’m an idiot, so I didn’t realize it until I was twenty-two, and then I let you go, a bonehead move that I will always regret. You went on an amazing journey, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to support you. You didn’t need it, of course, but damn…I wish I hadn’t missed it. I don’t want to miss anything else. I want to be your rock. Your forever. You’re already mine. So I’m here now, on bended knee, asking you to be my wife.”
She was nodding before the ring magically appeared in his other hand, and he grinned as big fat tears fell on the sparkling solitaire.
“Will you marry me, Laney?”
The nodding and crying continued as she sank to her knees and he wrapped himself around her. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes! Oh my god, yes.” She kissed him hard on the mouth, then pulled back and bit her lip. “The backpack label will have to change.”
He sat back on his knees and she climbed on top of him again. Dinner was going to have to wait a bit longer.
Epilogue
Summer
