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She tilted her head to the side. “Sorry? For what?”
“For everything. It’s been a total disaster.”
Well, she wouldn’t go that far. “There were some hiccups,” she agreed. “But it’s been an amazing day.” He snorted, giving her a look that told her he didn’t believe that at all.
“The horse?”
“Okay, that was a disaster. But everything else? It was fun.”
“Fun?”
Shrugging, she unbuckled her seatbelt, ignoring his half-hearted grumble, and slid across the seat to his side. She rested her head on his shoulder, breathing him in.
“I appreciate everything you did today,” she murmured. “Even the crunchy eggs, and the hole in my painting, and the psychotic horse, and the duck picnic. Everything. It was perfect.”
“It was supposed to be romantic,” he mumbled, but she shook her head.
“This was perfect.”
Silence filled the dark truck as they stared at their little house. She never thought she’d ever have this life—the man, the job, the happiness. It was never in the cards for her, but he made it happen.
“Abbie,” he rasped.
“Yeah, Daddy?”
When he didn’t immediately say anything, she turned toward him. He stared at her, his eyes wide.
Was this it? The proposal?
She held her breath, anticipation building in her chest. This was it! She was about to go from girlfriend to fiancée, then, in a few months, she’d be a wife. She hoped mother would follow that soon enough.
Jett’s face looked pale in the darkness, and his hands shook as he reached for her. Nerves twisted her stomach. She stared at him, holding her breath as she waited to hear the words.
“You’re an incredible woman,” he whispered, his voice thick. “An incredible person. You’re—you’re my everything. I’d be totally lost without you.” Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. “I don’t know how I somehow convinced you to be my girl. You could have anyone, and you chose me?—”
“And I always will,” she told him fiercely. “You’re above everyone else.”
His throat bobbed as he stared at her. He looked terrified. Did he really think she’d say no?
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you.”
Here it comes.
His lips separated almost involuntarily, but nothing came out. Her breath caught in her lungs as she waited for him to ask. Just four words—that’s all he had to say.
But they never came.
His shoulders slumped forward, but he never let go of her hands. “Daddy?” she breathed, and he lifted the back of her hand to his lips. Pressing a soft kiss to it, he smiled sadly.
Casting a glance toward the front door, his shoulders fell. “Ready to go in?” he asked softly, but she shook her head. This was wrong. It was all wrong. She saw the ring. He was supposed to propose.
“Aren’t you going to ask me to marry you?” The question tumbled from her mouth before she could stop it, and she inhaled sharply. There had to have been a better way she could've asked that.
Why couldn’t time travel exist? She’d like to rewind a few seconds and stop herself from saying that.
“Marry…how do you know about that?”
