He’s already shaking his head. “No.”
There are gasps in the crowd.
“No?” I challenge him. I know my man. This has absolutely nothing to do with love and everything to do with ego. My eyes narrow.
“You are not going to be the one to propose, damnit! I had it all planned.” Keene is pissed. He stands up and plops me into the chair he was in. “Now, sit and listen to me.”
“Stay, roll over.” I sigh dramatically. Our whole family bursts out laughing. Phil howls like a dog, and Corinna and Holly screech in laughter.
“Oh, are you in trouble when we get home.” Keene’s breath is mingled with mine, his lips are so close.
“Look at me shaking in my boots,” I say sarcastically, crossing my legs.
“You’re not wearing boots, and don’t pout. I have a few things to say too, and then you can finish, okay?” Without waiting for a response, he starts talking.
“I didn’t have a label for it because I didn’t know what love was. After everything I went through, I never thought I deserved it. Certainly, I never expected to find it. But if I’m honest with myself, I’ve been falling in love with you every minute since that first night at the Plaza.” I hear sniffles from my other siblings around the room, Cassidy’s the most prominent. “I felt like part of my soul had been ripped away when I walked out.” A lone tear trickles down my face, and Keene brushes it away.
“I don’t think I’d be the man I am right now if it wasn’t for the battles we fought against each other, for our families, for our daughter, for each other. I had to know how to be that safe place for you to come to when you need to run, and not be the person you ran away from.” Our eyes clash as so many memories pass in a second. He raises my hand to his lips.
“You slay me with the amount you love, Alison, with your warrior heart and your loyalty. With your beauty, inside and out. You taught me that, no one else. You want to share that life with me every day, and that’s a blessing I’ll never understand.” His head drops. I run my hand through his thick dark hair that matches our daughter’s perfectly.
God, I love this man.
“You beat me to it, baby.” He smiles as his head raises, and he’s holding a ring—a sapphire flanked by two diamonds set in platinum—in his hand. There’s a collective gasp around the room. “This represents the love we have now, this represents the love we’ll have tomorrow, and this one, the love we’ll have for eternity,” Keene says, explaining the setting. “I was all set to meet you here in this place, where you said all of your best beginnings happened, and ask if you were ready to take that final step with me.” Keene holds the ring over the third finger of my left hand, a tender smile on his face.
Tears are pouring down my cheeks, but I still manage to say, “Actually, I was going to skip over the whole engagement.” I reach inside my purse and pull out two platinum bands. A war whoop goes up around the room, and Keene’s eyes go round. “Yes to your engagement, Keene. It will last all of”—I look at the clock over the bar again—“four minutes.”
“Plenty of time to figure out vows.” His voice drips with sarcasm as he slides the ring on my finger. Pulling me to my feet and standing, he kisses my finger just above the ring. “Four minutes, huh?”
I step into his body. “Yep. Think you can handle it?”
“What kind of bachelor party do I get?”
I roll my eyes. “The kind where you take your daughter to go potty before she ruins her dress.”
Keene tosses his head back, bellowing out a laugh. “Deal. Right after I kiss her mother.”
And before our family and friends, Keene kisses me as if we’ve already spoken our vows, with our souls colliding on the promise of forever.
I just hope our mothers can see how it all turned out. Maybe through the eyes of their granddaughter, they already are.
The End
