“I’m stealing her for a few minutes.”
“Have her back in time for the movie,” Cindy said. The plan was to watchElfwith the kids before we tucked them in to await Santa.
“Will do.”
I handed Tori her coat when we got upstairs, telling her I needed some fresh air and alone time with her when she asked me what we were doing. The rings I’d bought her were in my pocket. Two wraps to encase the engagement ring I intended to move to her wedding finger. With each step, their weight had my nerves jittering more.
Moonlight lit the back of the house, illuminating the path that led to the frozen lake where I’d proposed to her years before. It shimmered in the strands of Tori’s hair that stuck out from under her pink hat.
“Do you remember the last time we were out here?” Tori asked, her hand in mine. There was a melancholy in her voice I hoped I was about to erase.
“There’s no way I could forget,” I said, turning her to me. The moonlight struck her eyes, leaving them brilliant cobalt. The words I’d repeated in my mind for days fled me, and I stood, awestruck by how lucky I was to have found her again. She looked out at the pond, sadness casting shadows on her face. Fingers going to her chin, I turned her eyes back to mine. “I promised you I would make new memories to replace the bad ones.”
“But that one wasn’t bad,” she argued.
“No, but what followed was. I want to erase it from your mind and replace it with better.”
She brought her fingers to my mouth. “It hurt. It nearly destroyed me, but I wouldn’t have you take it from me because there were good parts.”
With my eyes searching hers, I tried to understand her reasoning.
“The days before you left were nothing short of amazing. You spoiled me, showered me with affection, did things to my body that left their mark for years. I know now that you were trying to take a piece of me with you, and you did. I don’t want to forget those days. Nor do I want to forget what resulted from them.” She took my hand. “Our son. If you hadn’t left me, hadn’t completely enveloped me in your love those two days, I wouldn’t have forgotten to take my birth control. I wouldn’t have forgotten for the two days I couldn’t leave my bed.” I grimaced, hating myself again for the pain I had caused her. “It was horrible, and I don’t wish it on anyone else, but I would never change it because he was my everything when you weren’t there, and you now share that space with him again. Never think I would take that away.”
I squeezed her hand, cupping my other around the back of her neck and bringing her to me. “You are the most extraordinary woman I know, and you continuously surprise me with how special you are.”
I dropped my hand, reached into my pocket, and lowered to my knee. Her hand went to her mouth.
“Victoria Abigail Hent, I love you more than life itself, and my love for you grows every day when I think I couldn’t possibly love you more. I gave you up once, and losing you left me gutted and comatose. But I have a second chance, and I don’t want to lose you again. I won’t survive. Marry me, and I swear that you and Reid will be my priority. Nothing will come between us, andnothing will come before you. I will give it all up, sell everything, retire, turn my back on everything for you both. You are my life, the blood that keeps my heart pumping, the air that fills my lungs, my very reason for living. And if you choose to be my wife, I will worship you every day for the rest of our lives.”
A sob escaped her, and I waited as nerves battered my insides, threatening to topple me.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, again and again and again. It will always be yes, Gabe, because I can’t live without you.”
I was on my feet, sweeping her into my arms and kissing her before she finished the last word. My heart thudded uncontrollably against my chest, and the air seemed to escape my grasp on it. I lowered her, holding her face and looking into her eyes. She was mine, and she’d said yes, but I knew this was only the next step, and what followed would be the real test for her.
Because we had been here once before and fate had intervened, sending our paths careening from each other. I needed to see her walking down the aisle and hear the words ‘I do’ before I felt secure, and I was certain the same thought was in the back of her mind. No matter how joyful this moment was, our past continued to hold us prisoner. I was ready to shed it and embrace the future where it no longer held sway.
Chapter 40
Tori
Engaged. The word sent butterflies scurrying through my belly, but a sense of tainted déjà vu sat over the moment. As if he were experiencing the same sensation, Gabe’s smile faltered. This was the moment that defined us, that had led to our undoing, but I wouldn’t let that happen again, and I knew he wouldn’t. He just needed to trust that I trusted him.
I turned my head into his palm and kissed it. “We left the past behind us,” I said. “That’s where it needs to stay. We will make it down the aisle this time. I will be your wife, and you will be my husband.”
He rested his head on mine.
“Do you trust me, Gabe?”
“With my life.”
I smiled at the power of that statement. “Then believe me when I say that wedding dress is getting worn this time.”
He chuckled, and I shifted my face, sending my mouth crashing into his.
“Are you forgetting something?” I asked through our kisses.
“It’s a little cold out here to make love to you.”
