Chapter Twenty-Two
Chase
I pulled Erica along behind me, winding her through the maze of topiary. The white roses that lined the walls filled the air with such a sweet scent and when we came into the clearing, the gasp that escaped Erica’s lips had my heart reveling with the fact this was going to be it.
This was going to be the perfect moment.
I discreetly patted my front pocket, feeling the small ring I had there, waiting. I had brought it almost everywhere with me the last few months, afraid that Erica might find it, but also wanting to have it just in case the moment arose.
And I was so thankful to have it on me today. My mother couldn’t have been more excited to meet Erica, but it was once my father met her that everything turned downhill. It wasn’t even the meeting her part, it was that he didn’t see just how important she was enough to tell someone to give him a moment to really get to know her. I had watched Erica reach out a hand to him, trying to bring him into our lives, but he had just looked at it and then left when he got the first opportunity.
“I’m sorry for the way my father acted,” I finally said something as we entered the gazebo that was in the center of the rose garden. Erica was my fairy tale, my Cinderella that had somehow gotten away, and because of a moment of pretending not to know each other, it took us longer than I had wanted to get here, but now that we were, I was going to make sure the shoe fit for Erica. And that shoe was the ring I was reaching for in my pocket, twirling it around in my fingers.
“No need to apologize.” Erica sat down on one of the benches, her sweet face bringing some light back to my heart.
“I wish he had said no to work for once.”
“His job is pretty important, Chase.” She chuckled.
“Yes, but you are more important.”
I kneeled down and held her face in my free hand, planting a kiss on her forehead.
“To you maybe.” She winked at me and the way my heart melted had me knowing that everything about today was going how it should. No matter what I wanted in the end—my mother adoring Erica, my father making her his daughter, our families coming together as one—the fact Erica sat in front of me had me baffled beyond belief.
“To me you are the world.” I kissed her lips and pulled back. “I have something for you.”
I stood and walked over to the edge of the gazebo, flipping the switch that was hidden under a latched door. When I flicked it on, the fountain behind us sprang to life, shooting water from the spouts and creating a circle of water that poured back into the main fountain. How far we were into the garden, this was the only thing that could be heard and it created a soft environment that had Erica swooning.
“It’s gorgeous.”
She placed a hand to her chest and stood, coming over to me.
“Dance with me, Chase.”
“Whatever you want, peaches.”
I pulled my hand out of my pocket finally, bringing out my phone. I clicked through, finding the perfect song that I hadn’t listened to for years. A song about being someone’s only exception and finding a love that lasts forever when you thought there was no love because it was all you had ever seen.
I pulled Erica into my arms and we spun in slow circles, listening to the lyrics I had once listened to every day when I missed her. How she was my only exception in life. The ring in my pocket weighed me down with each step we took.
“I love this song,” she said softly into my chest where her head lay.
“It’s your song,” I said into her hair and pulled her closer as her arms moved to my waist and tightened around me.
“It’s our song, Chase.”
Erica
“I have something else for you.” My head snapped up to Chase, trying to think of what else he could possibly give me at this exact moment. Everything was already perfect, being in this gazebo in such a romantic setting, listening to a song I fell in love with years ago and listened to almost daily because of how it reminded me of Chase.
He pulled away and reached into the front pocket of his pants, pulling out a small ring. My eyes widened with awareness.
This is happening.
I looked up at Chase and then back down at the ring. He wasn’t crazy enough to do this right now, not after just meeting his parents, was he? I thought he would at least wait a little bit for us to get acclimated to being out in the open with everyone.
I stared down at his hand where he held a perfect little ring with a single knot on top between two fingers. I forced myself not to reach for it, but I couldn’t help it.
