“When they released her, she moved in with me. She made the choice to stop talking to her sisters to focus on her sobriety, and that decision tore her apart. Stella was constantly harassing her, and me, calling us every name in the book and threatening to replace her in the band. It got so bad that I had to get a restraining order on Stella after she showed up and smashed the shit out of my Porsche with a baseball bat before lighting it on fire.”
“I remember that, too,” Ty says. “What’d she come after you for?”
“She believed I was the one keeping Amy from them.”
“What an awful situation. Especially for someone who’s trying to do the right thing for themselves and get clean.”
Stella had no idea what she put her sister through in those first few months, and her inability to look in the fucking mirror made me the most irate. I hadn’t been the one who started Amy’s battle with addiction, but I was absolutely going to be the one who ended it.
THIRTY-FIVE
Eric
? Magnetic - WAGE WAR ?
Dinner that night had been incredible. Even though I was so nervous I was barely able to eat anything, Chef Dan had been on another level tonight. The steak was melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the chocolate concoction we’d ordered for dessert was beyond anything I’d ever tasted.
When we pulled into the driveway, I got out first before walking around the front of the car and opening Amy’s door for her. I offered her a hand and she took it as I helped her out of the car and to the front door.
I typed in our access code, and Amy stepped into the house first, stopping just inside the door as she took in the scene around her. Hundreds of candles were lit around the foyer and vases of red roses lined every table and the floor around us.
Damn, they had all donegood.
Knowing they were still here somewhere didn’t help calm my nerves. If this went wrong, I wasn’t sure whether I’d want them here for moral support or be embarrassed that I’d had witnesses.
Tears were lining my eyes before I could stop them, but I didn’t give a shit. Amy Murphy was the love of my life. I’d fought like hell for her over the last twelve months, and I was going to fight like hell to keep her for the rest of my life. There was no stopping it. I knew it the moment our eyes met that we were inevitable.
I stepped around her, and when her eyes met mine, we both started to cry.
“Eric,” she breathed, placing one hand over her mouth as I fell to one knee in front of her.
“I’ve thought about this moment for a long time,” I said. “Not because I wasn’t sure about you or us—but because I wanted to get it right.”
I reached out and held her trembling hand in mine.
“I remember when you first started your journey six months ago. You were scared and unsure, and there were days when it felt like the mountain was just too steep. But you kept climbing, even when every part of you wanted to give up. You fought for yourself, for us, for the future we’re building, and every single day, I’m in awe of the woman you’ve become.
“What blows me away the most isn’t the strength you’ve shown, it’s the grace you’ve done it with. The way you’ve learned to forgive yourself and how you’ve leaned into your own growth instead of running from it. You faced your demons head on like the badass woman you are, and you’ve given yourself the chance to heal. And in that, you’ve given me a chance, too—a chance to love you in a way I never knew I could.
“Amy, watching you live your life sober, watching you rediscover the world and yourself, has been one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed, and I don’t want to imagine my life without you in it. We’ve seen the tough days together, and we’ve come through stronger. I know we’ll face a hell of a lot more, but I also know that we’re so much stronger together.
“I want to be there with you through all the ups and downs, through the celebrations and the struggles. I want to be the one you turn to, no matter what. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much you mean to me. I don’t need a perfect story, Amy. I just need you.”
I slid the ring out of my pocket and held it out to her, the large, center stone glinting in the candlelight.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said, sobbing. I slid the ring on her finger and stood, taking her beautiful face in my hands and kissing her like I needed her to breathe.
“Can we come out yet, we’re dying in here!” Josh shouted from the living room. We both laughed before shouting “Yes!” and when they all came around the corner—Josh, Max and Ana, Kevin and Susan, my mom, dad, sister, and my brother and his wife and kids—I had never been so happy.
Everyone I loved—my blood family, my chosen family, and the love of my life—was in the same place at the same time.
And if I’d known what was about to happen next, I would have sold my soul to remain in that moment for the rest of my life.
THIRTY-SIX
Eric
