Harrington waits for the crowd to settle before speaking again. “I don’t want to bore you with a history lesson, but I will give you a little background to this long-standing Langford tradition. This tradition dates all the way back to the late 1700s, to our great ancestor Henry Langford.
“Henry was a man born of moderate means, but he was a man who dreamed of more. He was determined to make something of himself. During his business travels, he met a maiden named Elizabeth, and they fell in love almost immediately. They wanted to marry, but Elizabeth was considered the town jewel, and there were several men after her hand in marriage. There was one suiter in particular that Elizabeth’s father favored because of his high standing and wealth, and so when Henry asked her father for her hand in marriage, he wasdenied. Elizabeth pleaded with her father, and he eventually conceded—to a degree. He told Henry that he couldn’t have Elizabeth unless he could provide her with the same life the other suitor could, and Henry vowed to do so. But Henry knew building his fortune would take time, and he feared he might lose Elizabeth in the interim.
“So what did Henry do? He found a way to create an early promise of proposal. He spent what little money he had on a lovely gold pendant he saw in London and presented it to his sweetheart as a promise of a proposal and begged her to wait for him. She accepted the pendant and agreed.
“Elizabeth’s father was furious and tried many times to change her mind, but Elizabeth stood firm. Over the following four years, Henry built enough of a fortune to be an acceptable match for Elizabeth and returned to her with a lavish ring and a true proposal. And since that time, all Langford men have presented their future wives with a gold pendant as a promise of their intentions and to ask a promise of them in return. To wear a Langford pendant is to be promised to the Langford man that gives it to her.
“Now, the world has changed quite a bit in the last two and half centuries, but we have kept this tradition alive because of what it means to our family. We consider Henry and Elizabeth to be the founders of our family as it stands today. Their love, their marriage and children, and Henry’s business pursuits are what laid the foundation for all the Langfords that have come after him. And so, to honor our ancestors, we continue to this day to present a pendant to the women we love to give them a promise, to give them our protection, and to welcome them into our family.”
My heart drops and my ears ring as I watch Harrington open the blue velvet box. A gold, teardrop-shaped pendant hanging from a delicate gold chain sits on a pillow inside.
“This is the original Langford pendant, the very one Henrygave to Elizabeth. This pendant is only given to the first-born sons of the family.” Harrington turns toward us. “Asher, I gave this to your mother thirty-eight years ago, and now we both give it to you to present to your future wife.”
My stomach all but bottoms out.Future wife?
Holy shit, is this really happening?
Thinking of Emily’s warning, I school my features. I know I must look completely in shock. Asher takes the microphone from his father and reaches out for me with his other hand. I place my hand in his, and he gives it a squeeze.
“Ella, from the moment I met you, I was drawn to you. You came into my world and eclipsed everything else, and I’ve never been so happy. I know that being with me comes with a lot of good and a lot of difficulties, but I would be honored if you would be willing to take on those difficulties and be with me. To be mine.”
My heart races as Asher carefully lifts the pendant from the box and holds it up for me. The crowd roars. Asher steps to me, and tears spring to my eyes. This is all so much. It feels so real, and my heart crumbles and soars all at once because I can’t deny it—I want it to be real.I want it to be real so much it hurts.
And the last pretense in my mind falls.
All I want to do is shred that contract.
I want all of Asher, and I want him to want me, free of obligation, free of the board.
Just him. Just me.
I turn, and he places the pendant on my chest, clasping it around my neck. As soon as the pendant is in place, Asher turns me back around, takes me in his arms, and kisses me. The crowd roars again, but the sound quickly dies in my ears, and all I can hear is my beating heart.
I’m so shocked and overwhelmed that I don’t think. I just fall into the kiss, and kiss Asher without walls, without pretense, letting my hope and wishes bleed into it. And for amoment, it’s just the two of us. For a moment, there is no contract. There is only the promise ofmore.
I’ve never wantedmorelike this.
When we separate, Asher leans his forehead onto mine, and we breathe each other in for one more minute before the bubble surrounding us bursts.
Alena is back on the microphone. “How lovely! What a lucky lady! Congratulations to you both!”
My mind somehow reorients itself as Asher and I hug Alena again. The band starts back up and begins to play Alena’s most popular love ballad, and I’m a mess as I wipe tears with shaking hands.
“Why don’t you two take to the floor. This one is dedicated to you both,” Alena says, just before her cue to start singing.
Asher leads me to the dance floor in the middle of the room. The tables have been pulled aside sometime in the last few minutes, and now we are at the center of the room, all eyes on us, dancing as Alena sings to us. Asher rests his cheek to my temple and holds my hand in his, while his other hand rests on my lower back.
My heart is still racing a mile a minute, and I cling to Asher like a lifeline. Although no one would be able to tell that from the outside. Outside, I look like a girl in love. Inside . . .
I’m a girl in love.
26
ELLA
Once the song ends, and the endless flashes of photos stop, Catherine announces that there will be fireworks outside to conclude the evening. I want to speak to Asher about what this means, but I can’t because we’re bombarded with guests congratulating us. I smile and thank everyone, but it’s all a bit of a blur.
“I need a second,” I whisper to Asher once people start to make their way outside.
