I expected that one of these days I would see a woman in the SUV with David. Surely he wasn’t alone anymore. There was probably a long line of women dying to be with a man as good looking and secure in himself as David was.
I took a bite of the hot dog as I watched the road, waiting for him to go by. I heard music, and I thought someone was driving by with the radio up way too loud. But I didn’t see a car. I turned and there, behind me, was a string quartet.
They were playing “Ave Maria.”
What an odd thing to see in the middle of the park!
I turned back around and David, dressed in a tuxedo, was standing in front of me.
I screamed.
David laughed as he watched my hotdog tumble to the ground.
“I’ll buy you another one,” he said.
“What are you doing here?”
“I thought it was time for us to talk.”
I stared at him, at the tuxedo, then turned and looked at the string quartet again as they moved into a semi-circle behind the bench I was sitting in.
“Is this some sort of joke?”
“No. It’s some sort of proposal.”
My lungs just froze as I slowly turned to face him again. He was down on one knee now, a small jeweler’s box in his hands. He opened it when he saw I was looking at him, and inside was the most beautiful diamond solitaire I’d ever seen. It was a teardrop cut and surrounded by amethysts—my birthstone. I pressed a hand to my mouth as tears began to flood my eyes.
“You’re insane!”
“I’ve been called worse.”
I looked up at him, looked into those perfect green eyes. I couldn’t believe this was happening. It was like a dream, like a dream that just stepped out my head and into reality.
“I love you, Ricki,” he said. “I loved you from the first moment I set eyes on you. I can’t imagine ever wanting to share the rest of my life with anyone but you.”
He smiled as he looked at me, even as tears ran down my cheeks.
“I promise no more secrets. If I ever have major surgery again, I will call you first. Even if I’m smashed up and bleeding on the street.”
I groaned. “Don’t be morbid.”
His eyes grew serious. “I love you,” he repeated, “and I want to love you for the rest of my life. Please be my wife.”
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I was even capable of speech. But then I realized that a simple nod would probably do it.
I nodded, and he suddenly became this ball of movement, tossing his arms around me and tugging me onto the ground with him, his mouth covering mine. I couldn’t breathe. But if my last breath was his, I was okay with that.
Chapter 41
David
“I’m so fucking nervous!”
“You probably shouldn’t cuss in a church.”
Donovan pressed two fingers to his lips. “Sorry,” he muttered.
I laughed. I loved screwing with him.
We were standing in the small room off the side of the altar, waiting for the priest to come tell us it was okay to go into the church. There was some delay, something about the photographer and the bride. Donovan dragged his cell phone out of his pocket for the hundredth time, checking for a message or just double-checking the time.
“She didn’t run off,” I said.
“David,” Ash said in a warning voice.
“What? We all know that’s what he’s wondering.”
Ash shot me a stern look while Kirkland laughed.
“I just wish you’d get on with it so that I can get to the reception. Do you know how many lonely, horny women attend weddings??
Ash slapped him on the shoulder, prompting Kirkland to offer him the same, “What?” I’d given.
“I can’t believe you’re getting married, brother,” Ash said.
Donovan nodded as he met Ash’s eye in the mirror.
“Neither can I.”
They stared at each other and something passed between them. There was something about their relationship that was so different from Ash’s relationship with me. I was his brother by blood, but Donovan was his brother through the things they’d survived together. There was a special bond there I would never understand, just like Donovan would never understand our blood bond.
There was a tap on the door, and I thought Donovan was going to jump ten feet high. I opened the door, hoping for the priest, but I got the father-of-the-bride instead.
I stepped back and let him in, hoping he would calm Donovan’s nerves.
“Katie asked me to come and give you this,” Daniel said. He held out a thin piece of paper with a high school logo on it. I had no idea what it meant. But it was as if it had magic powers. Donovan suddenly calmed as if someone had waved a wand over him.
“Thank you,” he said,