“What are you talking about, Whitney?”
“I heard you speaking with your father earlier about the dinner party. You both said you didn’t want me there because I was an embarrassment, because I didn’t know how to behave in polite society.” It was so much humiliation.
“Oh, Whitney, I’m sorry you thought we were talking about you.”
She held up her hand, her tears drying as anger took over. She wouldn’t allow him to lie to her. This was too much.
“I heard my name, I heard you say there was a problem, and then you were saying how embarrassing I was,” she told him, pushing away. His touch was confusing her worse.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
He reached for her, but she took another step back.
“Stop lying to me!”
“I swear I’m not.”
She looked at him, really looked at him, and she couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t seem to understand what she was saying. Honestly didn’t understand. It was either that or he was one heck of a good actor. But some men were. Some men could fool you into a lifetime of servitude without you ever knowing that you were bound and chained. She wouldn’t be one of those women.
“You were talking about a dinner party, and you said I was lacking in manners, that I don’t know how to dress appropriately, and that I have no sense of how to behave at such an occasion.”
As she repeated the words with which he and his father had condemned her, the tears welled in her eyes again, much to her frustration. Dammit! How dare this man keep sending her off on this emotional rollercoaster.
“Oh, Whitney, my darling Whitney, did you see us speaking?” he asked.
“Well, no, but I didn’t need to. The words were pretty freaking clear,” she told him. “Excuse my French, of course.”
“If you had stepped into the office, you would have seen my father and me looking at a guest list. We were speaking of a guest neither of us particularly cares for, and when you see her at this dinner party, you’ll realize why we said what we did. How could you ever think you caused me any embarrassment? Granted, we haven’t been together long. But surely we’ve been together long enough for you to know how much you mean to me.”
She wanted to believe him so badly that it scared her, and truth seemed to shine in his eyes, but what if this was a lie? Still, could she live her life always afraid, not trusting people? Was that any way to live? No, no, it wasn’t.
He suddenly kneeled down and pulled out a little velvet box. And she started to shake all over.
“Whitney, you’ve brought joy and hope to my heart. I can’t imagine a world without you in it, and I can’t picture my life without you. Please take away my suffering and do me the honor of marrying me. We’re meant to be together. It’s fate.”
He was actually proposing to her on bended knee! She couldn’t speak at all now as she looked at this amazing man. He had so irritated her the first time she’d met him— and for a while afterward — but he’d somehow gained access to her heart.
And she knew he was the one. She knew that this had happened fast, and that their relationship was impossible, but didn’t miracles happen? Sometimes things that had once seemed impossible turned out to be great, didn’t they? Okay, not everything, but the world’s greatest miracles had begun as the impossible and yet stood the test of time.
Looking at him through her tears, she nodded, and the smile Liam gave her was the greatest gift she’d ever received.
Liam jumped up and pulled her into his arms, lifting her high off the ground and locking his lips to hers. She fell into his kiss. Her day had gone from the worst of her life to the best.
A long while afterward, he pulled away and took her hand, then slipped the beautiful diamond on her finger. Its sparkle mesmerized her.
“I love you so much, Liam,” she told him.
“And I will love you forever,” he replied.
Then he again drew her into his arms and the magic continued.
Chapter Thirty
I can’t believe this day has arrived. It seems to have taken forever and yet gotten here in the blink of an eye,” Liam told Brayden as he helped the boy get his tie on correctly — no clip-ons for this occasion!
“I love my aunt so much, though I didn’t always show it,” Brayden said. “She’s been almost the only good thing in my life since I lost my mom and dad. I don’t think Ally or I could have made it through everything if she hadn’t been there to take care of us.” Then he smiled up at Liam. “And now we have you and Grandpa. Just when I thought everything was over forever.”