Heat Wave(99)

“Looks like we’ve been caught,” Logan comments with good humor. He takes my hand. “Come on Lucy, we have some splainin’ to do,” he says in his best Desi Arnez impression.

I take in a deep breath for courage and he leads me over to them.

No one says anything for a moment.

Then Kate blurts out, “Finally!”

“What, uh,” Johnny says pointing at us. His bow-tie is undone and he has red lipstick on his cheek from where Lucia must have kissed him. “What was that?” He points at my hand in Logan’s. “What is this!? The habut and the little wahine?”

“We have something we would like to announce,” Logan says smoothly.

“Uh, pretty sure you announced it with your tongues down each other’s throats,” Charlie says flatly.

“N’ Sync, go put on a shirt,” Logan says, then looks to everyone else. “It’s not anyone’s business and I know you’re unlikely to understand. But all we can ask for is for a bit of respect. You don’t have to approve, but as it stands…this is the reality. This is who we are.” He clears his throat.

“Dude,” Johnny breathes out. “Wow. This explains so much.”

“Yeah,” speaks up Jin, who is grinning. “Why you’ve been so happy lately. You’ve been getting lucky.”

I laugh at that, high, girlish giggles. My stomach is churning with nerves and yet I feel happy, happy and free that this is actually happening. It’s scary but so worth it.

Logan gives him a calm smile. “Believe me, none of this was taken lightly. We all know what Juliet was to both of us and who she was to all of you. But life has a funny way of working out. You can’t always choose who you fall in love with and only sometimes are you lucky enough to have a second chance at love. What I have with Veronica, though, goes far beyond a second chance.” He squeezes my hand and gives me a tender look, one that makes me nearly buckle at the knees. “She makes me want to be a better man. She makes me get up each morning and live without fear. She’s everything I could have dreamed life could be.”

Oh god.

Don’t cry, I tell myself. Don’t cry, don’t cry.

“Freckles, you’re my love, you’re my home, and you’re my light,” he says, turning to face me, taking both my hands in his.

And that’s when I realize it. That’s when I realize that this confession, the announcement of our love and coupling or whatever you want to call it, is more than I thought. That this wasn’t something spur of the moment and it wasn’t because we were caught kissing and enjoying it. This was thought-over, this was planned.

Logan is nervous. There’s a bead of sweat at his forehead, his eyes are wavering. It’s not over their approval.

It’s over mine.

“I know this is fast,” he says to me. “I know we have obstacles. I know that the path will get rough for a while. But I would rather walk over coals with you then stay safe and alone. I would rather face the misgivings and the judgement and be by your side, then go the safe route without you. You’re worth it all, so worth it, and in the end, that’s all that matters to me. You are all that matters.”

He clears his throat, glancing anxiously at the crowd who are standing in shock and awe.

Then he drops to one knee.

Nikki and Kate gasp dramatically in unison.

I can’t. Fucking. Breathe.

He holds my hand while he reaches into his pocket. My mouth is clamped together, fighting back tears, my other hand at my chest.

Is this real? IS THIS REAL?

What is happening?

Logan stares up at me and in his eyes I see it all – he’s afraid but it won’t keep him from me. Nothing will.

“Veronica Locke,” he says, voice choking up. He brings a shiny ring out of his pocket, holding it out in front of me. “Will you marry me?”

My world is spinning, a warm gentle cycle, but I’m spinning all the same.

Logan is asking me to marry him.

There are a million thoughts and worries and layers of doom swirling around me, wanting in, to take this moment and ruin it with doubt, with guilt, with shame.

But I don’t let them in. I push them out, where they belong.

I’m going with my heart now.

Logan is asking me to marry him.

To become his wife.

There’s only been one answer.

“Yes,” I gasp, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Yes.”

Everything becomes a blur. He slips the ring on my finger – through my tears it shines like a new star – and then I’m dropping to my knees beside him, grabbing his face in disbelief.

“Is this really happening?” I ask.

“Yes,” he whispers. “It really is. I love you. I made mistakes and it should have been you, it always should have been you, and now it is. It’s happening. And if it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up.”