“We just need a new General Manager for the club. Now that Landon owns The King’s Diamond, he can’t do both,” Jack says.
“Truly?” Claire asks my parents—surprised, and rightly so. A few days ago we were faced with bankruptcy.
“Yes, we were just looking in the wrong place,” Dad says. “We had the money we needed all along. And Landon and Geoffrey are going to team up and run the business. Looks like I needed two successors, after all. My boys are taking over the business.”
“Wow ... that’s great news,” Claire says, not at all convincing me with her words. She seems upset, in all actuality “Will you be moving here, Landon?” Worry is written on her face.
“Honestly, we hadn’t gotten that far. It’s to be determined, I suppose,” Geoffrey says for me.
I see the fear bubbling up in Claire’s chest, and she blinks rapidly. “Oh. Okay. Well, that’s exciting.”
And then she’s crying. Full-on tears down her face.
“What’s wrong, Mama?” Sophia asks, jumping up from her chair in worry.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Eva says, gently nudging Sophia back in her chair.
“Claire,” I tell her. “I’m not going to be working anywhere apart from you. I promise.”
“Don’t,” she says, shaking her head, whispering. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“‘I’m not doing anything of the sort,” I tell her emphatically, standing from the table, and then pushing her chair out.
“Then what are you saying? I just ... Landon, I can’t handle the disappointment.”
“I love you, Claire.”
“I love you, too, Landon, but.—”
“But nothing. I love you and I always will.”
She shakes her head, looks around the now-silent room. Everyone is watching us.
This isn’t the airport at Heathrow, hundreds of people watching me drop to one knee.
But I don’t need hundreds. The people with us now are all the people we love in the world, our closest friends and family. The people who have been there for us through thick and thin.
I kneel before her, pulling the ring from my pocket. Her chin quivers and my hand trembles as I stare into her perfect green eyes.
“I thought if I got a job and a house, then I might be good enough for you. The truth is, there’s an empty penthouse above the Vegas branch of The King’s Diamond, with my name on the title. I’ve got a job, and I can have my home base in Vegas. The thing is, even if I had none of those things, I’d be a fool not to try to convince you to marry me.
“Because the fact is, Claire, I will always be hoping I’m enough for you—fighting, striving to be a better man for you and Sophia. I don’t deserve you. I know that. But damn it, I love you. And I need you to be my wife. Marry me, and make me the happiest man in the world.”
I raise the diamond ring to her. Three equal size stones, each five carats, glistening as I offer her my whole heart.
She takes it.
“Yes, a million times yes.”
I don’t hesitate; I slide the engagement ring on her finger.
Then she flings her arms around me. I kiss her, and I could keep kissing her forever, but then Jack coughs and breaks us up. Because there’s an entire room watching us.
I’ll save the rest of the kiss until I can take her back to the stables. Or the bedroom. Or the potting shed. Or the bathroom. Okay, clearly I can have sex with this woman anywhere—and now, I’ll have her for the rest of my life.
I don’t deserve her but, fuck, I will do everything I can to love her for the rest of our lives.
“Mama?” Sophia asks, walking over to us. “Mama, you’re marrying your BFF?”
“I am, sweet pea.” Claire wipes tears from her face.
“I have something for you too, Sophia,” I say, pulling out a small gold ring shaped like an infinity symbol; tiny diamonds fleck the band. Mum said it was the perfect first diamond ring, and that her granddaughter deserved a promise from me, too.
“It’s too much,” Claire says, shaking her head, looking over at my mum and dad.
“No, Claire, it isn’t,” Dad says, adamant.
“This is for you, princess,” I tell Claire, slipping the ring on her right hand ring finger. “We can be a family now, your mum says so.”
“And you’ll be my daddy? I’ve never had one of those before.” She wraps her arms around me, and at that I start crying too. But I don’t feel like a pussy. I feel like a goddamned man.
And as I hold them close, tucked in my arms, I know one thing: When you live in the shallow water you have to keep kicking to stay afloat, but the deep end is where you can dive.