She hustled out of her room and, as she opened the door for the cabdriver, she was distracted, going over her mental list to make sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything…Oh shoot, her keys.
“Just a minute,” she told the driver as she distractedly turned back into the house, “Just let me grab my keys.”
“Hi.” She heard the deep voice reply, and she froze. She knew that voice. When she looked up to confirm her suspicions, she dropped her bags.
“Riley,” she said. Shock completely numbed her entire body.
Her heart stopped, she felt like the whole world was spinning while she stood still in the middle of all the whirling commotion. She realized she wasn’t breathing. She needed to breathe. Breathe, she told herself, breathe.
A concerned look crossed his gorgeous face, “Chelle, do you need to sit down?”
She nodded her head, “Probably.”
He led her inside and guided her as she sat down on her couch. He crouched in front of her and placed his hands on her knees rubbing them gently in circles, “Breathe, Chelle.”
She nodded her head trying to do just that but with his large hands rubbing her knees and thighs she was having a hard time concentrating on something as insignificant as oxygen.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
Well, the room has stopped spinning, she thought, but now I'm light-headed for a completely different reason.
Instead of saying that out loud, she just nodded again.
He rose and pulled the ottoman over so he was still seated in front of her.
What was he doing here, in Harper’s Crossing? Then she remembered. His dad. Of course, his dad had suffered a mild heart attack a few days ago. He must be in town visiting him.
Forcing herself to speak she asked, “Are you here visiting your dad?”
“No, I’m here because I forgot to give you something.”
He handed her a plastic bag. She recognized it as the one from Old Time Photos.
Ummmm...he flew back to give her their picture? She was pretty sure he could have just mailed it.
“Open it,” he instructed.
She did and pulled out what looked like a large Hallmark card. On the front was their picture, her in her saloon girl attire, him all decked out in his cowboy gear, on the top of the page it said “What’s the story?”
She opened it, it was the same picture from a different angle with bold words written above and beneath it.
On the top it said “Riley and Chelle…” then on the bottom large letters read, “Happily Married. This was their last ‘first date’.
Oh. My. God. She was going to throw up.
She looked up from the card and saw that Riley had gotten down on one knee, an open ring box containing a beautiful diamond solitaire in his hand. “I know I said I wasn’t the forever kind of guy, but I was wrong. I want to be your forever. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”
Dread filled her body. Oh, no. He knew. Her eyes filled with tears. “Who told you?”
A look of shock and confusion crossed his face, “What?”
“Who told you?” she repeated.
She saw the confused look in his eye. Oops...maybe he didn’t know.
--- ~ ---
Riley knew that, in response to his proposal, there was a possibility that Chelle might cry, yell at him, and even kick him out. He was hoping that she would smile and say yes. But he had not expected her to ask him a question he didn’t understand.
He stood, “Who told me what?” He saw tears forming in her eyes and noticed her hands were shaking as she covered her stomach protectively. Was she sick or wait, was she…? No way.
He then looked around and saw the bags that she had dropped when she had opened the door. The puzzle pieces were starting to come together in his mind and he was beginning to see the big picture.
“Where were you going?” he asked, trying not to get his hopes up.
“To see you,” she answered, the color draining from her face.
“Why?” He asked, trying to calm his racing heart.
She swallowed hard and he could see her hands were shaking even harder. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, to tell her everything would be alright. He just needed to hear the words first.
“To tell you, I’m…that I’m…” She struggled to get the words out.
Fuck it, he couldn’t wait. He blurted out, “You’re pregnant.”
She nodded as the tears fell from her eyes.
“With my baby,” He said in a reverent whisper.
She nodded once again.
He felt like his heart was about to burst at the seams. He pulled her up into his arms and held her as she cried. He knew she was upset, but he couldn’t help but smile. He didn't want to seem insensitive, so probably best to get that all out of the way while he was looking out over her shoulder, out of eyeline. He really couldn't help it, though - he felt like he had just won the lottery.