Restoration

by Laurie Larsen

  “But his mom ...,” she started.

  “Nope, huh uh. You can’t use his mom as an excuse. She’s not a reason to keep the two of you apart. Ryan’s a grown man and he can make his own decisions. It’s almost a cliché that a woman doesn’t approve of her son’s choice because she’s never good enough for her baby. Put that out of your mind.”

  Carly nodded thoughtfully. Maybe Haley was right. Maybe after all they’d been through together, Ryan and her and Grace could be a family, together, in love. She’d definitely need to think about it some more.

  Changing the subject, she said, “So, you and Blake huh?”

  Haley blushed and ducked her head with a smile. “Me and Blake. He’s a cutie, isn’t he?”

  “What happened after you left the hospital?”

  “He took me home and I invited him in for hot tea.”

  “Hot tea.” She smirked and waited to see if Haley would come clean with more details.

  “Yeah, it was soothing after all the craziness of the night.”

  Carly patted her arm. “Are you going to see him again?”

  She beamed. “Friday night. He plays in a band and he invited me to come and watch him.”

  “I’m so happy for you.” Carly gave a wave and went to her desk.

  MID-WEEK, RYAN NOTICED his mom was up and about more than usual, and probably more than the doctor wanted her to be. But she was always like that. She never was down for long.

  “What do you want for dinner?” she asked him when he’d returned from his day of school and work.

  “Something easy, Mom. A sandwich?” he said over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway to his room.

  “How about spaghetti and meatballs?” His mother’s voice came from the kitchen.

  “Don’t go to any trouble.”

  He heard muttering. Although he couldn’t make out words, he was sure his mother was making it clear that she was done sitting around like an invalid, and she needed to do something productive. He supposed boiling some noodles and warming up a jar of spaghetti sauce was productive without being exhausting.

  He washed his hands and face and walked back out to the kitchen. “Is there a Delta Tau Delta chapter at Myrtle Beach College?” his mother asked.

  He paused before answering. He didn’t want to stumble into the ever-present landmine of his mother’s disapproval of his college choice, not tonight. Not when she was doing so well with her recovery, and their quiet days of rehab had provided them with more friendly conversations than he ever had with her. “Nope. No fraternities at MBC.”

  She lifted her eyebrows, then shrugged. “Letter for you on the table.”

  He found it and saw that indeed, it was from his old fraternity at Chapel Hill. He opened it, unfolded the paper, and a smaller piece of paper slipped out and landed on the table. His gaze followed the escaped paper and he picked it up. He blinked.

  It was a check.

  His stunned gaze focused on the amount, while his brain tried to process. It was a large check. It was enough to pick up Carly’s ring.

  He looked over at the letter that accompanied it. It was a refund from the fraternity for fees paid. Since he’d dropped out of Chapel Hill this semester, he was done with the fraternity, and he no longer owed the fees.

  This money was rightfully his. The answer to his prayer.

  He went from motionless to running in seconds. He grabbed the check and raced for the door. “Mom! I have to go do something. Don’t count on me for dinner!” He left before he could hear her protests.

  He drove through the lane at the bank and cashed the check, then he drove straight to the jewelry store. He dashed inside and scanned the faces of the employees until he saw the one who had helped him pick out Carly’s ring. He covered the distance and stood in front of her. “Excuse me.”

  She looked up. “Yes?”

  “I’d like to pick up the ring I picked out. I have the money.”

  She chuckled, took his name, and went to the back. She returned, carrying a black velvet box. She opened it, facing him, so he could admire it. “I polished it for you. She’s going to love it.”

  He hoped so. But he wouldn’t know until he presented it to her and discovered if he could convince her that he loved her, he loved their family and he wanted to spend the rest of his days with her.

  “We never spoke about the size. Do you know her ring size?”

  “No idea.”

  “It’s okay. If it doesn’t fit, just bring her in and we’ll size it.”

  He handed over the envelope of cash he’d just received from the bank. She finished the transaction and handed him the ring box and the receipt. “Congratulations.”

  He thanked her. He headed for the door, and then changed his mind. He turned. “Could you help me with one other thing?”

  CARLY HAD FINALLY COME to a decision. Breaking up with Ryan had been wrong. They deserved to be a couple, to see if they had what it took to be together. She needed to see if he was still even interested in being with her after how she tore them apart. Would he forgive her for her bad judgment? Or had he moved on?

  Gathering up her courage, she picked up her phone and called him. “Hi Ryan. I was wondering if you were busy. Could you come over here?”

  He hesitated a moment. “I can come over there.”

  “Great. I wanted to talk to you.”

  He chuckled, but she had no idea why. “Okay, see you when you get here,” she said. She put the phone down. She could use the time to figure out what she was going to say. She didn’t want to blow it. This may be her only chance to get Ryan back. What she wasn’t expecting was a knock at her door less than a minute later. She opened it. It was Ryan.

  “What are you doing here?”

  His happy smile brightened the entire room. “You invited me over, didn’t you?”

  “Well yes, but ....”

  He laughed and let her off the hook. “I was on my way. Great minds think alike, I guess.”

  She brushed it off and stood aside so he could come in. It was go time; now or never. Although she hadn’t had time to prepare her words, he was here, and the time was now. “Ryan, I had something I wanted to tell you.”

  He went motionless and looked at her. Then he held up his hands. “No, stop. Before you do, I have something I want to tell you, too.”

  No, no, no. He may have been dropping by to tell her they were done, thinking that she still wanted that. But she couldn’t let him make that decision without knowing about her change of heart. If she had the chance to tell him, and he still wanted to end it, then it was her own fault and she’d have to deal with her missed chance at love.

  Grace must’ve heard him from her room because she came roaring out like a racecar, yelling, “Daddy!” She launched herself into his arms and he lifted her up into a loving hug. The sight tugged at Carly’s heart and she had to control the pop of tears to her eyes. How could she have thought to give this up? How could she have decided that this wasn’t what she wanted? Of course, this is what she wanted. It was always what she wanted.

  Ryan settled into the couch with Grace and the little girl climbed into his lap and hugged him. Carly sat beside them, and said, “Grace, calm down. Daddy’s here to see you. Stop climbing all over him. Here, sit on his lap quietly.”

  Ryan gave her a grateful glance. “It’s okay. She’s just excited.”

  “Yes, she sure is. She loves you so much, she is absolutely ecstatic every time she gets to see you.”

  Ryan’s face went soft. “And I feel the same way about her too.”

  Carly took a fortifying breath. “I know you do. But what I want to talk about now is the way you feel about me, and the way I feel about you.”

  His eyes widened but he nodded. “Okay.”

  “Ryan, you’re the only man I’ve ever been completely in love with. Well, I should say, boy. Because when I fell i
n love with you, you were a boy and I was a girl. Now we’re adults, and I learned how painful it was to be abandoned by the boy you loved with all your heart.”

  Pain crossed his expression and he took her hand and examined her face. “I’m so sorry ...”

  “No,” Carly said emphatically. “That’s not what this is about. We both know how you hurt me, but you’ve apologized for that, and you’ve made changes in your life to remedy that. You told me that you wanted to be Grace’s dad, and you and she are getting along great. And that makes me happy.” She paused to take a tissue from the end table and brush her eyes. “I want that. I want Grace to have you in her life. But until recently I wasn’t sure how I felt about having you in my life.”

  “Carly, please, before you go any further, could I say something?”

  She looked at him and he looked so sincere and so loving, but she had to get this out. She had to let him know. “I need to go on.” He nodded. “I wanted the whole shebang. If you were back in my life, I wanted the love story. I wanted the happy ending. I didn’t just want to be friends with my baby’s daddy.”

  “You want the fairy tale,” he said softly.

  “Exactly,” she whispered.

  “Do you love me, Carly?” he asked, cutting to the chase.

  There was so much more she wanted to tell him, needed to tell him. But he’d gotten right to the heart of it. He must’ve wanted the same thing. “Yes, Ryan. I love you.” Her heart felt like it was exploding.

  His smile was the answer she needed. This was good news. She hadn’t waited too long. He’d waited for her and he still felt the same way.

  He lifted Grace and placed her on Carly’s lap. He slid off the couch, onto the floor, resting on one knee. “Carly and Grace. You two have made me see what being a man of integrity is all about.” Carly gasped. His stance was making her nervous, making her excited, making her hopeful. But she needed to concentrate and listen to his words. “I’ve made my share of mistakes in my life but you two are the absolute best things in my life. You both make me want to reach my potential as a father and as a husband.”

  “A husband?” Carly blurted.

  “Yes. Carly, I loved you when I was seventeen, and I think I’ve loved you every day since. What I definitely know is that I’m madly in love with you now. The woman that you are, hardworking, ambitious, loving, caring. The mother that you are, nurturing, loving and attentive. I don’t want to spend another day of my life without knowing that we are together.”

  She drew in a deep breath. “Oh Ryan.”

  He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to her on the palm of his hand. It was a velvet ring box. Of course. Of course, this man, who she loved with all her heart, who she’d lost faith in, who’d earned her love and trust back, who told her he loved her, and proved that he was ready. Of course, he would come to her with a velvet ring box on the very same day that she decided she loved him and wanted to give herself over to him fully.

  He popped it open and she gazed upon a beautiful petite, simple diamond solitaire on a gold band. “Carly, will you marry me, and make me the happiest man in the world, and let me make you happy every day of your life? Will you join me in raising our beautiful daughter together, as a family? Just the three of us?”

  The beautiful thing about this was that she’d already decided on the answer before he’d even asked her. “Yes!” He pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger.

  “It fits,” he marveled. But he wasn’t done. He focused now on Grace. “Grace, my beautiful, sweet, precious daughter. I know it’s been you and Mommy together for your whole life. I know she’s been the best mommy in the world and is perfectly capable of taking care of you by herself. But I love you both, and I want to be your daddy, and Mommy’s husband. Would you like me to marry your mommy and live with you both here, all three of us together?”

  Carly laughed out of pure, heart-exploding happiness. It was a word-filled speech and Grace probably didn’t follow all of it, but she certainly got the gist of it. She yelled, “Yes, Daddy!” Ryan’s smile beamed as he pulled out another velvet box, this one oblong. He opened it

  and pulled out a tiny toddler’s gold chain with a 3-diamond pendant. “This is for you, sweetheart. It demonstrates my commitment to our family. You see these shiny stones?” He pointed to each of them. “This one is me, this one is Mommy and this one is you. See? There’s no way to separate the three stones. They will be together always.”

  He unclasped the chain and reached for her neck. Carly lifted Grace’s hair and Ryan secured the necklace. Grace jumped to the floor and started to run to her room. Carly knew she wanted to look at her new necklace in her vanity mirror. But she stopped midway down the hall and came back with a question. “Can we add shiny stones to this necklace?”

  Ryan’s expression was confused. “Why would we add stones, sweetheart?”

  “When I get a brother or sister,” she explained, then raced out of the room. Carly and Ryan looked at each other in surprise, then burst out in laughter.

  “I guess she’s okay with this,” Ryan chuckled. Then he quieted and searched Carly’s face, using a knuckle to caress her cheek. “I love you so much, Carly. You can’t imagine how happy you’ve made me.”

  “I love you, too. That’s what I wanted to tell you tonight. I was wrong to end it with you. I was scared. I didn’t want to cause trouble between you and your parents.”

  He shook his head. “I love my parents, Carly. But my future is with you. If they can’t accept that, then I’m okay with making my way in this world without them.”

  “You and me,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “You and me.” He ran his fingers into her hair and came closer. “And now, I have been waiting for this moment for so long, I can’t tell you.” He placed his lips on hers and they shared the finest kiss she had ever experienced in her whole life.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Life with Carly as his fiancé was better than he could imagine. He didn’t have to hide his feelings for her. He didn’t have to continually feel guilty about his past mistakes. By accepting his proposal, she had wiped all that stuff clean. All that was left was their future. And it was looking pretty bright.

  The weekend following their engagement, they were in Carly’s kitchen, working together to make dinner. Carly was warming tortillas to wrap the taco mixture in, when she tossed them on the counter and said, “I want to go tell your parents.”

  He looked at her and wondered if she was crazy. Or, maybe she was just the more mature one of the two of them. He’d wanted to break the news to his parents, but he figured the best way to do it was when he was alone with them. He didn’t want their reaction to hurt Carly’s feelings. He just hadn’t worked up the nerve yet.

  “Tonight?”

  “Yes. I mean, we’re engaged. They have a right to know.”

  He nodded. “Are you going to be okay with their reaction, whatever it might be?”

  She grimaced. “Let’s face it, we know what their reaction will be.”

  He shrugged. “Probably. But you never know, they may just surprise us.”

  They sat at the table for dinner, and when they were finished, and the kitchen was cleaned up, Carly said to Grace, “Sweetie, we’re going to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Melrose.”

  They arrived, parked in the driveway and made a plan to keep it simple. Direct. Ryan would do the talking.

  They entered the house and Ryan’s parents were in the family room, watching the TV news. When the three of them came into the room, his mom looked startled. His dad just looked confused. Ryan realized he’d never brought Carly and Grace over here, together. “Mom, Dad, we have something to tell you.”

  They stood in the middle of the room and he slipped his hand into Carly’s, as much for her fortification as his. “Carly and I love each other. We already have a beautiful daughter and we want to be a family and
raise her together. We realize you probably don’t approve, but we’re moving forward with our plans anyway and we ask that you support us.” He glanced over at Carly and she gave him a nervous nod.

  His father was in a stunned silence. But not his mother. She stood and came over to them. She cupped her hands and placed them, one on Ryan’s cheek and the other on Carly’s. “I’m happy for you both.”

  “What?” Ryan blurted.

  “When I had that car accident, I had a lot of time to ponder. One of the things I reached a conclusion about was the error of my thinking about you two.” She gestured to the nearby table and they all sat together, facing each other. Even his dad sensed the importance and came over, too. “Carly, you have done a wonderful job raising Grace. I mean, look at what a great little girl she is. So well behaved. Respectful. Smart. Inquisitive. That doesn’t just happen. You made her like that because you’re such a good mother.”

  Carly blushed but didn’t argue.

  “When I was in that terrible accident with that precious angel in the backseat, I knew what a horrible tragedy it could’ve been if Grace had been severely injured. All our lives could’ve been devastated. But the way you handled the situation, Carly, cemented for me what a quality human being you are. Obviously, you love Grace more than anything, but you didn’t blame me for the accident. You didn’t say one mean word to me about putting your daughter in harm’s way. I wish I could say I would’ve done the same, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t have.”

  Ryan put a hand over Carly’s hand and beamed at her.

  “I hope you can forgive me for pushing Ryan away from you when it was time for him to go to college. I had some crazy thought that he would meet an appropriate woman at Chapel Hill and he would marry her and live the successful life we had planned for him. The life I expected him to lead. But what I finally realized this week is, sometimes things don’t go according to a mother’s perfect plan. Although it wasn’t what I had in mind for him, he’d already met the one true love of his life. It was you. And you are a fine choice for my son.”