Begin to Begin

by Brown,A. S.

  I didn’t think I would ever get to this point in my life. Standing here waiting for her to join me and become one. I didn’t even think that was something I wanted in life until I met her. I can’t help but remember the night I proposed. It was by far one of the scariest nights of my life. We talked about marriage some, but I knew Marin’s uncertainty because of what she’s gone through. I never wanted to push the issue. Hell, if she would have said no I would have been crushed but I would have never left her side. I want her no matter what.

  The coastal breeze off the coast of Sanibel Island blows Marin’s long dark hair around her face. It’s gotten so long over the last several months, and I love running my hands through it.

  We came to Sanibel for the weekend. I wanted to get her away. She’s been so busy lately she really needed to destress. And I had another reason I wanted to bring her here. I haven’t told anyone. Not even Uncle Mel. But I want to ask her to be my wife.

  She will probably say no. Not because she doesn’t love me, because I know she does, but because she is afraid.

  Afraid that something tragic will happen again. But I will never let anything happen to her and I’m going to do everything in my power to not let anything happen to me, for her.

  The ring is burning a hole in my pocket. I picked it out about a month ago—a teardrop-shaped diamond in a platinum band.

  She stands on the balcony overlooking the ocean waves. Walking up behind her, I wrap myself around her from behind, pulling her in close to me.

  “I love you so damn much, Marin. You make me happier than I could have ever imagined being.”

  She stays silent but runs her fingers over my hands that are clasped at her waist. I move her hair out of the way and place kisses to the nape of her neck and she lets out a hum of appreciation. I run my hands up her silky, soft-pink robe to the top where it gapes open slightly and slip my hand inside.

  Leaning in, I whisper into her ear, “I want you to be my wife, Marin.”

  She gasps at my revelation.

  “You don’t have to say anything right now. I just want you to know that I want to wake every morning with you in my arms and fall asleep every night with your body curled around me. You are my sole reason for living.”

  She turns in my arms and pulls my mouth down to meet hers. She kisses me fervently, to the point that I want her right now on this balcony.

  But before I get a chance to carry her to the chair in the corner and bury myself deep inside her, she pulls away from me, with tears in her eyes.

  This is it. She’s going to say no.

  “I love you, Dalton. I love you more than I thought I would ever be able to love someone. I was given the rare gift of loving again when you walked into my life. I thought losing Benji ruined me. But I was wrong. You ruined me, Dalton. You ruined me to the point that I will never be able to survive without you in my life.”

  I watch her, every word that comes out of her mouth making my heart feel like it will implode.

  “I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Forever.” Tears stream down her cheeks, and I reach in to wipe them away.

  “Ask me again,” she says.

  I’m so taken back by this I just stare at her and then she repeats herself, “Dalton Young, ask me … again.”

  I reach into my pocket and pull out the small ring. I drop to my knee and look up in her eyes. I want to do this right afterall.

  “Marin Thompson, saying I love you doesn’t simply explain how much you mean to me. Without you, there is no me. I want to be beside you every step that you take. I want to be inside of you ever minute of every day and I want to be the man that gives you everything you have ever wanted. Say you will be my wife. That you will become mine forever, because by god, I already belong to you.”

  She sobs through my entire impromptu speech and drops to her knees and throws her arms around me and leans in to my ear and whispers, “Yes, Dalton. I will marry you, but I already belonged to you.”

  And here we are now, surrounded by our closest friends, ready to become husband and wife. I know this is a bittersweet moment for her, even though I don’t have any doubt she loves me.

  The first time she was supposed to do this, it ended in heartache and despair. It’s one of the main reasons she wanted to have the ceremony at the courthouse.

  Uncle Mel and Aunt Dot are here and beside them is Cole and his husband. Standing up here beside me is Liam, and funny enough, he can’t seem to keep his eyes off of Gwenn who flew down from New York for the ceremony. I actually surprised Marin with that; she had no idea Gwenn would be here.

  And walking with Marin down the aisle are Amelia and Joey. She wanted them both by her side.

  I love this woman with everything in me, and I will cherish and protect her for the rest of my life. I will give her everything she wants and needs because she is all I will ever need.

  We may not have had the easiest journey to get to this point, but now that we have it, we are never letting it go.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  This book almost didn’t happen. There have been so many personal things happening in my life that, many times I wanted to just scrap it and start over. But there were people there that kept pushing me, telling me to not give up. So, without them, this book wouldn’t exist.

  So, first I want to thank my AMAZING editor, Wendi Lynn. Seriously, girl, without you I don’t know how I would have finished. I know you had some issues on your end as well, but I think we made a pretty kick ass team in the end.

  I would like to thank my family, especially my husband. He has dealt with my moody ass for over thirteen years now. And meeting deadlines just adds to my moodiness. He’s been a rock star through it all.

  To my Beta readers, Michele and Stacey. You guys are awesome and read this for me so quick and on such short notice, I’m so very, very grateful. You two caught things that I just skimmed over and would have never thought to look back through for so THANK YOU!

  To my Controlled Sisters (I can’t name all 106 or is it 105? Sav would know….), thank you for letting me vent at times and bouncing ideas off you ladies. You are all an amazing support system and I thank god all the time that I was able to find you all, even though I have never met any of you yet, it’s on my bucket list to meet each and every one of you one day!

  Thank you to my readers, of course you are the sole reason that this book is here. So I hope you love it as much as I do!

  About the Author

  A.S. Brown started her writing career last year with her first novel Sober Addiction.

  When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with family, reading, and dreaming up new ideas to write about.

  She lives in Northeast Florida with her family and two geriatric dogs.

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  Read her first book here:

  Amazon - Sober Addiction