by Skye,Marie
“I’ll go!” I spoke up, saving my father, since my mother had just used his full name. I turned to Emmalin. “Go with me.” Since I wasn’t asking her, I had already started walking us toward the door. I made sure Emmalin was settled, and thought about making one last trip into the house to make sure everything was perfect, but I thought that would only rattle my nerves and decided against it. I had everything I needed with me.
We’d been driving for about ten minutes before Emmalin spoke. I was so lost in thought, I didn’t hear her until she placed her hand on mine. “Grayson?”
“Yeah baby?”
She furrowed her brow. “How far is the next town? Every stand we’ve passed since we left the house had what looked like lemons outside.”
I looked in my rearview mirror. “Did they? I hadn’t even noticed. I was just so focused on getting to the next town.” I kissed her hand. “We’re about ten minutes out.”
“Do you just want to stop at that one?” She pointed to yet another stand that had lemons outside. Why the fuck were there lemons everywhere?! My phone rang. Thank fuck. I put it on speaker and Meredith’s voice filled in.
“Hey guys! Sorry to bother you, but I totally forgot I promised the kids I would get them some sand and shells from the beach. Do you think you could stop and get them some?”
“Why don’t you just get them some from the beach in front of the house?” Emmalin replied, not missing a beat—after all, we were staying on the damn beach.
Meredith faltered, but luckily David saved her. “They want sand and shells from as many different beaches as possible, and since you're going to be in another town…”
“Ah, say no more. Totally gotcha. I think we have some buckets in the back, right Grayson?” I nodded, not taking my eyes off the road. “Great. We’ll take care of it. See you guys soon.” I hung up and finally pulled up to a roadside market. Never mind the fact that we passed about twenty of them.
“I think she may need more than one.”
I looked down at the one lemon I had in my hand. Shit. I needed to get it together. “Do you want those?” I pointed to the coconuts she’d been admiring as I grabbed six more lemons. She finally picked one, and a pineapple. She grinned wide.
“In case we get hungry at the beach.”
I smirked. “Yeah. All things we can’t easily eat.” I opened her car door and she suddenly took on a serious expression. “Grayson, I never go anywhere without my machete.” She held the look for maybe three seconds before she started giggling. “You need to lighten up. You’ve been stiff ever since we got here. I feel like we need to call a voodoo doctor or something.”
I sighed. She was right. I had been stiff, but it was because I’d been nervous as fuck. We finally pulled up to the beach a few minutes later.
“This is beautiful. There doesn’t seem to be anyone here.” Emmalin had beaten me out of the car. She handed me a bucket, and I realized that for a brief moment, I’d forgotten that she thought that was why we were there.
“There’s a guy over there playing a guitar.” We stopped briefly to listen to the beautiful sound wafting from the strings. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered to her. Her cheeks flushed.
“Such a beautiful couple.” Our attention turned to a man in a linen shirt and long cargos walking our way. “I’m Manuel. I photograph around here. Would you mind if I included you? You won’t even know I’m here, I promise.”
Emmalin hesitated. “We’re just collecting shells.”
“I’ll be completely invisible, and I won’t disturb you. You have my word.”
Emmalin looked up to me and shrugged. “If you’re okay with it, then I don’t mind.”
“I’m okay with it.” Manuel nodded as he walked away. Emmalin started looking around her.
“I guess just the prettiest ones, and not broken ones, of course.” She walked in the opposite direction of me as she tucked her dress up and started examining shells as if she was looking for gold. She was taking this role seriously. She would do anything for my niece and nephew.
Chapter Fifty
Emmalin
“This one has a nice purple hue to it. Abby would love it.” I carefully laid it in the bucket and peered over my shoulder. “Find anything good?” I called out to Grayson. I picked up another one, closer to the water. Man, I bet it would be great to live at the beach.
“Actually, yeah. Come take a look at this one.” I glanced back over my shoulder at him; his back was turned to me and he was still down on the ground. I set my bucket down and dusted myself off. I’d actually forgotten there was someone taking pictures of us. I finally reached Grayson where he was kneeling in the white sands.
“What’d you find?”
“I think you’ll like it.” He slowly turned around, and it took about three seconds for me to realize that he wasn’t holding a shell, and another half second for me to realized he was on one knee. My hands clutched my chest, and tears immediately gathered in my eyes.
“Grayson,” was all I could whisper.
He reached up and brushed the tear away.
“The first time you told me you loved me, you told me it scared you. It scared you to love me. I think at first I didn’t understand that, but I most certainly do now. We’ve battled with each other, we’ve yelled and screamed, but we know that no matter what, nothing will keep us apart, because we know where we belong. You were mine the moment I saw you. You made me fight for you. You’re worth fighting for. You are my heart. I love you. So, I’m here to ask you a question. Emmalin Peyton Ross, will you marry me?”
I couldn’t wipe away the tears fast enough. He smiled up at me, but his face also showed a hint of nervousness.
I took a deep breath.
“Yes.”
He slowly stood up. “Say it again.”
I smiled. “Yes.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
He lifted me in his arms and spun me around. “Again, and again, and again.” I laughed as he finally set me down. “Let’s make this official.” He grabbed my left hand and gently slid the ring on.
“Wow! Grayson, this is too much.”
“It was made for you, and I don’t want you to think I asked you without permission first.” I glanced up at him curiously. “I went to the pier where we scattered Tyler’s ashes. I told him I wasn’t leaving unless he gave me a sign that it was okay to marry you.” I felt myself tearing up again. “I told him I would wait all day if I had to. Turned out, the bastard only made me wait two hours.”
“What was your sign?”
He lifted my wrist and traced my butterfly tattoo. “You were. A black butterfly landed on my knee.” He pulled me to him and kissed me, taking my breath away. He took my hand. “Come on, let’s get back.”
He waved to Manuel. “Thank you, Manuel.”
“Any time, Mr. Mandrake. I’ll have these done immediately.”
I turned to Grayson. “You little sneak. That’s why you’ve been acting weird all week.” He laced our fingers together as we began driving back to the house.
“I was nervous, but hopeful.” I stared at my ring as the nearly setting sun caught it just right. “How about tomorrow?”
“What about tomorrow?”
“We get married.”
I didn’t think I’d heard him right. “You want to get married tomorrow? Not even a full twenty-four hours after we got engaged?”
“Yes. I don’t want to wait any longer. We’ve waited long enough, don’t you think? We’re already surrounded by our friends and family…”
“But, Grayson, we just got engaged and…”
“Do you not want to marry me?” he suddenly snapped.
“Of course I want to marry you.”
“Just not tomorrow,” he countered.
I took a deep breath. Suddenly the SUV felt too small. “Can you please pull over?” Grayson slowed the car down before finally pulling over. I took a moment to collect my th
oughts.
“I’ll marry you right now, this very second. I just thought it would be fun to do the whole wedding-planning thing. It’ll be my only wedding, and Abby and Noah aren’t here.”
He wrapped his hand around my nape, pulling me to him. “Damn right it’ll be your only wedding.” He sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry, we should do that, get the full experience. You deserve that.” He let out a low growl.
“You deserve that, too,” I whispered back.
He exhaled sharply. Finally he spoke. “How long?”
I laughed lightly. “I don’t know, do you want me to just pick out a time frame and we go with it?”
“As long as it’s not ridiculously long, then yeah.”
I took a moment. “Three weeks?”
He smiled. “Three weeks it is.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Grayson
As soon as we walked through the front door, the lights turned on and everyone yelled out “Congratulations!” as they came running over, practically pushing me out of the way to get to Emmalin. To say she was stunned was an understatement. Overwhelmed—definitely. I stood off to the side, not too far away, as I was congratulated by the men with a beer.
“Let me see the ring! Let me see the ring!” Emmalin shyly held her hand out.
“Wow. You did good Grayson.” Isabella looked at me and smiled. “Tell us about it.”
I took a swig of my beer. “It’s an Edwardian old European cut diamond set in platinum, paying homage to Emmalin’s love of vintage.”
“Well, I think I speak for everyone here when I say it’s about damn time.” My mom came over and gave me a hug. “Food is ready everyone. Please help yourselves.” As everyone made their way into the kitchen, Emmalin and I stayed behind with my parents.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome you to the family Emmalin.” My father gave her a hug.
“Thank you, Mr. Mandrake.”
“Chad, please—or Dad, if you like. You’re a part of our family now.” He chuckled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, those enchiladas are not going to eat themselves.”
“I can’t wait to start planning, and hopefully soon after—babies!” My mom giggled, and I froze.
“Mom.”
“What? It’ll be nice to have another baby around here. Meredith said she’s done, and Noah and Abby are getting big.”
I could feel Emmalin’s joy shrinking as she stood there listening to my mom gush on and on about the future children she expected from us—children we wouldn’t be able to have. It was not how I wanted our engagement party to start off. “Mom,” I said through gritted teeth. She was too excited to hear me. I squeezed Emmalin tighter against me.
“We have a cat!”
I appreciated Emmalin’s attempt at trying to turn the conversation, but she didn’t need to do that. My mom frowned. “A cat?” I didn’t miss the disdain in her voice.
“Yeah, she’s kind of a dick, but she’s adorable.”
My mom laughed. “Babies are better. You’ll see when you have your own. Hopefully soon.” I felt Emmalin’s shoulders sag. I knew my mom meant well, but each word was a stab through our hearts, and if I knew Emmalin, it was only going to give her ammunition to have me take back my marriage proposal. Not going to fucking happen.
“Excuse me.” She abruptly turned and left. I let her go. My mom stared after her; she had been in mid conversation. “She okay? Was it something I said?”
I glared at her. “Yeah. Everything you said,” I answered tightly. She looked the direction Emmalin had gone, then back at me, and then it clicked. She covered her mouth. “Grayson, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
I ran my hand through my hair. “Just keep it quiet, please. I don’t need this making rounds with everyone, and don’t bring it up again, please.” She nodded. “I’m going to go check on her.”
Everyone was spread out between the kitchen and the dining room, no sign of Emmalin. “Did Emmalin come through here?”
“No, not yet,” Chace answered. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I went into the kitchen, making two plates of food and putting them in warmers. I also grabbed some extra fruit and a few bottles of wine, and took them out to the car. Call me selfish for wanting to steal my fiancée away from her own engagement party. I already had an overnight bag packed for Emmalin and hidden in the car.
Emmalin had just came out of the bathroom in a different dress, this one even more alluring than the last, and my dick started aching against the zipper. “Damn baby.” She jumped at my voice, and peered at me over her shoulder. Although her dress was long, it dipped low in the back, and the white fabric made me even more eager for our wedding day. She suddenly looked nervous.
“Hey, I’m sorry about all of that downstairs.”
“It’s okay. It happens, and it’ll keep happening. There’s nothing we can do about that.” I sighed as she looked down at her dress. “This was the only white dress I had. You think it’ll do?” I gazed at her curiously. “Do for what?”
“I thought about it, and maybe you’re right. We should get married. Everyone’s here, and we can just have another party or something with Abby and Noah, right?” I smiled, taking her hand in mine.
“When I asked you to marry me tomorrow, I was doing it out of selfishness. Emmalin, you deserve a wedding. If anyone deserves the fairytale, it’s you.”
“It’s us,” she whispered against me.
“Come on, there’s another villa not too far from here and we’re staying there tonight.” She looked at me perplexed.
“We’re not staying here?”
“Hell no. I’m not spending my first night with my fiancée here.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Emmalin
“I can’t believe you’re engaged. Hell, I can’t believe we leave tomorrow. Best vacation ever.” Gwen sighed, pouring herself another margarita as she relaxed in her chair and pulled her hat down farther over her eyes.
“And I can’t believe that even though there’s a beautiful beach out in front of us, we’re at the infinity pool instead,” I added. Everyone laughed.
We all gazed out as Hawkins smiled at us. “Hmm, so that’s what Hawkins looks like with no shirt on. Well done, Gwen.” She visibly blushed.
“Care to join me?” Hawkins shouted over.
Gwen pulled her knees to her chest and shook her head shyly. I turned to Gwen, who I then noticed was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and shorts while everyone else was in swimwear. “Gwen, why aren’t you in a bathing suit? Aren’t you going to get hot in all that?”
She looked at me and smirked. “Yeah, I’ll get in a suit when I lose about thirty pounds.”
“What are you talking about? You have an amazing body!”
She shook her head. “You’re being nice because you have to as my friend. I’m still trying to figure out why someone like Hawkins—who looks like he just stepped off the cover of GQ—Is feigning any interest in me. I can’t think of a reason other than him thinking I would be an easy, quick lay, because no one wants me. He could have any woman.”
“Gwen…”
“Can we just drop it please? I know his type. I’ve been down this road dozens of times, but I’ll figure him out before he can try anything. Besides, we’re here for a reason, and that’s to celebrate Emmalin and Grayson finally coming to their senses and taking that next step.” She gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened between her gushing about him the day before and now. I sighed; it didn’t matter. If he did or said anything to her, I would have a bottle of nail polish remover and pliers ready.
We sat in silence for a few moments, watching the view. “Hey Emmalin, let me see the ring again,” Isabella said.
I looked down at my hand. “I took it off.” Both Gwen and Isabella rose from their loungers so fast, I was surprised they didn’t fall over.
“What do you mean you took it off? You’re never supposed to take it
off!” Isabella whispered loudly.
I looked at her, almost fearful. “Well, I didn’t want to lose it.”
“And to not lose it, you wear it. That’s rule number one! Now get your ass up there and get it before Grayson sees it missing. He will kill you!”
I huffed, getting off the lounger. I didn’t see what the big deal was. Hell, maybe there were rules, but I didn’t know them. I’ve never been engaged before. Then I thought about Grayson; seeing me without it on could hurt him. Damn, I was such an idiot. I hurried into the house and up to our room. I went into the bathroom to the sink where I had left it. It wasn’t there. Oh God. What if it had fallen down the drain? Shit! I tried peering down the drain, but I couldn’t see anything. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and tried looking again.
“What are you doing?”
I jumped at the sound of Grayson’s voice. He was leaning casually against the frame of the door, watching me. “Nothing. I didn’t hear you come in.”
He watched me curiously. “It didn’t look like nothing. Did you lose something?”
I looked between him and the sink. “Um…no.”
He raised both eyebrows and casually strolled over, slowly looked me up and down as if seeing straight through me. He always had that way about him, and damn, I hated it. It was like he knew I was straight up lying. He glided his hand down my left arm, which was still behind my back, and I shivered at his touch. He pulled it to him and I froze as he traced my ring less ring finger with his thumb and cocked an eyebrow at me.
“Missing something?”
I felt my face getting heated. “I took it off because I didn’t want to lose it.”
He nodded. “I see. And where is it now?” He spoke in that controlling, domineering voice.
I felt my chin quiver. I had already disappointed him in the first 24 hours we’d been engaged. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “I left it on the counter, but it’s not there. I’ll find it, I promise.”