by Brooks, Abby
Laughing!
“Lilah—” he began.
“Don’t you Lilah me.” She stared him in the eye and tried to breathe fire. It was one thing to go behind her back, but it was a whole different level to actually laugh at her when he got caught. “You feel like explaining to me what you were doing back there?” Lilah took a bite of her salad and forced herself to chew even though she had lost her appetite about fifteen minutes before.
He laughed again. Flared his hands helplessly. “I can’t.”
“You can’t or you won’t?”
“I can’t, but I can assure you it’s not what you think.”
“You’re gonna have to do better than that.” Lilah stopped trying to eat. Stopped trying to pretend like her world wasn’t shattering around her. “Look. If you’re done with me, fine. I mean, it’s not fine because I don’t know what I’d do without you, but I guess what I’m saying is that it is what it is. If you’re done, you’re done. Don’t string me along. Don’t go behind my back. Don’t make me feel unwanted.” Lilah swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. She would not cry. Not here. Not at work. Not in front of all these people.
“I’m not done with you.”
“If you’re messing around with other people, then yes you are.”
“But I’m not.” There was desperation to his voice now. Pleading in his eyes. “Please, don’t do this here.”
“I guess I could say the same thing to you.” Lilah’s voice cracked and she dropped her gaze to the table. If he wasn’t going to say it, then she was going to have to because she didn’t do casual. And sleeping with more than one person at the same time was just about as casual as you could get.
She slid out of the booth and stood up. Paused for just a moment and watched Cole struggle with something. She waited for him to say something, anything, and after a few heartbeats—she had no choice but to count them, they were thunder in her ears—she turned to walk away.
Cole grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. “Lilah. Don’t go.”
“Give me a reason not to.” Her throat raw. Her voice thin.
People were turning in their seats to see what was going on. Staring and whispering and trying not to let her see them point. Still, Cole said nothing. She met his gaze and begged him to explain. Begged him to have a really damn good reason for what she overheard so she didn’t have to say goodbye.
He rubbed a hand over his mouth, the stubble rasping against his palm. “I asked Christy-Anne to help me with something. Something for you. I wanted to make it special, but you’ve kind of forced my hand here, princess.” He smiled weakly and reached into his pocket. Pulled out a tiny, red velvet box and dropped to his knees.
Lilah stopped breathing.
“Lilah Moore, when I asked you not to go, I meant forever. Don’t ever leave. You have made me a better person. A better version of myself. You taught me to trust. You taught me to change. You taught me to laugh and smile. You taught me what real, honest to goodness, true as shit love feels like. You even taught me that sometimes it’s worth spending a little extra money for a damn good batch of cookies. And Lilah, I really want more cookies.” He smiled and she took a hitching breath. Almost couldn’t see him through her tears as laughter rippled around the cafe. “Will you marry me? Be my princess until we’re old and gray, making fun of each other as we sit on the porch and watch the grandchildren in the yard?”
Lilah nodded violently. “As long as you promise to sing to me every day.”
“How many days?”
“All of them. All that I have left.”
Cole slid the ring out of the box and took her hand. Kissed her palm and then the tip of each finger before sliding the ring in place. Lilah dropped to her knees in front of him, grabbed his face in her hands, and kissed him while the diner erupted in cheers and applause.
“I love you, Cole Bennett.”
“I know,” he said and kissed her back. “And aren’t I just the luckiest man in the world because of it?”
29
Lilah sat on the deck at her parents’ house with Juliet, Willow, and Ellie, watching the men play a terribly competitive game of volleyball out on the beach.
Diane and Maggie came out of the house, each carrying a tray of drinks they set on the little tables between the chairs. “One of them is going to get hurt,” Diane said, as everyone helped themselves to a glass. “And I bet it’s gonna be Frank. That man still hasn’t learned to back down from a challenge.”
“Must be genetic,” said Juliet, while Willow and Ellie nodded their agreement.
Lilah shrugged. “I don’t know. Cole’s just as bad. That man will work himself into an early grave if I let him.”
Maggie rested her glass of water down on the armrest of her chair. “Ain’t that the truth?”
“How’s it working out, now that he’s an official supplier for Harry’s restaurant?” Willow asked.
“Oh my gosh. So good.” Lilah took a long drink and found her gaze traveling back to her fiancé. “He’s not worried at all about making a profit now. Which is good. But now all he can talk about is getting out on the water first and staying out there the longest because he knows he’s got a buyer for all he can catch. Well, two buyers. And he’s working on a third.”
“That’s amazing!” Ellie ran a hand through Ben’s hair only for the wind to stand it on end again. “And what about you? Any luck on deciding what to do with school?”
“Yep. Interior design. Don’t know why it took me so long to figure out I’d be good at it. I mean, it’s not like I staged all of Ian’s rental properties, or totally redid Good Beginnings for you when it got broken into last year.”
Ellie smiled. “And you did a damn fine job, too. Didn’t you originally decorate James’s house for him? I remember being very impressed.”
“And Ian gave me some of the things you picked out for his homes back when I first moved here,” said Juliet. “They were gorgeous. You’ve got good taste.”
Lilah sat back and watched the women chat away. It wasn’t too long ago that they would have ignored her, left her out of the conversation, or looked shocked at her replies when she joined in anyway. She had always assumed they were sensitive or lesser somehow. It embarrassed her to think about now. Especially now that she knew she was the one who had been lacking.
From the beach came the smack of a hand hitting the ball followed by a heavy thump and a loud grunt. The men erupted in laughter and cheers. Lilah turned to find Cole bringing himself up to a sitting position, brushing sand out his hair. He caught her looking and winked as Ian congratulated him on one hell of a good save. “No wonder my sister loves you so much,” she heard Ian say. “You’re just like one of us.”
Lilah’s throat caught as her brother’s helped Cole stand and her dad thumped him on the back. She turned her attention back to the conversation the women were having on the porch. The wind rustled in her hair, blowing in off the ocean carrying the scent of the sea along with it. This. Right here. This was what life was all about. Family. Friends. And love. So much love.
* * *
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Also by Abby Brooks
The Moore Brothers Series
Blown Away (Ian and Juliet)
Carried Away (James and Ellie)
Swept Away (Harry and Willow)
Break Away (Lilah and Cole)
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