That brings me to the here and now. Wiping my hands off on my jeans, I open my car door and walk up to the front door. I’m a ball of nerves right now and I really need to get my shit together. If I don’t, this will end in a fucking disaster. Knocking on the door, I chew on my thumbnail as I wait. It’s make or break time.
The door opens. “Hi, Landon. Come on in.” Rob, Autumn’s father, moves out of the way so I can walk inside. “Would you like a beer?” Rob and I have developed a nice relationship since our first meeting. It’s one based on mutual respect. I know he loves Autumn and wants to protect his little girl, and I think I’ve proven that she is my heart and I’m never going to let her go.
“Nah, I’m good, thanks.” I had called Rob yesterday to ask him if I could stop by and talk to him about something. With a lot of suspicion, he agreed.
“So, whatcha need?” Here goes nothing.
Taking in a deep breath, I look him in the eye. “You know I’m crazy about your daughter. I thank God every day that he put her in my life. I know—“
“Whoa, whoa,” he interrupts, holding up his hands. “I know where this is going. Why the hell do you think you deserve her?” His arms cross over his chest as his mouth forms a slight frown. The stern look tells me I have one shot of getting this right.
Sitting up straight and maintaining strong eye contact, I say, “I don’t deserve her, sir.” His eyes widen slightly in shock, but he recovers quickly. “In fact, there’s not a man on this planet that does. She’s an amazing woman and I’m the poor schmuck she’s taken pity on by dating. Before I met her, my life was empty. The saddest part is I didn’t even realize it. I know I’m not her equal, but dammit if I won’t try to be every day for the rest of my life. I want to marry your daughter and I’d like your blessing.”
After several moments, I’m ready to go out of my mind. He’s just standing there staring at me. And I’m on pins and needles, afraid he’ll tell me to fuck off.
“As long as you promise to take care of her and love her like I do, then you have my blessing.”
“I swear on my life,” I say with confidence.
He gives a curt nod.
“There is one other thing I wanted to ask you before I go.”
“Damn, son, you just asked if you could have my baby girl. What more do you want?” His grin lets me know he’s kidding.
“I know how much Autumn’s mother means to her, so I’ve been thinking of ways to incorporate her into the proposal and wedding process. Do you happen to have her wedding ring still?”
Sorrow fills his eyes as he nods slowly. Standing up, he walks to the back of the house where his bedroom is. A minute later he returns with a small box in his hand. “I had planned on giving this to her when she graduated from high school, but I couldn’t bring myself to part with it.” His eyes are brimming with tears, the love he has for his wife is so clear. Opening the box, there’s a simple, single diamond set in a white gold band.
“If it’s alright with you, I wanted to use this ring to propose to her with. Then, have it slightly modified.”
“I don’t think so. You’re not going to chop up her ring.” Snatching the box away from me, he closes it and tucks it out of sight.
“No, I don’t want to chop it up. I want to have another band made to fit around this one and have two stones placed beside her mother’s. This ring won’t be changed in any way and the second band will be removable. I just thought it’d be nice for Autumn to have a small piece of her to wear.”
Pressing his lips together in a tight line, he nods several times. Once his eyes close, the tears he was holding back spill over. “That would be wonderful.” His voice is strained as he talks past the lump in his throat. “Thank you, Landon.”
“Really, it’s not a big deal.” Rob takes me completely off guard when he grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me in for a hug. I’m glad to say I think I got his seal of approval.
***
Later that night, I take Autumn out for a nice dinner. It’s the same Italian restaurant we went to the first time I took her out. I thought a little trip down memory lane might be nice.
“Do you remember the first time we came here?” I ask her.
“Yep. It seems like forever ago, doesn’t it? I was so nervous that night.” A warm smile spreads across her lips as she thinks back to that date.
“You were nervous? I didn’t know that.”
“Are you kidding? I wanted to back out!”
Chuckling, I grab her hand and rub the back of her palm with my thumb. “I’m really glad you didn’t.”
“Me too.” She leans over to the center of the table silently asking for a kiss. Who am I to deny her? Sealing my lips over hers, I savor the moment, knowing that bigger things are about to happen a little later.
***
Looking at my phone as we get in the car, I say, “Shit. Mom needs me to stop by the bakery and make sure the back door got locked after the last delivery. You don’t mind do you, since we’re already out?”
“It’s not a problem for me.”
Turning on the ignition and putting the car into drive, butterflies start to dance in my stomach. I’ve never been so fucking nervous in my life. My palms are sweating as I grip the steering wheel, and I keep trying to discretely wipe them off on my pant legs. Checking my pocket for probably the hundredth time tonight and seeing that the ring is still there, we pull up to the bakery.
“Someone left all the lights on,” Autumn says as she unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car.
“Yeah, I need to turn those off too. Come on.” Holding my hand out to her, I lead her past the front window display of the bakery. Looking in the glass, I pause and say, “Well, look at that.”
Turning her head to see what I’m talking about, she sees the cake in the display case. At first, there’s no reaction from her as she reads what it says. Then I get to witness the moment it hits her, when her eyes widen, her mouth drops open, and then she covers her mouth with both hands. On the cake it says, ‘Autumn, will you marry me?’ There’s a tiny bride and groom on it too. My mom did an amazing job.
“Oh my God!” she shouts. When she turns around to face me, I’m already down on my knee with the ring in hand.
Grabbing her hand, I propose. “Autumn, you are the love of my life. You make every day worth living and have shown me more happiness than I ever knew existed. I’m thankful for my knee injury because it led me straight to you. I can’t promise everything will be hearts and butterflies, but I can promise to be a man you can be proud of and stand next to. I will always support you in your goals and dreams, and be there for you when things are bad. I know I’m not good enough for you, but there’s not a man in this world that will love you like I do. I want to have a bunch of little babies, grow old, and spoil our grandchildren together. Will you marry me?”
Tears stream down her face. With her hands still cupped over her mouth, she nods. Finally, she utters the sweetest words I’ve ever heard in my whole life.
“Yes!”
5 years later…
If someone had told me six years ago that I’d be happily married to a former quarterback that was one of the best in professional football, I’d tell them they were high. But here I am, four years of wedded bliss later and I couldn’t be happier.
“Whatcha cooking, babe?” Walking through the front door, Landon comes up behind me and rests his chin on my shoulder as I stir the red sauce that I’m trying not to burn.
“Your favorite. Spaghetti with meatballs and red sauce.”
“Mmm, smells good. And how are you in there?” Resting his hands on my protruding belly, he talks to our little tyke in his sweet baby voice. The sound of it makes me smile. “Are you being good in there for mommy, Junior? You’re not making her uncomfortable or anything, right?” He leans down and talks to our son through my belly.
I let out a small laugh. “At this point, breathing is uncomfortable.” With three weeks to go, I really don’t think I�
�m going to make it.
“Just try to relax. We’re in the homestretch now. If you want, you can go sit down and I’ll finish dinner.”
“Ha! Says the guy who’s not a damn whale with cankles. And that’s okay, dinner will be ready in just a few minutes.” Remind me to never do this again when Landon hits me up with the whole ‘let’s have a baby’ talk. Next time, I won’t have a moment of weakness and I will remember how miserable I am right now.
I hope.
“Daddy, you home!” Little Ava comes charging into the kitchen before crashing into her daddy’s leg and hugging it tight. She’s our two-and-a-half-year-old tornado.
“Hey, princess. How was your day?” Bending over, he grabs her up under her arms and picks her up, then gives her a kiss.
“It was fun. I got to ca-wa a pitcher.”
“Oh, you colored a picture? Can I see it?”
“Yeah!” she yells, before Landon takes her out of the kitchen so I can finish dinner.
Life is good. Landon’s business took off faster than he ever imagined. He created Stone Corporation and is now a national business. He has project sites scattered throughout the country, where he designs rebuilds. He’s even started branching out, designing homes from scratch. Since he has an eye for the understated extravagant look, a few celebrities have come to him to design their home. It’s been truly amazing and I’m so proud of him. He had a vision of where he wanted his new job to go, and he ran with it, superseding all of our expectations.
Once we found out we were pregnant, we moved out of the home Landon bought after his divorce. We needed more space to grow and wanted a place with a lot of land for the kids to run around on. As much as I loved my job at the bakery, I’m not working there anymore. Since we’re fortunate enough that I don’t have to work, we decided it was best if I stayed at home with the kids. I love every second of watching Ava grow and learn and have no regrets about being a stay-at-home mom.
Setting the plates and food on the table, I call for Landon and Ava to come sit and eat. I never thought I’d have the unconditional love I have from these two. Landon has shown me what it’s like to be appreciated and cherished; I fall in love with him more and more every day. I wasn’t expecting him to walk into my life, but I’m so thankful that he did. But that’s the thing about love. It rolls in like a hurricane, causing complete havoc. Sometimes you’re left with the broken pieces that you do your best to put back together. But, if you’re lucky, it crashes into your life, matching you with your soul mate. That’s what it’s done for me.
I’ve been tackled by love. Tackled so hard that I felt like the wind was knocked out of me, but it’s not just any love. It’s Landon’s love. And it feels amazing.
Thank you to all the readers who read Tackled by Love. There are a ton of other books out there and the fact that you bought this one is truly humbling. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
To my husband, Steven. Thanks for dealing with a messy house and crappy dinners while I worked on this book. Our life is crazy enough as it is, so thanks for accepting a little more crazy and supporting me through this. I love you, babe.
Laura Hansen, you crazy woman, you. Thank you for all your support. You’ve been there almost from the very beginning before I ever thought of writing a book on my own. You’re an amazing person and I’m blessed to call you a friend. Thanks for beta’ing for me and making me feel confident in my story. I love ya, girl!
Ashley—or Alexis—or whatever you want to be called today. Who knew I’d make such a great friend out of this crazy girl who gets pulled over for rapping Eminem? You were so willing to shed light on every aspect of the writing process, from beta’ing, to the book cover, and I love that you let me pick at your brain for all of it. You’re amazing and I appreciate all the advice you gave through this process.
Thanks to “fucking Judy Readsalot” for reading through this for me and finding the last bit of things that fell through the cracks. Your honesty is something I value and I know if I really want to know the truth about something, I can always depend on you for a straight answer. You’re awesome!
Jennifer Santoro, thank you so much for your opinion and help with making this book the best it can be. I appreciate the time you put into this while you were on vacation. Thank you!
To Espe Duarte with Second Gaze Editing, thank you for doing an incredible job editing this book!
Ena Burnett, a huge thank you for helping get the word out through the amazing blog tour you set up with Enticing Journey Book Promotions. You’re amazing and I’m so glad we met. Until our next New Deli date….
Jaime, thank you for doing the first round of betas and starting me on the path to the finished product.
To my cover model, Ali Gordon. You are such a nice and humble person. Thanks for rolling with my scattered brain and being patient while I figured things out. You gave a face to my character and I could never thank you enough for that.
That leads me to thank the photographer, Lydia Millen. Your images are beautiful and I appreciate you doing this shoot for me.
Kellie Dennis with Book Cover by Design, you did an awesome job on my cover. I had no idea what I wanted and you ran with it. You knocked it out of the park! Thank you!
Brenda Wright deserves a HUGE thank you for having to reformat my book a million times because I kept making last minute changes. You never made me feel bad (even though I did) and were super nice about it. The book looks beautiful too!
Last, but not least, thank you to all the bloggers! You guys are amazing and your passion for books is incredible. Without you, no one would know who I am and I can’t tell you how incredibly grateful I am for your honest feedback and support. You guys rock!
Rachael Duncan is an Army wife living in North Carolina with her husband and two kids. She grew up in Nashville, Tennessee and went on to graduate from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a bachelor’s degree in political science. After working on Capitol Hill for a short time, she realized that a career in politics just wasn’t for her. A couple years later, she rediscovered her love for reading and writing. She’s co-author of the books The One Left Behind and Shattered Lives Mended Hearts by Lena Nicole.
Find Rachael Duncan on
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