by Anne Conley
“Look,” he began.
“No, you look. Zack and I have been friends forever. Just because you got into something with him ten years ago doesn’t mean I can’t still be friends with him. And if I want to fuck him, that’s my prerogative. I’m twenty-four years old, dammit!” Simon had risen to go intercede, and Mia, bless her heart, was trying to shoosh them and keep them from disturbing the other guests. Of course, this was entertainment. The other guests were loving it.
“You’re acting like a child, Bonnie.”
“Because you constantly treat me like one.” Tears of frustration were leaking out of her eyes, and Valerie understood exactly where she was coming from. Simon and Quinten did treat her like a child. She’d seen it. She could understand it. Quinten and Simon had taken on the roles of parental figures to Bonnie after their parents had died. Not that she needed a brand new parent at seventeen years old, but they’d tried to dictate how she lived her life. Just the way their parents had done. And they’d hated it. Valerie hadn’t pointed out the irony there, hoping Quinten and Simon would see it on their own. But it looked like she might have to have a talk with Quinten tonight after this was all over.
Bonnie ran out of the room, her skirt in hand, and Zack followed her more slowly, folding out a cane he’d apparently had in his pocket to make his way around the guests. Quinten looked over at Valerie, his face blanching.
He looked at her fork and swallowed. So Valerie looked down to see what had him reacting that way.
There was a ring on it.
It was a big, sparkling diamond solitaire ring in her lava cake.
Valerie put the pieces together, and Quinten’s attentiveness and nerves tonight made more sense. Of course, the spat between him and the sibling had messed up the moment, but her eyes watered with tears anyway.
He was proposing.
Well, not really. What was happening was Quinten was stomping around the table, yanking the ring off her fork, and stuffing it in his pocket, leaving a smear of chocolate on his pants.
“What—?” she began, but he hushed her with a kiss to her lips.
“We’ll try that later. Little sister sort of ruined it.” The twist of his lips showed his displeasure with the entire ordeal, and Valerie sort of commiserated.
Sort of.
“Well, if you hadn’t been so difficult, she wouldn’t have lost it on you,” Valerie pointed out with a smirk.
He raked his hand through his hair, managing to leave a streak of chocolate on his forehead, and Valerie giggled.
“Okay, fine. You get a reprieve. But we’re talking about all this tonight, Quinten.”
“Fine,” he groaned before planting another kiss on her mouth and retrieving another tray of desserts.
As Valerie glanced around the table, she saw all eyes on her. Miriam was trying to contain a fit of giggles, and Valerie quirked an eyebrow at her, realizing how funny the situation must have looked.
“Poor Quinten. He always makes the grandest gestures, and they never go the way he wants them to.” Miriam took a sip of water after she spoke.
Simon was lowering himself into his seat next to her. “You can say that’s probably a family trait.”
The rest of the event went off without another hitch, although Zack and Bonnie never made it back to the table. Quinten kept working amassing a huge number of tips for charities. The silent auction brought in tons of money, and everyone seemed to have a great time.
And Valerie made it through the entire thing without any breakdowns. Her parents had been there but were seated at a table across the room, so she was limited in her interactions with them, which was preferable. She didn’t want to have a big deal made about her being out and about, and every time she caught her mother’s eyes, the woman would tear up and her chin would tremble, and Valerie knew her mother was proud of her.
When they got home, Quinten pulled into the garage, and Valerie waited for him to open her door, as was their custom. She led the way inside and kicked her shoes off in her bedroom before plunging herself on her bed with a satisfied sigh.
“We did it.” She’d had her doubts, but Jenene and all her encouragement had been with her the whole time, as had Quinten, her rock.
Pulling the ottoman close, Quinten sat, reaching for Valerie’s feet. His strong fingers began rubbing them through her stockings, his thumbs pressing deliciously on her instep. “You did it.” His smiled at her, his eyes intense. “I’m so proud of you.”
Leaning on her elbows, Valerie knew she was about to break the moment, but some things needed to be said. She was all about the recovery now, the new Valerie. She was finished letting things go.
“About what happened tonight…” she began, but Quinten dropped her foot and stood, retrieving the ring from his pocket. Without ceremony, he dropped to one knee and looked at Valerie through heavy lids.
“I’m so sorry about tonight. I wanted it to be so special for you, but the kid sister went and screwed it up.”
“You can’t blame Bonnie. You were an ass yourself.”
The shock on Quinten’s face was comical, and Valerie smiled as she reached for the stray lock of hair flopping over his forehead.
“She was acting like a child,” Quinten protested.
“Because you and Simon treat her like one.” Valerie’s voice was firm, but gentle. She wanted Quinten and Simon to give Bonnie a chance to grow. “People do what you expect of them. If you keep treating her that way, she’s always going to act childish with you guys. Treat her like the grown woman she is and you’ll see a world of difference.”
Quinten rested his face in the palm of her hand after turning to kiss it first. “You think?”
“I know.” She pecked his lips and then sat back, clapping expectantly. “Now, on to the proposal.”
Quinten straightened his spine and held the ring out. “Valerie Dunaway, I have so many words for you, but none of them are adequate. You are amazing, my light, my life. You have made me a better man in the short time we’ve known each other, and I’ve loved watching you grow and heal. I can only hope we can continue to grow together through the years.” He clutched her hand in his, and slipped the ring on. “Will you?”
“Will I what?” She was teasing, trying to make him uncomfortable because he was cute when he squirmed.
He let out a small sigh and grimaced. “Marry me, make me happy forever, get off birth control and have my babies. I want everything with you. Give me everything. And I’ll give you all of myself in return.”
She hadn’t realized he wanted babies with her, and the thought brought a riot of joyful sensations.
“Of course, Quinten. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
Quinten’s mouth captured hers in a searing kiss that quickly turned tender. As he made love to her, murmuring sweet words, Valerie imagined their life together—a house full of kids and grandkids with the two of them old and gray, a lifetime of memories behind them.
A lifetime of memories she couldn’t wait to make.
Anne has written her entire life and has the boxes of angst-filled journals and poetry to prove it. She’s been writing for public consumption for the last four years. Currently she is writing two romance series. In Stories of Serendipity, she explores real people living real lives in small town Texas in a contemporary romance setting. In The Four Winds, she chronicles God’s four closest archangels, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, falling in love and becoming human. She lives in rural East Texas with her husband and children in her own private oasis, where she prides herself in her complete lack of social skills, choosing instead to live with the people inside her head. Check out her blog, www.anneconley.com for updates, book blurbs, and more.
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Serendipity Series
Welcome to Serendipity, Texas, a town where real people deal with real problems. Meet characters in their thirties and forties struggling with day-to-day issues and managing to find love in the process. Visit Serendipity, where the days are hot, and the nights are steamy! The first story, Neighborly Complications, is free! www.anneconley.com/p/neighborly.html
The Four Winds Series
The Four Winds series are Paranormal Romances dealing with the Archangels. They are the biblical archangels, so there are aspects of Christianity in them. But the conflict in the stories are about the archangels falling in love and turning human, so they are dealing with human emotions and feelings. Due to various reactions of shock and outrage, I feel the need to put the spoiler out there: These books have sex in them, but also Christianity. So if either of those bother you, please don't buy these books. First book in the series is free! www.anneconley.com/p/falling-for-heaven.html
Pierce Securities
A group of misfits come together to form Pierce Securities & Investigations; doing the best they can with their collective and individual strengths; becoming unlikely heroes in the process.
Book B!tches
Welcome to Mystic, Texas, where the past comes alive in more ways than one. Follow an Indie-loving book club as they navigate life, find love, and try to figure out who is targetting them for nefarious games.
Stand Alone Novels
Best Laid Plans of Boys and Men
Fixer Upper
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