by Tara Brown
I got up and followed, pausing at what I saw. In the window, I watched my family as snow softly fell on and around me. It was like a movie. The window was frosty, and the scene inside was warm and filled with a brightly decorated tree and a bunch of nuts.
They laughed and let their crazy out of the bag. Ashley’s family brought out the real in mine.
I wrapped my arms around myself and sighed, watching them interacting. Rachel, Ryan, and their dad had become permanent fixtures at our house and in our life. We’d adopted them, and whether they liked it or not, they were family. I felt sorry for them a lot.
Ashley had been a hard-fought battle by my dad, forcing my mom to not be a giant bitch. I managed to avoid the entire scene, being at school when I finally broke it to her.
It was a tough one for her. But she was nicer to him and his family than his mother originally was to me.
Andy came down and joined everyone, getting hugs and pats and handshakes. He looked so different.
I thought about myself eight months ago and knew where he was. He was lost. He needed some tough Ella love and to find himself again. He would be okay again. Not the same—better, but scarred.
I knew this story too well.
I had the guy.
I had the life.
I had the money and the fancy clothes.
I had the opportunities.
But up until recently I was missing so much more inside of me.
And my life was about to change for the better because I started to figure these things out.
I had a new checklist, and it didn’t revolve around a guy. It was my own.
Motivated, check.
Happy, check.
Focused, check.
Living with purpose, check.
In love, check.
And as if on cue, love came strolling out, eyes twinkling and smile wide. “She’s outing you in there.” Ashley chuckled. “Ella just told everyone about Tisch.”
“Oh, God. My mom’s gonna lose it.”
“Yeah, she’s flipping out. Said she wasn’t paying for your education so you could be a waitress in LA.” He sauntered over, wrapping me in warmth and light. He pressed his lips to my forehead.
“It’s okay. She just needs a minute to come around and she’ll get over it.” I pulled back. “Are you having fun?” I asked, laughing.
“I am, are you?”
“Yeah. I talked to my brother, so that’s something.”
“He’s a human being, Cherry. He makes mistakes. Granted that was a bad one, but he’s paid an awful lot for it.”
“I guess. I don’t really want to talk about it, if it’s all right.”
“That’s okay, I have something serious I want to talk about anyway.” He pulled back and brushed the snow from my hair and cupped my face. Then he dropped to his knee and pulled out a small silver box, almost giving me a stroke. “Cheryl, Cherry Kennedy, from the moment I saw you, I knew I needed you. I knew that nothing in my world was ever going to be the same. You were a different breed of human than I was used to, but I decided early on I would form myself to fit in around you.”
My insides tightened, and my fingers crept to my lips as everything in me felt like it was about to burst.
“And then you showed me the weirdest summer I have ever spent or imagined possible, and I knew right away, this was it. We had some ups and downs, and during a particularly bad down, I realized I can’t actually live without you. I was at my parents’ house, meant to be fixing the roof, and all I did was hack my mom’s Instagram and refresh yours and wait for a clue as to where you were and if you were okay. I spent hours staring at your face. Being apart from you was the worst I have ever felt.”
He cracked open the box, pulling out a single Post-it note. He handed it to me, stunning me. There was no ring, just the Post-it note I’d left on the wall for him when we had broken up, so to speak.
“I need you too. And I love you.”
I took the Post-it note, not sure what this meant. But then he pulled out an old ring.
“It was my grandma’s. My mom would be honored if you’d wear it, and I’d be honored if you’d wear it, as sort of a promise to each other of where this is going. It’s not an engagement ring, not yet.”
Tears flooded my eyes, and he became nothing more than lights and twinkling stars in my vision, but I nodded and let him slip the ring on my finger of my right hand, not my left.
He stood and pulled me close, kissing me and whispering into the embrace. “I think my mom’s on my side because she wants us to hurry up and get engaged for real and then married so you can be rid of that last name. Of course I joked I was taking your name.”
We laughed, and I shook my head. “You ruin all the good moments.”
“It’s part of my charm.” He kissed me, and as much as I wanted that to be a lie, it wasn’t. It was part of his charm.
I loved him, weird romantic-moment destroyer and all.
We kissed some more, with the snow falling down on us and our family watching from the inside of the house, my mom no doubt trying to see what the carat was on the ring.
It was just like a scene from a movie.
In fact, I contemplated using it in at least one of my own Christmas films.
One day.
This guy, this summer fling, turned out to be the exception to every rule.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author photo © 2015
The international bestselling author of Roommates and the Puck Buddies series, Tara Brown writes in a variety of genres. In addition to her comedic Single Lady Spy series, she has also published popular contemporary and paranormal romances, science fiction, thrillers, and romantic comedies. She especially enjoys writing dark and moody tales, often focusing on strong female characters who are more inclined to vanquish evil than perpetrate it. She shares her home with her husband, two daughters, two cats, an Irish wolfhound, and a Maremma Sheepdog. Find out more about Tara by visiting www.TaraBrownAuthor.com.