Something Amazing
Page 24
“It’s beautiful, Jax. I love it.” I smiled at him.
“Open it.”
“How?”
“Let’s sit.”
When we sat on the beach matt, I realized Jax had placed the fake candles around us. Gazing out from the cave, I could see the tip of the sun that was done for the day and the faint stars that were just about to conquer the sky.
“The top comes off.” Jax’s voice reminded me of what I was supposed to do. It was always difficult to peel my eyes away from the view.
“Oh…okay.” I slowly opened the top. I was rendered speechless, unable to believe my eyes.
“Marry me, Rachel.”
I peered up to see Jax kneeling in front of me. “Jax.” It was all I could get out of my mouth as my insides quivered, exploding with joy. Feeling a tear streak down my face, I didn’t bother to wipe it. He took a three-carat solitaire ring out of the box and placed it on my finger.
“Say something, babe. I’ll understand if this is too soon. We’re having—”
“That’s ten, Jax.”
“Huh?”
“Number six, first time being so hurt over a break up. Number seven, first time being surrounded by turtles. Number eight, first time being a mom. Number nine, first time falling in love this deeply with a man. Number ten, first time being proposed to. Ten, Jax. Yes,” I blurted. “I’ll marry you, Jackson Clark.”
Jax’s eyes illuminated with delight, and he practically jumped on me. He kissed me as if it were our last kiss, or maybe even our first real passionate kiss. Breaking away, he lay me down, hovered over me, and cupped my face. “I’m so happy. You make me happy.”
“You make me happy, too, Jax. So, should we call Jace and tell him the good news?”
“He already knows.”
“How about your brother?”
“He knows.”
“Your mom and dad?”
“They know, too.”
“Stacey?”
“She’s living with Hendrix. I’m pretty sure she knows.”
“She’s a traitor,” I giggled. “She’s a terrible best friend for keeping a secret from me.”
“I’m glad she’s terrible.” Jax chuckled lightly.
“Becky and Matthew?”
“Yup.”
“My parents?”
“I had to get your parents’ permission.”
“I guess they said yes.”
“Of course they did. They love me. Everybody loves me. However, the one that matters the most,” Jax planted a soft tender kiss on my forehead, “is the one underneath me. You mean everything to me, Rachel. I would jump in front of a shark many times over.”
Jax rolled over and held me to his chest. Placing my arm out to the sky, the diamond on the ring glowed like the stars. One time, I thought Jax was the brightest star I couldn’t reach, but now he was the brightest star I could touch. “It’s beautiful.”
“I picked out a simple design from Tiffany’s. We can exchange it if you’d like.”
“No, Jax. It’s perfect.”
Everything was perfect, and I wouldn’t want what we had any other way. Sure, there were bumps along the way, but that was life. If we only had the good, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to really appreciate what we had, even the little things in life, and that included a child I never thought I would care for.
It was funny how fate molded our lives. Never would I have thought I would be like a mother to a child that was not my own. Not that that was a bad thing, but it was something I never figured would happen unless I adopted. Luckily, it all worked out. I loved Jace as much as I would my own child. In a way, he was. I became his mother, not from blood, but from love.
Jax and I went through hell and back, but we came out of it just fine. I always knew that in the end, if we were meant to be, our roads would lead us back home, back to each other’s arms.
“Do you see the two stars?” Jax asked, pointing to the same ones he had the first time we were there. They were in the same location.
“Yes, I do. They never moved apart from each other.”
“That’s you and me, Rachel.”
“I know, Jax.”
“They’ll never move apart from each other. I won’t let them,” he said as if he had power over the stars. But I knew what he really meant.
“I won’t either.”
Jax moved his finger a little bit to the left. “It’s different this time. Do you see the third star? It’s smaller, but it’s there, and then there is another one to the right, but it’s faint.”
I wouldn’t have noticed unless Jax pointed it out to me. “I do.”
“The little one is Jace.”
“And the faint one is our future child,” I broke in, feeling goose bumps.
“I like the sound of that. We can have a lot of fun and practice making that faint star brighter.” Jax held me tighter, nibbling on the side of my neck.
“Jax.” I squirmed from the tickling sensation.
Jax chuckled, loosening his grip. “Do you want to go back to the hotel, or do you want to spend the night here?”
“I want to go back to the hotel, but let’s stay here for a while.” My tone came out playful. Running my hand down his chest and tugging at his pants, Jax got the idea.
“Okay. When you’re ready, we’ll pick up Jace from my brother’s. I want to make the most of our last night before we go back home to Los Angeles.”
Home. That word rang sweetly in my ears, giving me comfort and security. Jax and Jace were my home. They were my life…my something amazing. I used to think Jax and I could only be together somewhere over the rainbow, but that was just a song…now it was my reality.
Jax hovered over me again. “I believe you need to be properly laid in Kauai again.”
“Maybe…tomorrow,” I teased, giggling.
“You know I won’t take tomorrow as an answer.”
“Then what are you waiting for, Mr. Jackson Clark?”
“I love you, soon to be Mrs. Clark. I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Can we get married in Kauai?”
“I was thinking right here.”
Images of how we would plan this were running through my mind. “I can’t wait.” Without warning, I pushed Jax over so that I was on top of him. “I believe it’s my turn to lay you properly in Kauai.”
Jax gave me a wicked smile. “I’m all yours. I always have been.”
International Bestselling Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.
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