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Then again, when I thought about the precise planning that had gone into my relationship with Logan, and the length of time I had known him before we married, none of that careful deliberation had mattered in the end.
"Did you tell the others I accepted your proposal?" I knew his mom had to know since she gave him the ring, but I wasn't sure whether his sisters and father had been told as well.
"Nope. Mom spoke to them about the ring in general terms, but they agreed that should you ever marry me, the ring would be yours. Mom knows as I had to ask for it. We're having a family dinner tonight. We can either do it then or on New Year's Eve."
"James?" I asked, wondering if he attended family dinners without Charlotte hanging around.
"No. He'll only be at home on New Year's Eve.
"Sounds messed up, if you ask me."
"Stop stressing about it. We're only together four or five times a year, including Christmas and New Year's. I can deal with that, for my parents' sake.
"You're incredible, you know that?"
"Ah, now she gets it," he replied, glancing out of the window at the dawn's early light. "Ready for breakfast, soon-to-be Mrs. Wild?" he teased. Hearing him call me this made my heart lurch.
"Not too soon," I added, quickly. "I'm still going to need time for Colby to understand what's happening. And there are so many issues we need to iron out, like where we'll live, your work, and mine, for that matter."
"Yeah, those conversations are for another day, let me enjoy your acceptance for a while. We'll deal with all of that after the new year."
We sat talking in the wine bar until the winter sun came up in the clear blue sky.
As we grew hungry, Sawyer stood and thanked the lone staff member who had opened the wine bar for us. He handed the man an envelope before we stepped outside in the chilly winter air and headed out to breakfast.
* * *
It was almost lunchtime when we set off from New York back to the Hamptons and by the time we'd arrived, my insides were a mixture of apprehension at being greeted as a permanent fixture to a family I had only known for a day.
I was quietly thankful to learn Sawyer's sisters had taken the children to play in an indoor pool to let off some steam, but Sawyer's mom rushed toward me the moment I stepped through her door.
"Let me look at you," she said, cheerfully. By 'you' she meant my hand sporting the beautiful, precious ring that had meant a lot to her. "Perfect. I know it must have taken a lot for you to put your trust in another man, but you have nothing to worry about in Sawyer. That child could have grown to be a real playboy, and I'm sure there were more than a few girls who wanted to be more to Sawyer, but until now he hadn't met a girl he wanted to marry."
"He did live with Charlotte," I couldn't help saying. The words were out before I could reconcile them in my mind.
"He did, but she was all wrong for him. She's wrong for James as well, for that matter, but …" she sighed heavily. "Highly strung and greedy, she always has been. When Sawyer first dated her, it was Charlotte who did all the chasing, made more of their relationship than Sawyer was comfortable with at the beginning. They were better as friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. Ronald had her pegged as a flighty girl, something I hadn't seen in her in the beginning. That one has always been notorious for wanting more or what someone else had. Looking back, it was a mistake to tolerate the relationship between her and James, but it's too late to do anything about that now."
"By the sounds of things, James bore the brunt of what they did—not that I'm condoning any of it," I replied.
"He did, and I tried to point this out to Ronald at the time, but he's always had a soft spot for Sawyer."
"Sawyer told me what happened."
"He did?" she asked, surprised. "Did he tell you he pulled the girls together and asked them to share his uncle's inheritance?"
"Yes, he did, and I love him for that. I wouldn't expect anything less of him; he's full of compassion."
"Indeed. His action toward his brother showed everyone he was the better man."
"I believe congratulations are in order," Ronald's booming voice broke into our conversation, and we both turned to see him stepping into the hallway from the great room, Sawyer grinning widely behind him.
"Thank you." We both replied as Sawyer stepped forward and held me protectively by my waist when his father spoke to us.
"You haven't told the rest of the clan yet. Do you think you'll do this at dinner this evening?" Ronald asked.
"I was thinking maybe we'd keep it to ourselves for a couple more days and announce it on New Year's Eve, right before midnight," I replied, thinking Charlotte would be there and it would send a clear message to her about Sawyer's future, our future.
"Oh, what a wonderful idea!" Sawyer's mom gushed. She stepped forward and hugged her son excitedly, patting his back before she pulled me in for one as well.
"New Year's Eve it is then," Ronald confirmed.
