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“You’ve not heard it’s nippy outside?”
I considered her comment and smiled as I looked into her eyes. “I’ve heard the term ‘there’s a nip in the air’,” I admitted.
“Nip, bite, it’s all the fecking same. It stings.”
I pressed a small kiss to her nose and turned her toward the couples on the patio.
“Do we really need to stay out here? I’ve seen it now and it’s pretty. Can we go back inside?” she asked, huddling so close like she was trying to climb inside of me.
“Okay, but I’ve a question I need an answer to first,” I informed her. Felix had hovered behind us, glued to his cell phone, and I saw him send a text from the corner of my eye.
“All right, but be quick, my balls are freezing out here,” she demanded as her eyes searched my face. Instantly an explosion was heard up above us. Daisy clapped her hand on the back of her hood and stared up at the darkened sky. One after another they burst in a shower of technicolor to spell out the words ‘Will You Marry Me’.
So occupied by the fireworks Daisy hadn’t realized I’d let her go and when she turned back to look at me, I was down on one knee with the ring box in my hand.
“Huh?” she asked, blinking down at me in disbelief.
“Daisy O’Donnell, you have taught me what it is to love. I thought I’d known that before, but only since I spent time with you, did I realize not only the meaning of the word, but how it feels to love someone that the time spent apart is as painful as I imagine it would feel to lose a limb. Actually, more than a limb because when we’re not together I feel as though half of me is missing and the other half is slowly dying.”
I cracked open the box exposing the large diamond on the small gold ring with a nervous grin. My heart rate was off the charts, but I tried hard to focus on her face.
“What I’m trying to say is, you are the light of my life, you have touched my soul in a way nothing else ever has and I’d be a fool if I didn’t push my luck and ask for more. So here I am, down on one knee in front of you, to ask you the question that’s been on my mind for quite a long time now. Daisy, my sweetheart, my heart, my life, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Daisy looked like she’d been hit by a Mack truck, and I knew it was the last thing she’d expected to happen. When she remained silent and still, I began to lose confidence, glanced toward the couples on the patio who were now engaged in our intimate moment.
“Daisy? Can you say something, sweetheart? You’re killing me here?” I prompted.
“Yes,” she stated, deadpan. Taking her hand, I tugged it gently.
“Do you know what you’re saying yes to?” I asked, noting she was clearly in shock.
“Not really … I mean the logistics of this, but I’m saying yes anyway,” she remarked and nodded vigorously. Her eyes searched mine and she grinned as I pushed the ring on her finger. Daisy glanced down at it, gazed back at me and shook her head.
“You don’t like it?”
“I do. But it’s extremely fancy,” she stated before I laughed and scooped her into my arms, then swung her around.
“She said yes, guys!” I called out to the couples on the patio and a Northern Irish voice shouted back.
“Thank fuck for that, my balls were almost frozen to that metal chair,” someone called back.
The shocked look on Daisy’s face made me belly laugh. “Jesus, Daisy, you made me sweat for a minute. How do you think I’d have felt if you’d turned me down in front of this lot?”
Paddy and Bernadette, Ryan and Belle walked quickly toward us.
“You planned all this for me?” Daisy pondered with a look of stunned adulation in her eyes.
“No, they’re here for me,” I teased as Belle clapped her hands and grinned at her sister. “You didn’t honestly think we’d get five days on our own, did you?” I joked. Had I been selfish that’s exactly how I would have played this. However, knowing my girl the way I do, I figured if I hadn’t invited some people to share her news, she’d have wanted to go home right away tonight to share it.
“Congratulations, Auntie Daisy,” Ryan drawled in a sarcastic tone as he swept past me and pulled her in for a hug. “You had us worried for a minute, but I checked and legally you being with my uncle doesn’t affect anything me and Belle might get up to … not that I’ve deflowered her or anything,” he joked with a wink.
No matter what my nephew’s feelings toward Daisy’s youngest sister were, he had obviously mortified Belle who blushed and punched him square in his arm. We heard the thud as it landed. “Ow, for fuck’s sake, Belle, I was only joking.” When he thought Belle looked relieved, he added, “The deflowering was at Christmas, I remember it well.”
“Bejesus, of all the people I could be celebrating this with it had to be you,” Daisy said to Ryan, to save her youngest sister’s blushes.
“I know, you’re so damn lucky to have me, eh?” he remarked, sarcastically. Belle swiped his arm and he chuckled. “But I’m not here to steal my Uncle Jamie’s thunder, he’s a lucky man.”
“That I am,” I agreed, and shoved him gently away from my girl. I wrapped my arms around Daisy again and pulled her close to my chest. “Now that my nerves have fused back together let’s get back inside and toast with a drink.”
