AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I've been thinking a lot about our future together. I know we’ll have a happy and fulfilling life. I feel a sense of peace as I sit in my apartment, looking out the window. I know I'm on the right path. For the first time, I'm excited about what the future holds, and I'm grateful for everything that's led me here. I'm ready to take on whatever comes my way with Roni by my side. I just wish my mother could have been here to see it. She would have been so proud. And she would have loved Roni.
I haven't heard from my father again. And I don't expect to. With my career over, fame is part of my past, I've got nothing he can use.
I check the time. Oh crap. I'm meeting Roni at the restaurant in thirty minutes. She's coming straight from the airport. Probably a good thing because I could not have kept the secret.
When she walks through the door of the private room I booked, I'm already kneeling on my good knee, my heart beating a million times a minute, and about to pop like the bouquet of colorful balloons and streamers behind me.
She gasps and flies across the room but abruptly stops a couple of steps away from me. I look up, and she's looking down, her eyes wide with surprise. She looks so beautiful in the gentle light of the room, her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. A lump forms in my throat.
“Drew?”
“I planned to at least let you eat first, but I can't wait another minute, honey.” I swallow hard, gather up my courage and open my mouth. “Veronica Galloway, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
My hands shake, but I hold on. I have to get the words out.
“I love you.” My voice wavers. “I know this is kind of sudden—”
“It’s been months, Drew,” she cuts me off.
“Okay, not that sudden. But I can't imagine my life without you.” I rush the words. “If you say yes, I want to take you on a honeymoon to the Caribbean, and then we can come back to Minneapolis where I’ll work at the community center for a year while I build my center. And I want to travel with you when you work, I’ll be your assistant and carry all your gear. I want to make all your dreams come true, honey, just like you've made mine come true.”
Her face is pale as beach stone. She lifts her hands to her cheeks, and her eyes have filled with tears. She mouths my name, but no sound comes out. Her lips tremble, trying to smile but failing. The corners of her lips curl down and quiver as they try to fold back into place. She shakes her head. Then she looks at the box in my hands and bites her lip, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
I follow her gaze.
Oh, damn it. I forgot to open the box.
I lift the lid to show her the largest diamond I could buy that wouldn't look too gaudy on her delicate finger.
“Yes,” she finally says, her voice full of laugher, love and a whole wack of other emotions. “Yes, I will marry you.”
Tears of happiness are forming in my eyes now, too. I remove the ring from the box and gently take her hand in mine so I can slide the silver band onto her finger. I look up and see that she is crying full out.
Rising, I pull her into a tight embrace. I have waited all my life for this moment. I kiss her forehead, then her lips, and then we just hold each other.
After a few moments, she pulls away. “Let's do it soon,” she says. “Let's get married as quickly as possible.”
My heart is about to crack wide open for this woman. I look deep into her eyes. “I have never been happier.”
I kiss her passionately, sealing our promise with a kiss of true love knowing that Roni and I will have the life I have always dreamed of.
* * *
