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It’s only when the night is coming to a close that I feel the nerves pick up. The waiters come in to take the dinner dishes away in preparation for coffee and dessert, and the conversation naturally lulls as they lean in, stacking plates and silverware and whisking it all away.
When they straighten up again, I pick up my drink and stand.
With a steadying breath, then another, I take in my friends who exchange meaningful looks with each other. I want to tell them all to cool it, torelax,but I can’t say anything. Maddie looks up at me, her doe eyes bright with anticipation. She glances over at my friends with raised eyebrows, like they might give her some clue about what’s going to happen, but they just look back at her with equally excited expressions.
“Madelyn,” I start and stare into her eyes even as her mouth drops open. “From the first moment I saw you, I couldn’t get you out of my head.” Both of her hands cover her mouth and her eyes turn glassy.
Kenzie squeals, and Madelyn’s aunt shushes her. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see them gripping each other’s hands.
“I thought about you every day for six months after I got out of that elevator. The second I stepped out, I regretted doing it. I wanted to know more about you, and somewhere deep down, I knew there was something there I needed in my life.”
Maddie’s eyes shine with tears.
“I have to be completely honest with you. I’ve never been happier that someone couldn’t pay the rent.”
Affectionate laughter goes up around the table.
“I’ve told you this before, and I’ll tell the entire world. There has never been anyone who made me feel what I feel for you. I wanted to be near you anyway I could. I still want to be with you in any way that I can.”
Maddie keeps her eyes on me, and I want to remember her like this forever. She’s pleased and content and in love, and I can’t believe it took me so much of my life to look for this.
Then again, maybe it took me so long because she had to be in the right place at the right time.
Fine. Maybe I am the kind of man who believes in fate and destiny. I’ll believe in anything that brought Maddie to me. My only wish is that my parents were here to see that I found someone like her. Someone to share my life with. Someone to help me through the dark times. Someone I can help through the dark times. I think somewhere, somehow, they know.
“I love you,” I say and bend down on one knee, pulling the ring out of my pocket and presenting the diamond to her. “I want to spend the rest of our lives together so I can take care of you, make you happy, and be your husband. Will you marry me?”
She stands up out of her seat, tears running down her cheeks, throws her arms around my neck, and kisses me.
We’re instantly surrounded by cheers. Her lips on mine is everything I need.
“Is that a yes, then?” Kenzie shouts and only then does she pull back from the kiss and looks me in the eyes.
Technically, she hasn’t saidyesyet. Not with her words. Technically, these are the last moments she’ll spend as my girlfriend instead of my fiancée.
They’re absolutely beautiful.
And what’s to come is going to bestunning.I can’t wait for all of it. Marrying her. Loving her forever. Being by her side for as long as I can.
I couldn’t have earned a better deal than that if I worked every single minute for the rest of my life. I can only accept her for the gift that she is.
My Madelyn leans in, her lips close to mine, gives me a light kiss that feels like a promise, and whispers. “Yes.”
EPILOGUE
Graham
Five months ago…after a frantic call.
The door opens and it’s her. The woman from the elevator.
Same dark hair. Same dark eyes.
And now I know that it’s her voice I like.
My head turns foggy with all the thoughts I’ve had of her for the last two months as she invites me into her apartment.
The scent of her in the air is the same, if a bit more subtle, and for a few seconds she’s all I can see.