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Her smile dimmed. I wasn’t exactly a good patient, and the nurse didn’t deserve me being bratty, but I was officially done being laid up in a hospital room, like some victim.
“Yes, she is. Thank you so much,” Elliot spoke for me, not smiling at the nurse though his voice was pleasant and warm. Even my near-death experience, cleaning me up after a murder and being with the Wicked Witch couldn’t stop him from being a nice guy.
“I’m not.” I glowered at him, after she walked out.
He ignored me.
“You can’t make me eat that,” I pointed at what could only loosely be called food.
Elliot moved the tray to a table in the corner of the room. “Avery is coming with lunch,” he rolled his eyes. “Which you will eat every bite of.”
I folded my arms in front of me but couldn’t help my grin. I was hungry. And Avery made great food.
Elliot’s expression changed as he fumbled in his pocket. “This isn’t exactly the environment I’d planned, but even if I did plan something elaborate, I doubt it would impress you.” Elliot’s murmured tone was strange. Almost nervous.
When he slid a box along the hospital table over my bed, I sat up straighter.
My heart rate increased as I took in the dimensions of the box. It wasn’t Tiffany blue or Cartier red. It was older, with a delicate, gold design threaded through the worn leather. But what it contained was unmistakable. I was frozen, blinking rapidly at the box in front of me.
His deft fingers opened the clasp to reveal a ring.
A sapphire mounted against two smaller diamonds, sparkling blue like the ocean.
“I’m not even going to begin to think I have the funds or the knowledge to buy you some flashy ring,” he said. “And you’ve got both the funds and the knowledge to buy yourself whatever ring you want. I wanted something priceless. Something you couldn’t buy.” He paused, taking the ring from the box. “It was my mother’s,” he sighed. “And I know it may be weird for you or too cheesy?—”
“Put it on my finger,” I demanded, my voice gravelly.
Elliot’s eyes found mine.
He didn’t speak, remaining silent for a second too long.
“Elliot, put the ring on my fucking finger.” I spoke a tad too sharply, but I didn’t have a choice; the other option was to burst into tears, and I wasn’t about to dothat.
He took my left hand then slid the ring on my finger. It fit perfectly. And although the metal had been sitting in a box, it felt warm. Like sunshine.
“Is that a yes to marrying me?” he asked, still holding on to my hand.
“I don’t believe you formally asked,” I told him, again too harshly.
He saw right through me. “Calliope Derrick, love of my life, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation.
And for the first time in three days, Elliot smiled.
Epilogue
Love Brought Weight — Old Sea Brigade
“That’s the last of it,” Elliot declared, walking in the front door with a box. “Well,” he clicked his tongue, “the last of it that will fit in this house before Rowan is done with the expansion.”
“He’ll be done in record time,” I assured him from where I was, working on my computer. I’d been forbidden from doing any heavy lifting even though it had been weeks since I’d been discharged. I was fully recovered, yet I didn’t protest because I really didn’t want to haul boxes of shit from Elliot’s truck.
“I’m in no rush. You can wear my shirts for the rest of time.” Elliot was watching me with that intense look of his that hadn’t dimmed since I woke in the hospital. Like I might’ve died in his arms or something. I guessed I kind of had.
I tipped my lips upward, pretending that look didn’t hurt my insides. “Even down the aisle?” I teased.
He nodded. “I’d be happy with that.”