Page 58 of A Heart On A Sleeve

“Hey, baby.” I lean forward, pressing a light kiss to Olive’s lips. I’m seeing her for the first time today and can’t help but notice she’s far more dressed up than I instructed. “I thought I said comfort.”

“This is comfortable, and it’s not like you gave me any idea where we’re going,” Olive says, rolling her eyes playfully while smacking my arm gently.

She has on a flowing skirt with a sweater tucked into it, not the jeans I had pictured.

But then again, when is she ever underdressed?

I love that she doesn’t worry about fitting into the situation as much as she once would’ve, and Anne will appreciate the outfit.

I clear my throat, a lump of nerves settling in. “Uh, we . . . Let me try that again. You look beautiful, as always.”

Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink, and I run my finger along the blush.

“I just need to get my shoes on. I’ll be right back.” Olive turns to head toward her bedroom and I follow, detouring to the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase.

I’m filling the vase with water when she wraps her arms around me and lays her head between my shoulder blades. “I missed you today,” Olive whispers.

I spin around, setting the vase down with one hand as I pull her chin up and lean in for a kiss.

After several minutes, we break apart, both of us heaving for air.

God, this woman is everything. I’m not sure I’ll ever have enough of her.

But right now, we have a schedule to keep and a big night ahead of us.

Nothing about pulling this off was easy, yet every plan I’ve put in place was worth it.

“Olive, as much as I want to say fuck the date and spend the night showing you just how much I missed you, I have it all prepared, and I think you’d be sad to miss it.”

She huffs a little, pouting her lip out for a brief second before winking and smiling at me.

“Okay, okay, let’s go.” Olive pushes past me, stopping for a second to smell the flowers I bought her.

“These are beautiful. They remind me of fall. Thank you.” I don’t reveal that I intentionally requested them for that very reason.

(Beatrice Bushnell is finally an Olive fan—it didn’t take much convincing.) I simply nod and kiss her cheek before guiding her to the truck.

I help her in, and she scoots to the center seat.

Such a small thing shouldn’t give me comfort, but it does.

I know we haven’t been together that long, and we went through a lot—it would be weird if I wasn’t a little scared about how she’s going to handle what’s about to happen.

“Sam, where are we going?” she asks, peering curiously out the window. Mage Hollow isn’t a big place, but there are essentially two neighborhoods you’d want to live in—the one we already do, and the one where Ari and I grew up. Both touch Mage Square, being conveniently walkable.

I glance at her, nothing but love and admiration in my eyes. “If I told you, it would ruin the surprise.”

She doesn’t respond. Instead, she squeezes my hand and scooches a little closer to me. I’m shocked she isn’t asking more questions. She’s a runner—I know she caught on to my random tour of town three turns ago.

Abandoning my stall, I pull into a stone driveway.

It’s technically aggregated concrete, but it looks like pea gravel with warm tones that create a classic appearance.

In front of us is a sprawling sage-green Victorian home with a large wraparound porch and a paned-window front door that’s painted black.

Olive gasps audibly. “This house is beautiful. Whoever lives here probably thinks we’re nuts. How many times did we drive past?” she asks, fluttering her lashes and stifling a laugh.

“The O’Reilly’s,” I retort, not giving life to the joke she made.

Olive knows me well enough at this point to sense I’m nervous.

But she’s playing along, so I don’t wait for her to question if I’m referring to a family member or ask me anything else she could have cooked up in her mind.

Instead, I hop out of the truck and round the front to open her door.

Olive doesn’t say anything, she simply grabs my hand and walks with me up the steps.

She starts toward the porch swing, but I stop her.

“Wait, baby. Can you sit right there for a second?” I ask, motioning to the top step. She looks confused as hell (it’s frankly adorable), but she does it anyway. “Would you like a turkey Rueben?” I ask, waving the brown bag I grabbed from the backseat of the truck when I exited.

“Sam, what? It’s like forty degrees. Why are we eating on the porch of someone else’s house?”

I settle onto the bottom step the way I did that first time I brought her food.

“Do me a favor and just go with it,” I say, moving to pull the box Howie assembled from the bag.

I hand her the Styrofoam container and motion for her to open it.

As she takes the first bite of her sandwich, I start talking.

“I have spent a lot of time planning tonight . . . And while we didn’t meet on these steps, I didn’t think that you’d be up for flashing the town again.

” Her eyes bug out a little as her cheeks turn rosy.

“But also sitting on steps, even if they’re different ones, with this sandwich is where I felt like you started to let me in.

It was short-lived, since I messed up and called you princess, yet I still remember thinking that maybe if I played my cards right, I’d be lucky enough to see how beautiful you were on the inside. ”

“Sam, uh ma gahd,” she says around the bite in her mouth. As she chews happily, I push back from the wooden slats and drop to one knee.

“Olivia Anne Bowman, when you came into my life with a flash, I knew instantly that I’d never be the same.

I’ve never met anyone exactly like you. Baby, you see the best in everyone around you, and my happiest moments have been watching you discover all the amazing parts of yourself.

” I clear my throat as tears start to fall from both of our faces and Olive abandons the sandwich to its container.

“I don’t need to tell you all the ways or reasons I love you just because this is a big moment.

I do that every day anyway. But I will say this, watching you learn to be vulnerable, to wear your heart on your sleeve, has changed me.

It’s shown me that even when the odds are stacked against us or wild and unexpected events occur, we will always find a way to weather the storm if we stick together.

It’s shown me that being open and honest with the right person means you can never go wrong.

But mostly, it’s shown me that you truly are the most genuinely beautiful person on the inside and out .

. . Will you marry me, have babies with me, and grow old with me in this life and whatever comes after it? ”

“Oh my gosh! Yes! Of course, I love you so much.” Olive stands and pulls me to my feet, kissing me deeply, like even though we can do this for the rest of our lives, even that won’t be enough.

She drops her hands from my chest, and I take the opportunity to slip a key into her palm.

She takes a step back and looks from it to me and back again.

“Sam!” She practically shouts, “Did you buy me a house?”

I reach behind my neck, scratching my hair lightly. “I mean, technically I bought it for both of us, but yeah.”

She launches back into my arms, kissing me once more.

“I lov—” The door opens with a thud against the side of the house.

“Uh, shit, sorry. I was just coming to see if you’d gotten here yet,” Ari stammers, causing us both to laugh. That girl has always had impeccable timing.

“It’s fine, Ari. Look!” Olive holds up her hand to show off the vintage gold ring with an oval-shaped diamond shining brightly. “We’re getting married.”

“Ollie, I love you, but why do you think I’m here?

Come on, everyone’s waiting.” She tugs my future wife inside, and I follow, stopping only for a second to look at the night sky and send up a silent thanks to Irina.

As much as I have a love-hate relationship with magic, I’m grateful my future wife finally learned to wear her heart on her sleeve.

When we get inside, Olive is immediately swept up by our family and friends.

Her parents and mine are the first to hug her, offering congratulations.

Then there’s Xav, Cami, Howie, Ariella, and my siblings.

Olive shows off her ring, and champagne is passed around our new kitchen.

Anne even comments about how beautiful the decor is, causing Bridget to beam in delight.

The night feels almost perfect as I clink glasses and exchange a kiss with my girl, but I notice Max trailing out to the backyard with his head hung low.

“Hey, I’ll be right back, I gotta check on Max,” I whisper in Olive’s ear. She nods and smiles up at me, turning to talk to our moms as I exit.

Pushing my way onto the back deck, I find him with a half-empty glass of bubbles sitting on an Adirondack chair. “You good, bro?”

“Yeah, uh, congratulations . . .” He takes a long sip, draining his glass. “Happy for you both. At least one good thing happened this week.”

I move to sit next to him, waiting to see if he’ll say anything else.

When he doesn’t, I jump in. “Max, look man, I know this wasn’t what you wanted, but the doctors are serious.

You’re missing six games this time just to heal your noggin.

What happens if you continue and the next time the damage is worse?

” Max can’t keep playing hockey. We both know it but that doesn’t make accepting it any easier.

I understand where he is, walking away from the game sucked for me too.

But I had tattooing to fall back on—Max has never wanted anything else.

“I don’t fucking know. That’s the problem.” His voice cracks with emotion. “I don’t know who I am without it.”

I stand and grab his hand, pulling him up so I can give him a hug. “That’s what we’re here for, to help you figure it out. I love you, bro. You’re not alone, now or ever.”

He shakes his head, clapping me on the back a few times. “Thanks, man. I love you, too. But we, uh, we should probably go in there because I’m pretty sure I just saw Mom and Anne yelling at each other through the window.”

“Oh shit! Let’s go save my girl.”

We hurry inside only to discover that both the moms were acting out some scene from the latest soap opera they’ve been watching.

I’m relieved that they aren’t actually fighting, but part of me thinks it would have been a good excuse to kick everyone out.

I slink up behind Olive and whisper in her ear, “What are the odds we can get everyone to leave soon?”

“Pretty good, watch this,” she says, before spinning in my arms and kissing the daylights out of me.

I hesitate at first, caught off guard by the blatant display of affection, but then she sweeps her tongue over my lips and I’m powerless to deny her.

I’m not sure how long it takes for it to get awkward, but I do hear Ariella telling everyone they should let us celebrate in our new house alone.

After hearing several agreements, we separate just long enough to say goodbye to our family and friends.

When Ariella, the last to leave, closes the front door behind her, Olive turns to me again. “I can’t believe you bought me a house and asked me to marry you.”

“Honestly, I’m just glad you said yes. I know it’s quick, but I’ve never been more positive about something in my life. You are my life. It’s not just your heart you wear around. Mine is on your sleeve, too.”