Page 94 of Dignity

I know this is part of the plan, and I evenagree it’s the best plan.

Still doesn’t mean I don’t feel…left out.

“Okay,” I manage.

Chris looks down at Shae, who finally reveals what she’s holding—a black velvet jeweler’s box. She opens it, and Chris plucks something out before I can see it. Then Shae grabs my left hand and holds it up, where Chris takes it and slips something on my left ring finger.

He brings my hand up to his mouthand kisses the ring. “I’m marrying her publicly, but privately, between us, I’m marrying you first. This ring is from me, boy. Please marry me, even if all this can be is a vow between us with Shae as our witness.

I have to blink back tears. “Yes.”

As he kisses me, Shae stands and presses her body against mine. When he ends that kiss, he nods to Shae, who puts something in my hand. When I look,it’s an engagement ring.

“Fair’s fair,” Chris says. “Ask her to marry you, boy.”

Okay, crap, nowI’mcrying. Fucking sadist. I look her in the eyes as I take her left hand in mine. “Marry me?”

She smiles. “Absolutely, Sir.”

But after we kiss, turns out we’re not done. There’s one more. She hands it to me, and I realize it’s another men’s ring.

I don’t need to be told.

I turn and drop toone knee in front of Chris and slip the ring onto his finger, looking up at him as I do. “Will you marry me, Chris?”

Fuck, the sadist doesnotcry, but I see the way his eyes are too bright, how he’s blinking. “Yes, Kev. I will marry you.”

I sniffle back tears. “You guys can’t wear these in public yet, though.”

He grins. “Like hell, we can’t. Shae wears rings all the time. No one will notice.And no one’s going to question me, either. I’ll put mine on my right hand until we actually get married. You can wear yours on your right hand, too.” He holds it up to mine. “See? We match.”

I shiver, thinking about how many times I’ve imagined this scenario, putting a ring on this man’s hand. Then he hands me a small wedding band. “You do the honors, Kev. She’s your girl.”

I slip it onto herfinger and realize that yes, I love both these people. And, for some reason, they love me.

This works. It’ll be tough, sure, but no tougher than anything else in my life, I guess. We just have to be careful. Keep our heads held high and don’t get in the dirt.

Our adorable little attorney has another surprise, though, a perfect solution. She runs off and returns moments later with a large manilaenvelope holding papers to show me. “We do powers of attorney for each other. These aren’t public knowledge, just our attorney will know.” She looks up at me, hope in her gaze. “It means if anything…badever happens, we get to have the final say for each other. It legally makes us belong to each other.”

I read through them and understand just how serious she is. It literally makes me an equalpartner.

The three of us.

I pull her in for a hug. “Thank you, sweetheart. This is wonderful.”

“I told her you’d like it,” Chris said as he once again hugs me from behind. “She asked me about this and I told her to do it. She wanted it to be a surprise. She picked out the rings and everything.”

“When is the real wedding?” I ask.

“May.” He smiles. “Benchley volunteered to officiate. Cartersaid we can do it at the Florida Governor’s Mansion.”

That makes me laugh. “Well, that’s a good story. And your mom would have liked that, I’m sure,” I say to Shae.

Benchley was good friends with her mother when they were both in office years ago.

“Yeah,” she says. “And this way, we can say the vows we really want to say. You and Sir can marry each other, even if my name’s on the certificate.And I can say my vows to you, too.”

It’s as good as we can get. It’s poetic, and as we return to life and the campaign trail and Christmas comes and goes, I notice a change in the way the media is talking about Shae.