Chapter 14 - THE PROPOSAL HE WAITED TO MAKE
Daniel waited thirty-one days.
I counted.
So did he.
We went to the Grand Oak.
Same restaurant.
Different table.
Not the corner.
Too dramatic.
Olivia knew.
Helen knew.
My mother knew.
Apparently everyone knew except me.
That annoyed me.
Then Daniel arrived without security.
Charcoal suit again.
Same calm gray eyes.
Less fear around him.
That mattered.
We ate dinner.
Normal dinner.
No conspiracies.
No hidden deeds.
No one disappeared.
Dessert arrived.
No ring inside the cake.
Good.
Daniel looked at me.
“May I ask now?”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
He did not kneel immediately.
First he said:
“I don’t want to marry you because our parents knew each other.”
“Good.”
“I don’t want to marry you because we own a building together.”
“Very good.”
“I don’t want to marry you because you made me change.”
I raised an eyebrow.
He continued:
“I changed because I was tired of who I had become.”
Good answer.
“I want to marry you because I like mornings with you.”
My eyes filled.
“Because you argue about book endings.”
He smiled.
“Because you make terrible scrambled eggs.”
“That is false.”
“It is legally provable.”
“Continue carefully.”
“Because when you say no, I know you mean no.”
His voice softened.
“And when you say yes, I know I didn’t force it.”
That did it.
Then he knelt.
People noticed.
No one screamed.
“Emily Carter.”
“Yes?”
“Will you marry me?”
I looked toward the bar.
Three years earlier, Olivia and our friends sat there laughing.
Watching me walk toward a man they thought would terrify me.
Tonight, Olivia sat farther back with Megan and Chloe.
Not laughing.
Crying.
Our friendship had survived differently.
Not innocent.
Real.
I looked back at Daniel.
“Yes.”
He exhaled.
Actually exhaled.
“You seemed uncertain.”
“I wanted you nervous.”
“Cruel.”
“Growth opportunity.”
He slipped the ring on my finger.
Simple.
Old-fashioned.
His mother’s.
Not giant.
Perfect.
Then applause.
Daniel hated applause.
I loved that.
Afterward, Olivia hugged me.
“Thank you for letting me be here.”
I answered honestly.
“I almost didn’t.”
“I know.”
That was enough.
Jason never returned to my life.
Good.
Peter remained in prison.
Michael Trent entered federal witness work after serving a reduced sentence for his own crimes.
My mother continued rebuilding our relationship.
Rebecca came home permanently.
Helen remained impossible.
And Daniel?
He occasionally scared waiters accidentally by being quiet.
We worked on it.
Then, six weeks before our wedding, I found a letter inside Maple Street.
Thomas Brooks.
Addressed to:
May you like
THE CHILDREN WHO FINALLY CHOSE DIFFERENTLY.
Daniel and I opened it together.
