An (Almost) Perfect Love Story (Love Story Book Three) Page 5

  “I can’t believe this,” I said again, staring at him over the candle lit table. “Seriously. I can’t believe you did all this.”

  He shrugged slightly, smiling at me. “I want to make you happy, Ashley. It’s all I ever want to do.”

  My stomach squirmed happily at his words, at the intensity in his eyes. He looked down at my half-finished dinner and raised an eyebrow. “If you want your present you better eat up.”

  “You already gave me a present,” I said, holding out my arms to indicate my gorgeous coat.

  “There’s one more, something small. Come on, eat. Brooke and her staff went through a lot of trouble getting this all out here.”

  Obediently, I took a bite, marveling that the food was still warm. “How’d they do it?” I asked. “Get everything here, I mean.”

  “Snowmobiles,” he said, pouring me more white wine. “They used them to tow sleds filled with all the supplies. They brought out everything but the food earlier and got it set up. Then Brooke came out right before we left in the sleigh to bring the food and light the fires.”

  “Wow.” I shook my head. “That’s so much work!”

  “You’re worth it,” he said simply, making my tummy squirm again.

  Once we’d finished dinner, I sat back in my chair, gazing happily around at the clearing. “This is really beautiful,” I said with a sigh.

  “You’re beautiful,” Chris said, standing suddenly. “Come on, let’s do a toast.”

  I reached for my wine glass but he pushed my hand away, pulling a Thermos from under the table.

  “We have hot chocolate,” he said.

  I moved to stand next to him, but suddenly, he was kneeling in front of me. Assuming he was getting something else from the under the table, I looked at him stupidly until it suddenly struck me that he had set the Thermos down in the snow. Instead, he was holding both of my hands and looking more nervous than I had ever seen him. My heart seemed to stop beating.

  “You know I’m not very good with all the hearts and flowers stuff,” he said, his voice rough. “I’m not the best with words, Ash. But I also know you like the grand gesture thing.” He shot me a grin before his face grew serious again. “That’s why I wanted to do all this for you, so I could show you how much you…how much I…I love you, Ashley. I always have and I always will.”

  I was crying long before he pulled the small box from his pocket, long before he opened it to show me the dazzling ring inside. And before he’d even managed to finish the words, “Will you marry me?” I was throwing my arms around his neck, kneeling with him in the snow, nodding my head as hard as I could, the tears making it impossible to speak.

  Everything seemed to pass in a blur after that. Chris kissing me, both of us laughing there in the snow, tears on our faces, Chris pouring hot chocolate from the Thermos so we could toast each other and our engagement. “We should go back,” he said finally. “Emily’s probably dying by now.”

  “Does she know?” I asked, staring down at the ring in the fading light from the dying fire.

  “Yeah, I told her, and Brooke. I needed their help to get it all organized. Is that okay?”

  “Of course!” I said. He could have told me that I was the last person on earth to know, and I wouldn’t have cared. I was too happy to care much about anything else.

  “Come on,” he said, pulling on my hand. “Put your glove back on, it’s freezing out here.”

  “But it’s so pretty,” I said, laughing again. Chris pulled me to my feet, grabbing the Thermos from the snow beside me. “Should we do something with all of this?” I asked, gesturing at our dishes and the tiki torches still burning.

  Chris shook his head. “Brooke said she’d send someone out when we got back. Come on.”

  I couldn’t decide if the ride back to the inn was too fast or too slow. Part of me never wanted to emerge from the dark woods, never wanted the magic spell that Chris had created there to end. Yet I was desperate to see Emily, to hug her and get a look at my ring in the light. I held his arm tightly in my own, unable to wipe the grin off my face.

  Before we had even reached the steps of the porch, Emily was throwing the door open wide, calling out to me. I saw her hopping from foot to foot in the light from the foyer, and I took off running to get to her. She threw her arms around me, and we jumped up and down, squealing like little kids and laughing our heads off. In a blur of hugs and yells, Chris and I were pulled into the entryway. Brooke was hugging Chris, Elliot was hugging me, and then, from the back of the hallway, I saw Ryan emerge, tears in his eyes as he came forward to pull me and Chris into a huge hug.

  “You’re here!” I cried, shocked at the sight of him, feeling my tears start all over again.

  “Chris told me what was going on. I couldn’t miss this!”

  I felt Emily’s arms reach around me as well, joining our group hug. As I stood there in the circle of my friends, I felt like my heart would actually burst with happiness. Nothing, nothing, could ever compare with this night.

  Chapter Six

  Many hours later, I sat curled up on the couch with Emily, staring at the fire, still unwilling and unable to wipe the goofy grin from my face.

  “Let me see it again,” she said, for at least the tenth time that night. Obligingly, I held out my hand, happy to be back on one of my favorite subjects: how gorgeous my new ring was.

  “He did such a great job,” she sighed, staring down at the bling.

  “I know,” I said, snatching my hand back so I, too, could gaze down at the ring. It was perfect, exactly what I would have picked for myself. A smallish round cut diamond surrounded by side clusters of baguettes. It sparkled nicely in the light from the fire, and I sighed, loving the look of it on my finger. The diamonds weren’t huge, not by any means, but I didn’t care about that. His budget might not have been big, but I knew Chris had put a lot of effort into finding something special and beautiful.

  “I’m glad he didn’t let me help him,” Emily said. “I wanted to, you know. When he told me what he had planned for this weekend, I begged him to let me pick it out. But he said he wanted to do it himself. I think he picked perfectly.”

  I smiled at that, thinking how sweet my fiancé was. Fiancé! I still couldn’t believe I got to call him that now.

  “When did he tell you?” I asked, looking across the room. Chris, Ryan, Brooke, and Elliot were standing near the kitchen, drinking spiked hot chocolate from large mugs, and laughing about something. Paul had gone off to do something inn related, leaving Brooke to enjoy the time with her friends. A few guests were at the other side of the room, playing a board game, but mostly everyone else had drifted up to their rooms by now, leaving us to enjoy the fire and each other’s company in relative privacy.

  “Just last week,” she said, leaning back against the pillows of the couch. “He told me he wanted to bring you up here as a surprise ages ago, though. Said he wanted Elliot and me to come, too. I think he’d been planning to do it this weekend ever since then.”

  “What about Ryan?” I asked softly, looking up to see our friend head into the kitchen, probably in search of more Bailey’s for his drink.

  Emily shook her head. “I felt so bad about that, last weekend. Chris didn’t invite him because he knew he wouldn’t have anyone to bring with him. You know how weird he gets when we’re all paired up and he isn’t.” She had a point. At first, Ryan had been dead set against Chris and me even dating. He thought it would ruin the group dynamic. I think he was really just worried that Chris wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with him. Once Emily and Elliot had gotten together, he got even weirder about being around the four of us. I hated to think about him feeling left out.

  “So why’d he decide to ask him after all?”

  “I think he just realized it would be really sad to have this great news and not have Ry here to share it.”

  “I’m glad he asked him,” I said firmly as Ryan came back into the room. He caught sight of us from across the
doorway and began to make his way over. I imagined telling Ryan about the engagement when we got back to town, pictured his face falling as he realized we had all celebrated it together without him. Thank God Chris changed his mind, I thought.

  “Are the two of you still gaga over the ring?” he asked, squeezing himself between us on the couch.

  I laughed. “Pretty much.” He took my hand and smiled.

  “The boy did good,” he said, looking down at the diamond. “So, Ash, do I get to be your maid of honor?”

  “I think my fiancé might have a problem with that,” I said. “Considering he’ll probably need you to be the best man.”

  “I do look pretty fantastic in a black tux,” he said. I watched his face carefully for any sign of worry or sadness, but he seemed genuinely happy. Maybe he had finally realized that Chris and I would never ditch him, no matter what happened.

  “Did you call your folks yet?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “I want to tell them in person.” I felt a shiver of excitement. “I can’t wait to see my mom’s face.”

  “She’ll be over the moon,” Emily agreed. “She’ll have the entire thing planned within a month.”

  I laughed. “I miss your mom,” Ryan said wistfully, pulling his feet up on the coffee table in front of us. “I haven’t had food half as good as hers in months.”

  My mom and Ryan had gotten along perfectly from the first time they’d met. They were very similar in a lot of ways; both stylish, put together, and appreciative of the finer things in life. My parents lived in a big old rambling house on the Detroit River. The house was my mom’s pride and joy. She spent most of her life taking care of it, decorating, and searching for the perfect pieces to keep it just modern enough and up to her standard of traditional chic. Ryan had always loved coming to stay at their house; he spent most of our school breaks there since he wasn’t on the best terms with his own family.

  “I bet you’ll be seeing a lot of her now,” I said. “She’ll want your opinion on everything.”

  “She knows good taste when she sees it,” he said airily, and Emily snorted. Ryan turned to her. “Well, she’ll need some help from someone. God knows she won’t be able to get any style advice from you—the girl who doesn’t know the difference between lilies and roses.”

  Emily punched him. “Hey, hey, no violence,” Chris said, coming over to join us with Elliot at his side. Chris sprawled out on the floor at my feet, and I immediately reached down to take his hand. Our few minutes apart while we talked in different groups were the first we’d spent all evening.

  “Where’s Brooke?” Emily asked.

  “She had some things to check on in the dining room,” Chris said. “Apparently there are some guests playing poker back there. So, what were you guys talking about?”

  “About how happy my mom will be to have the expert help of Ryan in planning the wedding,” I explained. Chris groaned.

  “Oh God,” he muttered, making Emily and me laugh.

  “You had no idea what you were getting yourself into, did you?” Emily asked.

  “Oh, I knew, believe me, I knew,” he said, winking at me. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “We’ll be planning our own wedding,” I assured him. “Whatever Ryan and my mother might say.”

  “When are you gonna tell them?” Elliot asked.

  “Aren’t we supposed to be having dinner there this week?” Chris asked, looking up at me.

  “Oh, that’s right, Tuesday!” I said, remembering. I tried to see my parents ever other week, at the very least, but my dad had been out of town on business. We had arranged to go have dinner on Tuesday, one of the few weeknights they weren’t bogged down with charity, church, or bridge club meetings. My parents were pretty active socially.

  “Well, that will work out perfectly,” I said, looking down at my ring again. “I was thinking we’d just drive down tomorrow instead of going straight home. But, this way they won’t be suspicious when we show up Tuesday because they’ll be expecting us anyhow.”

  “Do you think you can manage to wait that long?” Chris gave me a knowing look. “It is three whole days away. You’ll probably talk to your mom at least four times between now and then.”

  I laughed, as did Emily and Ryan. I knew I had a reputation of talking to my mom more than most people. I wasn’t embarrassed though; I was proud of the fact that we were close. Everyone loved my mom. “Man, I hope I can wait,” I said, sighing mock-dramatically. “You know me though, I’ll probably just spill it the next time she calls.”

  “What about your sisters?” Ryan asked.

  I frowned for the first time that night. I probably wouldn’t be able to tell my sisters in person, what with us all being so spread out. “We can Skype them,” Chris said, reading my mind. “I know video chat’s not quite the same, but it’s better than a phone call.”

  I smiled, feeling better. “You’re right. But I’ll wait until we tell my folks. Amy has a bigger mouth than I do.”

  Brooke appeared in the living room, looking harassed. “Finally,” she said, plopping down in an armchair near the couch. “I thought they’d never go to bed.”

  “You didn’t really get to enjoy the holiday,” I said. “Taking care of everyone else all night.”

  Brooke snorted. “Valentine’s Day isn’t a holiday,” she said. “It’s a BS way for people like me to make more money.”

  I stuck out my tongue at her and everyone laughed. “Sorry, Brooke,” Chris said, kissing my hand. “I’m with Ash on this one. After tonight, I’m a believer. Valentine’s Day is awesome.” Emily and I cheered, making Brooke roll her eyes.

  The fire was starting to fade, and Elliot yawned more than once before we all agreed we were tired. “We’re doing a big pancake breakfast in the morning,” Brooke said. “Be down by ten if you want to eat.”

  “That sounds good,” I said, standing and stretching. “What else is on the agenda for tomorrow?”

  “I think we should go sledding,” Chris said.

  Ryan made a face. He wasn’t much into outdoor activities in the snow. “Can we bring the yummy spiked hot cocoa?” he asked.

  I laughed and put my arm around him as we all made our way for the stairs. “I’m on board.”

  “You guys have a good night,” Brooke said, stopping in the foyer. She and Paul shared the owners’ suite in the lower level of the inn.

  Before she could leave, I threw my arms around her, pulling her in close to me. She seemed surprised; it took her a minute to hug me back. “Thank you for everything you did tonight,” I whispered. “I know you think it’s silly, but it was the most amazing night of my life. Thank you so much.”

  “It’s not silly,” she whispered back. “I’m happy for you both.”

  Chris hugged her, too, before we made our way up the stairs, separating from the group at the top as everyone made their way to their own rooms. “So,” Chris said as he pulled the door shut behind us. “Was it a good day?”

  I beamed at him from across the room, happier than ever that I had this man to myself, for the rest of my life. “Nope,” I said. “It was a perfect day.”

  Chapter Seven

  Trying to get through the beginning of the week was much harder than I thought it would be. It would have been weird to tell my friends at work about the engagement before my parents knew so, with a sinking heart, I pulled off my engagement ring in the morning before leaving the house. When Susan asked me about the weekend, I had told her it had been nice, without giving any details. She had nodded knowingly, assuming, I was sure, that Chris hadn’t planned anything special for me after all. I wanted to jump up and down and tell her how wrong she had been, but I managed to contain myself.

  I was surprised when I didn’t hear from my mom on Sunday or Monday. Though Chris had been exaggerating when he said we talked every day, we did usually touch base several times a week. My mom liked to know what I was up to, how Chris and my friends were, whether or not I had found
any good sales lately. Our shared love of gossip was probably a big part of what kept us close. So it was strange when I still hadn’t heard from her by Tuesday afternoon. When I called the house after work to see if I could bring anything, she didn’t answer, and she didn’t return my call by the time Chris arrived.

  “Are you ready for this?” I asked Chris as we made our way outside.

  “I meant to pick up some ear plugs on my way,” he said drily as he opened the car door for me. When I raised an eyebrow at him, he continued, “for all the screaming you and your mother will do.”

  My parents lived about forty minutes away from my apartment in Royal Oak, in an area typically known as Downriver, due to its position south of Detroit. My parents lived in an older community right on the river. Their house, a hundred year old colonial, was one of my favorite places in the world. My mother had spent almost her entire marriage renovating and improving on it until it looked like the kind of house you could find in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. It was cozy and warm; there was usually a fire burning in the fireplace and delicious smells coming from the kitchen. I always felt safe when I was there.

  As Chris headed out toward the city, I pushed away the unease I’d been feeling all afternoon. My mom was probably just busy. She liked to go all out when people came over for dinner. She was a fantastic hostess. She was probably, like, baking a pie or something. Or maybe my dad had forgotten to put the cordless phone back on the charger—he was forever doing stuff like that. I smiled as I thought about my absentminded, sweet dad, and felt my excitement swell. The important thing was that I was going to tell them I was engaged tonight, and I could hardly wait. I could just imagine the look on my mom’s face when I showed her the ring. She was going to be thrilled. I knew it. She’d probably tell me that she told me so, but I didn’t care—I was too happy.