Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
“I don’t know how this is even real!”
I smirk, “well, your dad set this shit up where the only people who could access it were you and him. I don’t think he expected to die, but on the off chance something happened, he didn’t want your mom having a free ride, I assume. Either way, baby girl, everyone tied to that money is dead.”
She looks up at me and something crosses her face.
“We haven’t talked about it, but you did watch your father get killed, your mother gets killed, and you watched me kill a man for you. How are you with all of that?”
“Truthfully, more okay than I should be.” She sighs softly. “Does it make me a bad person that I’m not grieving?”
“Not at all.”
“Like I know they were my parents, but we weren’t super close to begin with. Knowing the things they did all for money, it bothers me. As for Patrick O’Leary, you did what needed to be done to save my life. I can never say thank you enough. I know if I had gotten on the plane, once he had this money,” she holds up the checkbook, “I would be dead. If you’re worried that I view you differently after all we have gone through, the answer is yes. I am grateful to have you in my life. I am grateful to be alive and it’s because of you. I love you, Wesson Vaughn and there is nothing that will ever change that.”
“Baby girl, the man I am,” She cuts me off running to me, leaving the papers behind and drops on my lap. I have to reach down and put my brake on before she has us both rolling all over the kitchen. She presses her face into my neck as her hot tears fall.
“The man you are is the man I want to be with forever. I can’t be away from you, Wes. How can I do this?”
“Thank fuck for that. Baby girl, I can’t do life without you.” Reaching up, I pull her head from its hiding place. “We take it as it comes. One thing at a time. It’s not too far that you can’t commute. For the long days or study times, we’ll get a place up there. Like a rental or apartment. If you want to buy a house, there, we can. If you need to be in Greenville for a few nights, I’ll stay there with you. I don’t want to be away from you, so we figure shit out. That’s how relationships work.”
“Wesson, your life is in Haywood’s Landing. I won’t ask you to walk away from your family.”
“I’m telling you, we’re in this together. No, my life is not in Haywood’s Landing. It’s where you are.”
“I can’t ask that of you,” she tries to drop her head again.
“You’re missing it. You didn’t ask me.” I kiss her softly. “I’ve lived chaos, I’ve lived wild, I’ve lived war, and I’ve only found peace when I’m with you. I don’t want to do life without you.”
“What are you saying?”
I wheel us over and stop at the kitchen drawer. Sliding it open, I retrieve the item that has been sitting in this spot since I moved in. I bought it when she was in the hospital healing from her gunshot, long before she left me. The love is still the same. My intention is still the same and my time is now. Taking out the box, I open it. The oval two carat diamond solitaire is displayed against the black velvet of the box.
“Lost a lot when I lost my legs. Never thought I would feel alive again. You came along and it’s been you from that New Year’s Eve on. I am half a man without you, and I don’t want that ever again.”
“Wesson,” she whispers, and I lift my finger over her lips to quiet her.
“We’ve had dreams together, lost dreams together. Now I want to chase dreams with you. All of them. It starts with you getting the degree you’ve wanted and worked for. It continues when we build our family together. That started the day I fell in love with you and you with me and now I’m asking you to face everything with me. The good, the bad, the boring, and the crazy, we ride it out together. Marry me, Emmalee. I can’t give you a proposal on one knee, but everything I can give you I will from now until my last breath. Let me give you my last name, my family, and let me make your every dream come true.”
She smiles softly. “You gave me a family I never had in you and the Hellions. You rode out my darkest days never once giving up on me. You are the first person in my life to make the days and nights be as much about me as you if not more about me. No one has ever put me first and cared about what I felt or thought or wanted. You give me dreams and then give me the courage to be brave enough to have even bigger dreams.”