The Reluctant Romantics Box Set (The Fall, The Mind, The Heart)

“I love you, Grant. You really are all I’ve ever wanted. I will build the house with you and I want it all. You made me want more, you are the more.”

He pulled me to him tightly, his lips meshing with mine as he held them there for a sweet and blissful eternity. When he pulled away, his emotions were etched on every feature. “This whole time I was worried you thought I was truly crazy, and for a heartbeat I thought you were just as nuts for going along with it, but it’s so real. I mean, I felt it, I wanted to believe it, but now that I know for sure . . .” He pulled back and showcased his dimple. “I won’t ever fuck this up, Rose. I won’t ever give you a reason to want to walk away. I’ll love you the way you deserve to be loved, always. That’s my promise.”

“I know.”

“Marry me,” he whispered softly.

“Yes.”

It was that simple and yet so completely satisfying. I didn’t need a quartet or diamond ring. I didn’t want rehearsed words and I knew his proposal wasn’t premeditated. Like everything else with us, it was on our time and perfect. We both stood in shock as we gazed at each other and then burst out laughing as we embraced.

“Holy shit.”

“We are crazy.”

“But we’re the good kind of crazy. The kind that makes normal couples seem boring. You won’t regret this,” he said before he kissed me so deeply I melted into him, my body molding perfectly with his. When we broke again, we both laughed hysterically, our intention in sync as he led the way back to his father so we could give him the news. When Grant paused at the doorframe I ran into his back with a thud.

“Dad? Dad!” Grant raced to his father’s side as I moved frantically to the other, pushing a large dose of morphine into the needle. He buried his face in his father’s chest and I saw Davis gasp again. He reached for Grant’s hand and I saw my love completely crumble as he said his last words to his father. “You were the best dad a guy could ask for. I love you, Dad. I love you. I will see you again.” I administered the larger dose of morphine as he slipped away, thanking me with his eyes. Davis moved into half-sleep and then passed away peacefully. Grant cried like a man who had just lost everything. I stood behind him, sobbing quietly and watched the man I love go through the most horrible loss of his life.

Rose

We stayed with Davis until the medics arrived. When they wheeled his father away, I followed Grant into his bedroom. We lay side-by-side on his bed holding hands, him crying for his father, and me crying for them both. I woke up hours later, not realizing I had dozed off, only to find Grant wide awake, still lying with me. He pulled me tighter to him when he noticed me stir.

“I’m so glad you’re here. God, I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t,” he whispered, his voice shaking as he lay next to me, staring at the ceiling.

“You’re only twenty-nine, Grant, and you lost them both way too soon. I can’t imagine how much it hurts. I love you. You will always have me. I swear on everything, you will always have me.”

A minute later, he spoke up again. “I shouldn’t have proposed like that.”

“No way, you don’t get a do-over. It was perfect, leave it alone. I mean it, Grant. I don’t need anything fancy.”

“Will you at least let me put a ring on your finger?”

“Absolutely, but we don’t have to worry about that right now.”

“How did I get so lucky?” He stroked my cheek, wiping away tears I didn’t know I was shedding.

I turned to him, saying my next words with absolute certainty. “It wasn’t luck. It was lightning.” I held him to me as he mourned his father. We cried together until we found a more peaceful sleep.

Grant walked me through his childhood home, telling me everything. We spent our days packing his father’s house and loading my SUV and his truck with priceless possessions he didn’t want in the estate sale.

We spread his ashes at a gorge they often visited together throughout Grant’s life. It was a small ceremony and only a few attended. Grant held it together until that night and when he finally broke, I broke with him.

The night before the estate sale, I packed my car to get back to school. I had missed an additional few days for Grant. I made apology after apology but Grant seemed to fully understand and had no reservations, sending me off with a kiss.

“I love you, Mrs. Foster.”

“I love you.”

You know what?” he said as I threw my purse in the passenger seat.

“What?”

“We haven’t even consummated our engagement.” He leaned in closer, stealing my lips, his tongue whispering through them.

“I don’t think that’s a real thing, Grant,” I said with a chuckle. “Matter of fact, I think it’s noted somewhere in the book of morals that we not consummate our engagement.”

“Unless you have that page in your hand, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree by initiating the act.”