No One Else (The Ladies Who Brunch 2)

Four months later

“Shit. Hold on!” My phone is vibrating across my desk, and I know it’s Ethan, but I just don’t have time to stop and pick up his call. I’m already running late to pick up Oliver from Ethan’s mom, and then we’re supposed to be taking him to the circus tonight. He’s been talking about it all week.

Oliver has been on summer vacation for a few weeks now, so he’s been with Lisa during the day while Ethan and I are working. It’s a Friday night, though, so we always try to plan something fun for the three of us to do together after a long week of work, and the activity this week was chosen once we saw an advertisement that the circus would be in town. I’m sure if Charlotte and Damien weren’t on their honeymoon right now, they’d be joining us.

My best friend and her fiancé got married last weekend at a beautiful hotel in Dana Point, The Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club. It was an elegant black-tie affair that was everything a fairytale wedding should be, courtesy of Charlotte’s parents’ bank account.

Charlotte and her mother have made considerable strides to reconcile their relationship, but I can’t help but think that offering to pay for an extravagant wedding was a way for her mother to try to apologize even further. Things aren’t perfect there, but they’re improving. But nonetheless, one of my best friends married the man she never thought she would at sunset with the ocean in the background last weekend, and it was stunning, beautiful, and perfect.

A reminder that love can conquer all.

Except for a nagging boyfriend who knows that I’m probably trying to leave my office at this moment and that’s why I can’t answer the phone. He was in court all day, so I know he’s probably on a tight timeline right now as well.

The phone stops making noise, allowing me to breathe out a sigh of relief as I tuck my last client file into my cabinet, grab my computer bag and purse, and then push through my office door, locking it from the outside before I trot to my car.

Once inside, I buckle up, pull out of the parking lot, and then connect my Bluetooth to call Ethan back.

“Hey. Where are you?” he asks as I come up to a red light.

“I’m on my way. I was trying to leave when you called so I couldn’t pick up.”

“Well, there’s been a change of plans.”

My head rears back. “What? Why?”

“I need you to come home instead.”

“Ethan? I thought we were going to the circus…” The light turns green, so I continue going straight, mentally making a note not to turn up ahead toward Ethan’s mom’s house anymore.

“We were never going to the circus with Oliver tonight.”

Disappointment makes my chest cave in. “Why?”

“Because I have other plans for us.”

“Where are we going?”

“Just get your ass home, Amelia. You’ll see soon enough.” He hangs up, leaving me confused and intrigued.

“What the heck?” I mutter as I take a deep breath and wonder what on earth Ethan has up his sleeve. I wanted to go to the circus, damn it, and now I feel deflated and irritated. If he had never planned on going there tonight, why did he make such a big deal about it with Oliver?

By the time I pull into the driveway of our house, I’m ready to give the man a piece of my mind. It’s been a long week after an even longer weekend, and I wanted some quality family time with just the three of us.

But once I open the door and look inside our living room, my jaw drops open, and I almost drop my bags on the floor.

Orchids of every color fill the room, covering every surface, including the carpet and tile. My eyes are so overwhelmed by the array of colors and the massive amount of flowers in our home that I barely register Ethan coming down the stairs, pulling my attention in his direction.

“What is this?” I ask as I gently set my bags on the tile floor of the entryway. He lands on the bottom step and walks toward me, dressed in a white button-down that’s rolled up to his elbows and plain black slacks. His hair is styled, and his jaw has that day-old scruff that I love to run my fingernails through.

“This is what three hundred orchids look like.”

“Three hundred?” I gasp. “Why on earth would you order this many?”

He takes my hand and rubs the top of it with his thumb. “Because once upon a time, someone ordered three hundred of something and had them delivered to my office. And back then, I had every intention of retaliating in some way. But then, I fell in love with you, so I knew I’d have to save my three hundred of something for a moment that was much grander than that.”

“Wow.”

Chuckling, Ethan leans in and plants a kiss on my lips. “Do you know what today is?”

Searching my mind for the significance of today has me puzzled and looking at him for answers. “I honestly don’t know.”

Shaking his head at me in disappointment, he smirks. “Damn. I thought for sure you’d remember.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little overwhelmed right now. Where is Oliver?”

“Staying with my mom for the evening and the next seven days, actually.”

“What?”

“After we talk, we’re going on a vacation to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?” I ask. “I wanted to go to the circus.”

Ethan laughs. “Come here, babe.” He takes me by the hand and leads me over to the couch, the only surface in our home not covered with orchids. We both take a seat as he still holds my hand. “Today is the first day we met last year.”

Like a flash of a movie scene, the vision of running into him at the complex right before I left for Hawaii comes back to me with full force. “Oh my God, is it really?”

He nods. “Yes. It was also the day my life changed forever because you came into it.”

“I mean, I see where you’re going with this, but we didn’t start off on the greatest foot there, Ethan.”

He smiles. “I know. But even on that day, I recognized how beautiful you are, the underlying passion you possessed, and little did I know it wouldn’t take very long for me to fall in love with every part of you once I got to know you.” He takes a deep breath and then stands from the couch, dropping to one knee in front of me.

And I swear all of the air in my lungs freezes. “Oh my God.”

“Amelia…I know there was a time when I never thought I’d do this again. And I was hell-bent on keeping that promise to myself. But then you came into my life and Oliver’s and changed everything I thought I wanted for our future. And luckily, it didn’t take long for me to realize that my marriage to you would be nothing like my first marriage. Because being married to you would mean I’d have an actual partner in my life—someone who wants my son and me, someone who pushes me to be the man I know you deserve, someone who never realized that sunshine in the form of a person truly can brighten your darkest days.”

Tears begin to stream down my face.

“I told you right after your accident that I would do everything in my power to prove to you that you are who I wanted, that you are the person I’m meant to be with, that I would love you unconditionally, and that I want to build a future with you, Amelia—no one else. Well, baby, I think it’s time we take the next step and make it official.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a yellow diamond on a platinum gold band, shimmering as the sunlight hits it and stealing my breath. “Amelia St. Clair, will you marry me? Will you be my wife and Oliver’s mother for the rest of our lives? Will you adopt my son and continue to love him like your own? And will you let us love you through all the ups and downs and continue to push me to be the man you chose several months ago and for the rest of your life?”