Desi started to cry then.
“I know that I love you,” she said. “I know what it feels like not to be loved. And I know that I can’t live without you,” she said softly, holding out her muddy hand.
She had dirt caked underneath her fingernails.
And she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“So, you’ll marry me?” I asked.
She shook her hand for emphasis. “Always.”
I slid the finger onto her finger and then scooped her up. “Now, let’s finish before any more people pass us. I didn’t mean to fall right there, but it seemed like a really good opportunity.”
She snickered and wrapped her hands around my neck.
“If you say so, baby,” she said. “If you say so.”
When we finally crossed the finish line, they took our picture together.
Desi and I were smiling big.
The only clean thing on her entire body and mine was the beautiful diamond ring that I’d just slid on her finger.Chapter 20Eat a bag of dicks.
-Desi to Callum
Desi
I walked up to Malloy and grabbed his hand, hating the way he looked.
Such a big, solid man shouldn’t look so frail.
But he did.
And it was more than obvious that Malloy wasn’t ‘under the weather.’
He was sick.
Really, really sick.
In fact, the hospice nurse that was sitting at his bedside, injecting medication into his IV, was definitely an eye-opener. There was no denying it anymore. Not even if I’d wanted to.
I’d seen him only four days prior, and in that time, he’d gone significantly downhill.
“Hey, pretty girl,” Malloy croaked. “How’d the race go?”
I swallowed hard before saying, “It went really well. Callum and I finished three hundredth.”
He blinked, then chuckled quietly. “I have no idea if that’s good or not.”
I grinned at my one-time father-in-law. “It’s good. There were over a thousand competitors. Codie and Ace finished five hundred and something. Over three hundred didn’t even finish.”
His smile brightened. “I hear that you beat Mal. I got that news from this young lady right here.”
I looked over at the ‘young lady’ and smiled at the nurse. She wasn’t young. She was in her mid-forties, but beautiful as could be.
“How’d that happen?” I wondered.
The nurse winked. “I asked Mal. He told me when he was here not too long ago. Though he still refuses to come in here.”
Malloy sighed. “He’s worried.”
I squeezed Malloy’s hand.
“He’s not worried,” I heard said from the doorway. “He’s an ass.”
I whirled around to see Malloy Junior standing in the doorway looking just as formidable as the last time I’d seen him.
“MJ,” I said softly. “Hi.”
MJ winked.
“Glad that you got smart and quit Mal,” he muttered. “Also, glad to see you engaged.”
Malloy’s eyes went from his son to me, and then down to the hand that was holding his.
His eyes widened.
“Oh,” he breathed.
I pressed my free hand over the top of Malloy’s.
“Callum went to the jewelry store the day before our race,” I said softly. “And he found this. He bought it… and I don’t think he even knew how much I loved it. He just knew that it used to be yours, and that I would love it.”
“I tried to give it to Mal…” Malloy coughed. “But he said it wasn’t something he was interested in. Said you wanted your grandmother’s ‘stupid’ ring, and he didn’t want anything to do with an old family heirloom. Told me to pawn it.”
“You did the right thing, Dad,” MJ said. “Stop covering for him. Mal’s a big boy.”
What MJ said was right. Mal was a big boy. In fact, he was an adult that needed to start participating in life.
Malloy’s eyes turned sad. “Could you give us a few minutes, MJ?”
MJ didn’t hesitate, instead going out just as quietly as he’d come.
The nurse left seconds later as well, offering me a pat on my shoulder.
And when we were finally alone, Malloy looked me straight in the eye and said, “Are you happy, Desi baby?”
I smiled. “I’m happy.”
“Are you going to be happy for the rest of your life?” he pushed.
I thought about that.
I had everything I could ever want. How could that not make me happy?
Which I told Malloy moments later.
“I’m so happy that I have to pinch myself every day just to make sure that my life is real,” I told him. “The only thing that would make it better is knowing that you’d be here just as long as I am.”
Malloy smiled. “Wish that could be true. Even more, wish I could see your babies grow up and turn out to be exactly like you… or exactly like Callum. That kid’s a good kid.”
I tangled my fingers with Malloy’s and sat down beside his bed.
And together we talked about Callum. Ace. The Valentine boys, and then me.
“Wish you were it for my boy,” he said as his eyes started to get heavy. “But I also know that my boy’s not the best for anybody right now. One day, maybe. Now, not so much.” He opened his eyes. “Callum is one of the best people I could’ve ever hoped for for you. I’m glad, if it’s not Mal, it’s him. He knows what it’s like to lose. He will hold on to you so tight that sometimes you’ll forget how it is to breathe without him. But you’ll also get him out of the shadows and into the light where he belongs. Hopefully, one day, all of them will have what Ace and Callum have in you and Codie. And each of them will help bring joy and life back into their hearts.”