I lifted my hand as butterflies danced in my stomach. The small diamond on my hand was far less than what I would have expected to get being raised as one of the great David Scott's daughters, but it was fitting. It was more than I could have ever desired because of what it meant.
"I love it," she squealed when she noticed it. "He did it last night?"
"Yeah. It was so romantic, too." I smiled as the memory of Tate proposing ran across my vision. "It was on that same patch of land that I broke down on two years ago when we met."
"No way." She reached out and took my hand, lifting the ring to her face to study it more.
"Yeah," I laughed. "He took me out there on the bike, and my car was sitting out there broken down. He told me that he'd tried to take the car out earlier that day and had to walk all the way back to town. I felt like shit, but I'd warned him not to drive the lemon. It's always acted up, you know?"
"Yeah. I'm surprised your dad let you keep it after leaving Allison's wedding." She lifted her eyebrow and shook her head.
"Me, too, but anyway, the car was idle, and he reenacted every part of that first night." I laughed and glanced back to see Amy farther down in the line and Katelyn beside her. "When I walked around to look at the engine with him, the engine was missing, and instead there was a small table with beautiful battery-powered lights and the ring in the middle. There were rose petals everywhere, too."
Tears filled my eyes, and I fanned my face.
Lucinda was doing the same thing. "I want Sam to do that. Tell Tate to make him do that for me."
I laughed and pulled her into a hug. It had been a long eighteen months of change, but a good eighteen months. She and Sam had grown impossibly close, and his father had even accepted her as a vital member of the family. I figured it wouldn't be long before they decided to get engaged. Sam should have been in the crowd, but his plane was running late from Boston, so we weren't sure he would make it in time. I could tell that it was upsetting Lucinda a little, but we both knew that if there were any way at all for him to be there, he would.
Tate and I had moved into a small studio apartment near the campus where he was given an associate professor job while he worked through his Masters in Psychology. He still helped at Jerry's garage on the weekends from time to time, but most of his free time was spent in my arms or preparing for another swim meet.
He and Martin both made the Olympic swim team a while back, and they'd been practicing for the last year and a half for the summer Olympics, which were coming up in the next month. I'd never been happier in all of my life, and it was all owed to him. He taught me how to live for my future and not my past, how to let the idea of love carry me through some
of the shit we suffered with my parents, and the heartache of helping my sister through her divorce.
Life had been violent ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I found my rest and reprieve in his arms.
My name was called just after Lucinda's, and I was awarded my degree in Business and Kinesiology. I was headed to start training with the Minnesota Lynx after spending the summer free to do what I wanted. I would play in the WNBA as long as my legs would hold me up. Tate was good with it, but he was crazy supportive of anything I wanted to do. Almost too much. After that, I'd be looking for a coaching position as UMN so that I could be near my future husband and our friends.
His mother was doing great, and I couldn't help but notice the pride in her eyes as I walked down the stage at graduation. She was standing next to Tate as they cheered louder than anyone else for me. My sister was beside them looking better than I had ever seen her look. She was dating Kade, funnily enough, and though it was awkward at first, we all grew close within a short period and he became like family, too.
I moved back to my seat and cheered for my friends as they walked across the stage. Anticipation of getting back to Tate drove through the center of me, and I closed my eyes and pushed back tears. Gratefulness was the only feeling I could separate out of the torrent of emotions pumping through me. I almost wished my parents were there, but it was a good thing they weren't. They'd have nothing good to say, anyway. They were stuck in their ways, and quite upset at both Allison and I, but it was their loss.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the graduating class of 2017."
The crowd went wild as we all stood and threw our hats in the air. The yells and shouts of excitement filled the air around us, and I turned as someone tapped me on the shoulder. Tate.
"Hi, baby." His smile was radiant as he reached out and pulled me into his arms, only to squeeze me tightly and lift me off my feet. He spun me around once as I leaned down and pressed my lips to his.
"I'm so damn proud of you, Valentine." He kissed me again and breathed in deeply, sending chill bumps along my exposed skin.
"I couldn't have done it without you." I smiled up at him and lifted my eyebrow. "We should get out of here and celebrate the way we do best."
"Beer and s’mores?"
"Sex and strawberries." I popped his chest. "That so old school – beer and s’mores."
He laughed and picked me up as I yelped. "Whatever it is, as long as I'm doing it with you, I'm in."
His mother moved up in front of us as he sat me down.
"Oh, Val, I'm so proud of you." She pulled me into a long hug. "I wish your parents were here today, but know that I've already adopted you as mine, so one of us is here!"
I laughed and moved back to wrap my arm around Tate's waist. "You guys are my family, now. I couldn't be more blessed."
"So what's next? You two want to come out to the house for lunch?"
"Um, yeah, sure." Tate glanced down at me as Sam bounded up next to us.