I laugh. She’s right, actually. It’s pretty over the top. “Okay, when we get back from our trip, we’ll go shopping and get you another ring—an ‘everyday ring’ you can wear to the gym or wherever, and you can wear this one whenever you’re dressed up.”
“What? No! I didn’t mean you should buy me a second ring! I meant we should return this one and get something less expensive.”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, I love it! I just can’t believe you—”
“Then that’s the end of the conversation. What I spend on gifts for you is none of your fucking business, per an exception expressly delineated in our ‘open book agreement.’”
She flushes and looks down at her hand again. This time, with unadulterated excitement. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Why did you have it in your pocket, if you weren’t planning to propose to me today?”
“Because there was no way I was going to leave a ring worth more than a Bugatti in my luggage.”
The color drains from Georgina’s face. “No.”
“Yes. Not that it’s any of your business, of course.” Laughing at her expression, I stroke her cheek. “Georgie, you’re going to be the one and only Mrs. Rivers, forever. I’m not going to give my future wife a ring worth anything less than the most expensive sports car sitting in my garage.” I scoff at the very thought. “Now, come on, fiancée.” I put my hand in hers. “Sardinia awaits.”
We practically float through the back door, into the facility, the air between us crackling with our mutual elation.
“Your dad put the fear of God into me when I called him, by the way. He gave me his blessing, no problem, but he suggested I should chat with you about marriage, before proposing, because, last he’d heard, you didn’t want to get married to anyone before age thirty.”
Georgina scoffs. “Well, yeah. I said that before I met you.”
“That’s what I told him!”
Laughing, Georgina says, “It’s easy for a girl to draw imaginary lines in the sand before she knows Reed Rivers exists in the world.”
We reach my mother’s door in the hallway and poke our heads inside her room, thinking we’ll share our happy news before heading out. But Mom is fast asleep, so we decide to let her stay that way.
“We’ll call her after we land,” I say, as we make our way down the hallway toward the lobby.
“Let’s call my dad and Alessandra in the car, though,” Georgina says excitedly. “I’m bursting to tell them. I want to tell the whole world!”
“Me, too. We’ll call CeeCee in the car, too. She helped me pick out the ring.”
“She did? Aw, that means so much to me.” Georgina looks at her hand and giggles. “No wonder it’s so big. You and CeeCee shopping together must have been like fire and gasoline. I can only imagine how much she goaded you on to ‘go big.’”
“Sweetheart, I didn’t need anyone to goad me on to do that. Trust me. If anything, CeeCee kept me from buying something that would make your knuckles physically drag on the ground when you put it on.”
Georgina laughs uproariously. “What about Amalia? Did she know you were going to ask me?”
“No. Only CeeCee, Josh, Henn, Kat, Hannah, my sister, and Dax.”
“Let’s call all of them from the car! I can’t wait to tell everyone!”
We’ve reached the lobby now. But instead of heading out the front door, and straight to Tony’s waiting sedan, we pause at the front desk.
“Hey, Oscar,” I say. “When my mother finishes tweaking her latest masterpiece, will you do me a favor and ship it to me in California?” I scribble my address onto a piece of paper and hand it to him, along with a bunch of bills. “That’s for shipping and your trouble.”
“Thanks. Sure. No problem. If you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you want her latest painting tossed onto the heap, with all the others? Is there something special about this one?”
“Yeah, there’s something special about this one.” I look into Georgina’s sparkling eyes. “This one is going to be a memento, forever, of the happiest day of my life.”
Chapter 40
Georgina
One year later
“And now, it’s time for you both to exchange your vows,” Henn says. “At least, that’s what the template says we should do now.”
Everyone seated in rows on our patio chuckles. And I don’t blame them. For his first time officiating a wedding, Henn is absolutely killing it.
There was never any serious question that Henn would officiate our wedding, while Josh served as Reed’s best man, any more than there was a question that Alessandra would be my maid of honor and Kat my bridesmaid. Or that Reed and I would get married here, on our patio, surrounded only by the people we love the most. Reed and I both knew long distance travel would be difficult for my father, thanks to some lasting side effects from chemo. And also that Reed’s mother would never want to fly internationally, even if Reed were to arrange a luxurious private flight for her. Plus, Eleanor hates hotels, so we knew she’d be most comfortable staying here, at our house, along with her favorite nurse, Tina. And so, in the end, Reed and I agreed to get hitched here, exactly like this, rather than in some far-flung exotic locale. And we couldn’t be happier about it.