by Claire Angel
With her last words, she pointed me towards the living room where she had set up a pot of herbal tea, two cups, and a handful of undecorated cookies. “Please, I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about. Don’t worry about Piper, she is in good hands.” I just smiled at my granny. The amount of insight she had into situations was beyond explanation. Somehow, she always knew what had to happen.
We went to the living room, and I poured a cup of tea for Dryden and handed him the plate with cookies. At first, he only took one cookie, but soon after tasting the cookie, he reached out for more. Sitting there, we started talking about the history of the house, of my family, how our parents had left us with Granny for a traveling lifestyle, and never really bothered to stay in contact, except maybe birthdays. Dryden felt sorry for me, but I told him Granny made up for all the shortcomings I might have experienced in life.
Dryden then turned to face me and started by saying, “I know everything that happened today was a whirlwind, but I have thought about asking you this earlier this morning already. I’ve fallen in love with you. I love the way you work with Piper, and I want to see if this connection we have could go all the way. Would you like to become more than Piper’s nanny? Would you like to see if we can make a relationship work?”
For a moment, the world stopped turning. Sure, this morning had been a bit of a rough ride, but suddenly the trip came to a dead stop, and I realized that I had been falling in love with him as well. I nodded and placed my cup on the table. “I would love to try and see where this goes. Yes, I want to be more than a nanny for both Piper and you.”
Dryden also placed his cup on the table and leaned in to kiss me, but just before his lips touched mine, he whispered, “Thank you, you make my world complete at the moment.” And then he kissed me.
Little Piper came in and started giggling behind us. “Granny, my daddy is kissing Sara.”
Dryden and I stopped kissing, and I buried my face in his neck. Granny came in from the kitchen and told Piper, “Come, sweetie, let them kiss a while and then they will come in the kitchen to see your beautiful creations.” As she moved towards the door, she turned around, and said, “You two mustn’t take too long. She is eating cookies faster than she is decorating them.”
We both started laughing and decided to join them in the kitchen. For the rest of the afternoon, we decorated cookies. Granny baked another batch so that Dryden and Piper could take the first batch home with them.
Chapter 15
Sara
It was Friday night, and we had dropped Piper off so that she could spend the evening visiting Granny, and we were on our way to meet up with Tabitha and James. Who would have guessed that those two would’ve hit it off so well? They had gone out on a few dates since that night at the club, and now they were a steady couple. James had found his better half and someone that could put him in his place whenever he started to wander off. Tabitha had found someone brave enough to handle her frankness and her unique ability to be truthful.
That Night was our first double date with them, and Dryden appeared to be a bit nervous about the entire affair. I wasn’t entirely sure why he found it intimidating to go out with his friend and their girlfriends. Maybe it was because it was the first time we went out with other people. Perhaps this made our relationship more public and official. Until now, only the household had been informed of the change in roles, and then our closest friends.
During the drive together, I tried to start up a conversation, asking him about his day and the past week. But every time, he would give me a short and direct answer – no details and no-nonsense type of responses. I was starting to wonder if this night out was a good idea at all. Maybe he would relax a bit once we arrived and James could maybe distract him a bit.
We were meeting them at the local botanical garden. Dryden had told them there was a live band playing in the garden under the stars. He had reserved a table not in the front row but not at the back either. When we arrived, James hadn’t arrived yet, but Tabitha was there, and she looked beautiful in her cocktail dress and had a shoulder throw covering her back.
“Tabitha, you look lovely. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress and looking so smart. Wow!” Tabitha almost slapped me, but then James appeared from around the corner, and I could visibly see how her knees were melting. We also turned to look in the direction she was looking. James was dressed in a casual tux, a similar style to Dryden’s, and he also looked dashing in his attire.
James and Dryden hugged, slapping each other on their backs, and then James moved over to Tabitha. “My princess, you look dashing this evening. Did Dryden compliment you? If he hasn’t, I will box his ears.”
Tabitha quickly covered for Dryden by saying that we had also only arrived a few minutes ago. We took our seats, the ladies next to one another and the men on the other side. The band was already on the stage, but they hadn’t started playing yet, so the owner of the garden restaurant stood in front and made the announcement that they would soon begin with the show.
James winked at Dryden and told him that this was a wonderful evening and that he knew everything would work out just fine. James also noted that Dryden was quite stressed about the evening and told him to relax – he had nothing to worry about tonight. I started to begin to wonder what on earth the two were talking about – were they planning something?
Tabitha started asking me about my week and how Piper was, which was also strange as I’d had lunch with her earlier in the day. But I told her how excited Piper was to go and visit Granny, and that Granny had a whole eventful evening for the two of them planned, consisting of board games and movies. “Piper will be sleeping over tonight, as we aren’t sure when the concert will finish and then Dryden mentioned that we might go out afterwards for drinks if you guys were up to it.”
Our waiter arrived at our table, and as the band started, he asked what we would like to drink. Immediately, we had to raise our voices as the music began to fill the evening air. The music had a classic jazz feel, but they mixed it with a bit of blues and other golden oldies. By the time that our drinks arrived, we’d already spoken about the past week’s activities and started looking at the menus. We placed our orders, and the waiter bent towards Dryden and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and thanked the waiter, and then he turned to me. Dryden told me to take a walk with him – he wanted to show me something. I was about to ask Tabitha if they would like to join us when I noticed James pulled her attention away to a couple at the other side of the restaurant.
So I took my throw and placed it over my shoulders, as it was slightly chilly outside that evening. I could see Dryden was getting even more nervous, and I started to get a bit worried. It made me wonder if I had done or said something wrong that could maybe have made him nervous. But as soon as he led me down a path and kissed me, all my doubts melted away.
“Come, I have a special place I want to show to you.” Dryden took my hand and led me down the one path. We made a few turns, but Dryden appeared to know precisely where he was taking me to, so I followed him blindly into the semi-darkness in the garden as we moved from one light zone to the next.
The garden was beautiful with small pockets of private little nooks where a couple could sit and be secluded, hidden away from passersby. I decided I wanted to come here one day during the day, maybe even bring Piper with me on one of our excursions. The garden could be a fun place to go and play hide-and-seek, or to go and have a little picnic.
Just before the next turn in the path, Dryden stopped me and asked me to close my eyes. I obliged and closed my eyes. He went to stand behind me and placed his hands over my eyes. “No peeking, okay?”
I nodded my head and promised that I wouldn’t peek at all. He put his hands on my arms and led me by my elbows around the bend and then a few steps onto the grass, and then he told me to sit down on the ground.
As I felt my way to the ground, I felt a blanket, and then I opened my eyes. I went to sit down on the blank
et and was amazed at the scene in front of me. There was a vase of red roses, candles in a chandelier, two champagne glasses, and a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice. Dryden went to sit on the other end of the blanket and looked for something for underneath it.
“This is beautiful, but why aren’t we with Tabitha and James? Or rather, why didn’t you invite them to come with us?”
Dryden cleared his throat, and looked around a bit nervously, searching with his hand underneath the blanket. But then he visibly relaxed and pulled out a small jewelry box from under the blanket. He opened it and turned it towards me. Then he stood up on one leg and had the other knee bent. “Dear Sara, this might be very soon, but I’m sure this is what I want. All that is left for me to do now is to ask you if you would like to become my wife?”
The night was beautiful, the light was dim, and the air was fresh. My mind was completely aware of every detail in every little thing, and my heart shouted, and my voice followed shortly. “Yes, yes, I will be your wife.”
I leaned forward, and he leaned towards me, and we kissed there on the blanket under the starry night with some of the night birds making their soothing sounds. The set-up was perfect, and I couldn’t think of any way to improve on this beautiful evening. Dryden took my hand and placed the ring on my finger.
Dryden opened the champagne bottle, and the cork flew over my head, and a stream of bubbles came pouring out of the bottle. After most of the overflow had subsided, he poured two glasses for us, and as we cheered and took our first sips as an engaged couple, Dryden started laughing.
“I was so nervous, but I shouldn’t have been. I knew you would have said yes.”
I started laughing as well. “I was so nervous because I thought I had said or did something wrong. You were so nervous that I thought you had some terrible news to share with me.”
We sat there for a while, and he kissed me and asked me if I was happy. I only smiled at him and kissed him again. “Yes, I’m delighted, and there is no other place I would rather be than here with you.”
I could see his eyes were beaming with happiness and he pulled one of the roses out of the vase and gave it to me. As I took it, I could smell that it had a deep, sweet fragrance, and I took a deep sniff. We sat there for a while staring at the stars and Dryden asked if I wanted to get married soon or if I needed some time to think about it. As I was looking at the stars, leaning against his chest, I didn’t feel the need for rushing or postponing, so I asked him if we could get married within the next year, maybe a summer wedding at the house would be perfect. “I think I would love to get married in the backyard. It is such a special place.”
Dryden kissed my head and accepted my idea. “The next question is, do you want a big wedding or an intimate one, with only a few guests?”
I started giggling. “Mr. Dryden, why does it sound like you are more in a hurry than what I am? Should I rather be asking you when, how, and where you want to get married?”
He leaned over my shoulder and pulled my chin so that I could face him. “I want you to be happy, and if I can get you into college to start studying, then I don’t think a wedding should be a distraction.”
With that, I was utterly shocked. I sat up straight and turned to face him. “What do you mean, my studies at the college?”
He smiled at me. “You didn’t think that just because we were going to get married that you have to give up on your dreams, did you? No, my dear. I want you to complete your studies so that you can join me at the office as my assistant nurse. One day, if you are ready for the big world, I will get you in at the private hospital, and then you can help and save people to your heart’s content.”
I was so happy at that moment. My world felt complete, and I didn’t know what I had done to deserve this, but it felt amazing. I kissed Dryden again and hugged him.
“Thank you. I love you so much.”
He kissed me, and then said, “I love you, too.”
He stood up and asked if I was ready to go back to our friends to tell them the good news and celebrate with them. We stood up together and kissed again, holding hands as we strolled back towards the restaurant, and I asked him if someone was going to go and pick up everything. He looked at me frowning. “I don’t know, I just told them how to set it up. I didn’t tell them how to take it down again.” I felt a bit silly, but we both laughed at the idea of pulling the blanket back with us. “At least we are bringing the glasses back. Oh, and the ring.” I looked down at my hand as I realized what had just happened.
“Dryden this is beautiful, this is so special.” It was a rose-gold ring with a large diamond in a floral setting. I couldn’t stop looking at the detail and the small little flower petals that held the stone in place. Even in the dim lighting of the garden path, I could see how shiny and transparent the diamond was.
Dryden walked with his arm around my shoulder, and we looked at the ring for a moment. Then Dryden admitted, “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Tabitha for some advice on the style that you might appreciate. She gave me a few ideas, and the rest was my idea. The jeweler was impressed and said that it was unique.”
When we got back to the table, Tabitha was excited as she already had known what Dryden was planning on doing. “Please show me your diamond. I have to see it. Oh, it is more beautiful than how Dryden described it. He was so modest about it, but I knew it would be more of a stone than a ring.” She stood up and hugged me. “I knew you two would make a good couple.”
The music died down, and the pianist stood up and announced that he just wanted to thank his sponsor for the evening. “Mr. Dryden, thank you for inviting all of us here tonight in celebration of your engagement and I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening.”
I looked towards Dryden, and he smiled at me mischievously, and said, “I hope you don’t mind my confidence, but I’ve invited some of your friends and some of mine to join us tonight. Oh and that little spot in the garden where I proposed is now dedicated to you, so if you would just sign here, it is yours for the rest of your life.” The waiter from earlier presented a tray with a pen on a contract.
I couldn’t believe it. I had never thought someone could own a piece of the botanical gardens, and here I was signing for the ownership of a one-acre section. After signing the document, I turned to him and thanked him. He just smiled down at me and told me, “This is just the beginning of a lifetime of flowers for you.”
The rest of the evening went smoothly, and I knew that this was only the start of our lives together. I didn’t know how everything would work out, but at least I knew I was going to go through life with the man of my dreams and a darling of a stepdaughter. I wouldn’t want to change anything. A single thought about my sister caught me slightly off guard. I hoped she would stay away and not cause any further problems.
Dryden saw that I was getting lost in my thoughts, and he pulled me closer to him and hugged me, and then whispered in my ear, “I love you, and we will face whatever the future throws our way together. I promise you this, I will be at your side for the rest of your life.”
THE END
I hope you enjoyed Doctor Daddy! And if you want to read More Steamy Stories,
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More Books by Claire Angel
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Unexpected Love: A Complete Series Romance Collection
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Mountain Men in Love: A Contemporary Romance Box Set
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