by M Dauphin
They have moved to the outdoor veranda, the music has started and everyone looks like they are having a great time. These pictures are going to be beautiful. With about fifteen minutes left to my portion of the day, the bride realizes she can’t find her purse anywhere and everyone starts looking for it. I think I remember seeing it in the dining hall when I was walking through after Tatum left, so I headed back there to grab it for her. What I didn’t expect to see, though, was a dark room with Robert Delany smiling at me as I walked through the door. My stomach dropped. Shit.
32- Tatum
I hated lying to her, I really did, but it needed to be done in order for the surprise to still be a surprise. Even more so than lying to her, I hated leaving her there without me. Rob had been eerily pleasant all day, which threw me for a huge loop. I at least expected a threat or sneer or snide comment…but there were none. Smiles and handshakes all around. I hated mind games, but apparently this man excelled at them. I had called in one of my dad’s reinforcements to watch over her until she got home, but I wasn’t certain when they would get there or how closely they would follow.
Now I sit in the car, about fifteen minutes from home, pissed off and surprised as hell that in a small town, no one knows how to work together. I gave three townspeople the inside scoop of my proposal in order for things to go smoothly. Three, that’s it. Apparently I chose the wrong fucking people because they can’t follow simple directions.
Molly hates roses. Most women get roses and swoon, but not my woman. She gets roses, then goes on a rant about how ugly they are and how they are so over rated and over used. So, in order for this proposal to be just perfect I had Betty call in an order of hundreds of flowers. All Calla Lilies. One task is all she needed to do and she fucked up big time. There were Red roses delivered this morning after we left, and she can’t get anyone to bring the correct flowers. She swears that she ordered the right ones, but who really knows. She’s a little crazy.
So, now I have an hour from the time I get home to the time Molly gets here to re-plan the evening. The plan was supposed to be Molly and I walking in the house together to the lights low, candles lit, and flowers everywhere. I was going to have her go inside before me and when she turned to look at me I’d be down on one knee, ready to propose. Now I have to figure out the flower debacle and re-plan my strategy in one hour. I can do this, I’ve done harder things in an hour. Let’s get to it!
***
Forty-five minutes later I have it all planned out. Instead of hundreds of flowers around the whole house, I was able to find enough Calla Lilies at a local flower shop a few towns over to make an even more romantic gesture. It took a little monetary persuasion to open the shop for me after hours, but she’s worth it ten- fold. She will walk into the house, lights off and music on. There will be votive candles lit in a path towards the bedroom, all the way up the stairs. The flowers will be in a path to the bedroom as well. In the bedroom, I’ll be down on one knee, waiting for her to walk in. There will be candles everywhere and not a light on in the house. I can just picture her face in the glow of the candlelight now, so beautiful.
My nerves are so high right now I could probably run a marathon. A few women in town caught word of what I was frantically trying to do so they pitched in helping set up the perfect scene. The whole time they were setting up I’m pretty sure I heard comments about how sad it was that I’d be off the market for good soon. What they don’t want to know is that I’ve been off the market for as long as I’ve known Molly. She was my everything from day one.
I’ve never been this nervous before. I’m a Savage, we get what we want every time we want something. To think that there is a chance, even after all we have been through, that she won’t want to be with me permanently scares the shit out of me. I have to do this, though. I have never been so sure of anything, ever, in my entire life. She needs to be my wife. She will be my wife.
Now, I wait.
33- Rob
Things couldn’t have gone more perfectly if I had planned them myself. Those two were joined at the hip all fucking day. Nate wasn’t a stupid man. He knew something was up. What surprised me was when he left her high and dry with only an hour left to the day. Perfect. Then when the bride lost her purse I actually laughed to myself at how easy this was going to be. I knew exactly where it was so I raced there to get to it before Molly could. She’s a very observant person and would know the exact spot it was. When she walked in I had to contain myself. If I spooked her she was far enough that she could still run. Damnit, this one was going to be fun.
Let the games begin.
That’s it for this one!
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Also by M. Dauphin
: Devastatingly Beautiful Series:
Alive
Betrayed
About the Author
M. Dauphin lives in southern Illinois with her husband and two crazy boys. She used to be a teacher to wonderful, brilliant four year olds, but since has moved on to the super busy role as a stay at home mom. In her free time (which let's be real, two boys under the age of four means not having any free time) she likes to read for other authors, surf Facebook, and of course...write! If you are ever bored, hop on over to her Facebook author page and say hi! Adult interaction is wonderful when you spend your time talking to toddlers.
