Todd
Page 6
He made it sound so simple. But nothing between Sarra and I was simple.
David was right about one thing though, I had wanted to marry her since high school. If my dad hadn’t died, I would be married to her now.
All these years I’d believed I was being noble. That I was saving her from pain and heartache. When in truth, I was the one breaking her.
I clapped him on the back as I stepped around him and headed to my truck. I had one shot to get this right, to win her back. I just hoped I wasn’t really too late.
Chapter Fifteen
~ Sarra ~
“Stupid arrogant jerk!” I yelled into my empty kitchen. I was rage cleaning again, pulling pots and pans out of the cupboard and washing them just for a way to keep my hands busy.
“The nerve!” I continued, scrubbing the dishes in water so hot my hands were turning red. “Honestly!”
“Sarra?”
I screamed, turning and throwing a pan at the voice that had startled me.
“Shit!” Todd was kneeling on the ground, clutching his head.
“Oh my God!” I yelled. I rushed over to him and pulled his hand away to look at his forehead. “You’re bleeding.” I pulled him up and directed him to a chair. “Sit down.”
I ran into the hall and grabbed my first aid kit, bringing it back and opening it on the table then pulled a chair around to sit in front of him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, my hands shaking as I cleaned up the gash I’d split open on his head.
“I wanted to talk to you,” he said, reaching up to touch it. “How bad is it?”
“Not bad,” I said, knocking his fingers away and applying a bandage. “You won’t need stitches.”
“Sorry I scared you,” he said, smiling sheepishly at me.
“You should be,” I told him. “You’re lucky I wasn’t washing knives.”
“Thank goodness for small favors,” he said, chuckling.
“You should go.” I stood up and took the first aid kit back into the hall. When I turned back around he was standing behind me again.
“I need to talk to you,” he said. “I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be.”
“Damn right I do,” I muttered.
“Yes,” he agreed. “I’ve made some terrible mistakes in my life. And unfortunately, you’re the one who’s been paying for them. I don’t have any excuses. At least, none that you haven’t heard before. And I didn’t come here to try to defend myself. Because I know, there is no defense.”
I stood there, waiting for him to make his point so I could kick him out on his ass the way he’d done to me in the hospital. I was still spitting mad at him and I refused to forgive him just because he had a speech prepared.
“I thought I was being honorable,” he continued. “I thought I was protecting you, by pushing you away. But I realize now that all I’ve ever done is hurt you. And I can’t apologize enough for that. I don’t expect you to forgive me. To forget what I’ve done to you. I just hope you know how much I love you.” He dropped to one knee in front of me and pulled out a ring box. “How much I’ve always loved you. Sarra, will you please marry me?”
“How hard did I hit you?” I asked, my voice hoarse as I stared at the ring in his hand.
“Not that hard,” he assured me.
“When did you buy that?”
“Well, this one I bought on the way over,” he said. “But the first one I bought in high school. It was a lot smaller though, so I thought you deserved an upgrade.”
“When in high school?” I asked. My heart was pounding in my chest as I tried to wrap my head around what was happening. He was proposing? After all this time?
“Three days before my dad died,” he admitted. “It’s been sitting in a dresser drawer at my mom’s place forever. When I lost Dad…I lost my way. I’ve honestly always believed I was doing right by you. Even when the world told me otherwise. I wanted to save you. But it turns out…I need you to save me.”
I dropped to my knees in front of him and wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him as he clung to me.
“Is that a yes?” he asked hopefully.
“It’s a maybe,” I answered tentatively. “Are you only doing this because you thought you lost me?”
“I did this because I saw what my life was without you. And I just can’t live like that.”
“You understand how absolutely stupid you’ve been?” I challenged. I wasn’t going to risk my heart with him again. He had to promise that he was done running. That he understood I knew what I was getting into.
“I do,” he agreed.
“You know that I would never expect you to quit your job?”
“I do.”
“You know that if you ever, ever, pull a stunt like this again in the interest of ‘my own good’ I’ll punch you in the throat?”
“I do.”
I stared at him, watching him watch me, and realized he honestly had no idea what I was going to say. Maybe I should have been concerned that after all this time he still didn’t know me. As if I could ever say no to him.
“Well, I do, too.”
He pulled me back into his arms and stood up, holding me and swinging me around before setting me on my feet and kissing me deeply.
“Gimme my ring,” I said, laughing through the tears that were streaming down my cheeks.
He slid it onto my finger and I admired it in the dim light from the hall lamp.
“How much smaller is the first one?” I asked.
“Pretty small,” he admitted.
“Can I have that one, too?”
“Sarra, you can have anything.”
Luckily for him, I already had everything I wanted. I understood that we had a long road ahead of us, but I finally knew that we’d always walk it together. And with Todd by my side, we could do anything.
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About the Author
Dakota Rebel is a bestselling author and a very slow distance runner who dreams of racing Badwater.
She lives in a perpetual state of exhaustion with her happy husband and two incredibly spoiled children.
Dakota loves to talk to her readers and can be found at www.dakotarebel.net