“I love you, and my heart has no doubt that you’re the only one. My head keeps coming back to this question I want to ask you, but I know it’s not the time. And believe me, I’ve been through every argument in my mind trying to convince myself otherwise.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she breathed in the scent of him, imagining that she was smelling leather, spice, and mint. Combined with the warmth of his arms, it left her feeling almost intoxicated.
“Marry me, Ryan.”
Pulling his head down, she allowed everything she was feeling to go into their kiss, her fingers playing with the short hair at the back of his neck. He responded as though he was making up for lost time, holding her even closer as she leaned against him, melting his resolve. Drawing himself away, he forced a deep breath as she slowly opened her eyes, gazing at him with longing.
“I will,” he stated, almost so quietly she couldn’t make out the words. “I want to be the kind of husband you deserve—a man who will devote himself to you. No distractions and nothing holding me back, okay? I promise, I will marry you, but you have to let me ask you when the time’s right. Can you do that? Because I’ve gotta tell you, I’m not sure how much pressure I can withstand when it comes to you.”
Smiling sweetly, she gently ran her finger down his chin, pausing to leave it positioned there as she nodded her head.
“If you insist, then yes, I’ll wait patiently. I’ll even try to forget we talked about this, on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“When you do finally get around to asking me the question, try to act surprised when I say yes.”
C hapter Thirty-One
Harley stepped into the room rather cautiously, not sure what to expect. When she saw Kelsey in the bed alone, with only an empty room surrounding her, she stepped forward to the bed and touched her hand timidly. Her eyes flew open, and a simple smile graced her lips.
“I knew you’d come.”
Grinning at the words, Harley lowered herself to the bed and took Kelsey’s hand in both hers. “Of course I’m here. I’d like to see someone try to keep me away.”
“What did you bring?” Kelsey glanced at the messenger bag Harley had slung across her hip, and Harley removed one hand and patted it carefully.
“Laptop. The newspaper liked the pension piece so much, I’m working on something new. This one’s a doozy, involving all sorts of people. I doubt the paper will have the nerve to print it, but I’ll just find someone else. I’ve become resourceful.” She winked at Kelsey, who simply continued to stare at her. “Of course, I really don’t think I’ll get much work done at all. I’ll be going crazy thinking about you.”
“Please don’t worry.”
“I won’t, but I promise you’ll be on my mind the entire time.”
“It’s going to take hours,” Kelsey added with a slight laugh.
“Like I said, the entire time.” Glancing behind her, Harley twisted her mouth to the side. “Where’s your mom? And Ryan?”
“Mom’s spending some time with Dad, and Ryan should be back in a minute. You can’t stand to be away from him for five seconds?”
“No, it’s like cutting off my right arm,” Harley teased, shaking her head.
“You’re in luck then, because I’m back.” Ryan appeared to her left, placing a hand against Harley’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here. I know Kelsey’s been looking for you.”
“Because I wanted my whole family here,” Kelsey said, watching as a nurse came in and began looking through her chart. “Hopefully it will only take a few months before I’m back up and around. Maybe by then Ryan…” Glancing between the two of them, Kelsey gave a mischievous hint of a smile. “I’m ready to be your sister.”
Fighting back tears, Harley leaned down and pressed a kiss against Kelsey’s forehead. “Silly girl,” she whispered. “You already are.”
C hapter Thirty-Two
A Few Months Later
Stepping up to the park bench in front of one of her favorite places in the entire city, Harley lowered herself to the wood without saying a word, stretching her long legs all the way from her denim shorts to her black Keds. Glancing to her left, she couldn’t help but award her bearded biker friend with a huge smile.
“Hey,” she said succinctly.
Shaking his head, he chuckled under his breath. “Somebody’s in a good mood tonight.”
“As I should be. It’s a perfectly beautiful evening, and the weather is going to be incredible tomorrow for the wedding. When I bought the house, I would have never even imagined a wedding in the yard.” Sighing, she looked at him wistfully. “It’s going to be gorgeous.”
He pointed to the red sparkly helmet beside her, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh, Annie dropped me off. Ryan’s going to be meeting me here. We have big plans tonight.”
“I can’t believe that boy hasn’t given you a ring yet,” Duke said, folding his arms across his chest.
“It’s because he wants to tattoo it on his finger after we’re married.” Shrugging, she turned her attention back to the street.
“How’s his sister doing?”
“So good.” Pausing as she pictured Kelsey’s face the night before at the dinner table, Harley laughed. “Better than good. She’s feeling far better than what they expected at this point, which is fantastic. I can’t wait to see her reaction tonight at her surprise party. That reminds me, I had something I wanted to show you.”
Pulling an envelope from her purse, Harley loosened the paper from its covering, unfolding it in front of Duke as she read across his arm.
Hi. I’ve wanted to write to you for a little while now, but didn’t have the words. Everything I could tell you seems so inadequate for what you did for me. For my family.
I could say thank you, but that seems too easy to say. Instead, I want you to see through my eyes for a minute, just to know whose lives you’ve impacted.
My three-year-old is watching Sesame Street sitting next to me, leaning sleepily against my arm. She is learning to use the potty by herself, but she had an accident this morning. We cleaned it up and then read a book about potties…again.
My seven-year-old got on the bus this morning, after I made his breakfast and packed his lunchbox. We had a tiny argument about whether or not he should wear his karate uniform to school. He won. I was a little bummed about letting him on the bus like that, but he did look awfully cute.
My husband left for work two hours ago. He made sure I felt okay, gave me the sweetest kiss, and then told me not to worry about dinner. I will worry about it. We may only have fresh fruit and macaroni and cheese, but there will be something on the table when he comes home.
The truth is, sometimes I don’t feel like I can handle much. Some days it is all I can do to get through until night falls. Some mornings I call my mother and spend the rest of the day in bed, wishing I could find a fraction of the energy or the strength I had before.
But do you know what’s beautiful? I’m still here. I’m able to clean up potty accidents, have arguments with my son, and put horrible meals on the table. A year ago, I wasn’t sure this would be possible.
Thank you for my normal. It might not look like much from the outside, but from where I sit, it’s pretty much everything.
God bless you.
Harley watched as Duke swiped at his eyes and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.
“Duke, are you crying?”
“Nope,” he answered with a sniff. “Dust got in my eye.”
“I cried too,” she admitted.
“What did Harley do to make you cry?”
They both glanced up at Ryan, sauntering towards them with a huge grin on his face.
“I showed him the letter,” she said, rising to offer a quick kiss as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“That’ll do it,” Ryan agreed, shaking his head as he pulled Harley a little closer. “What do you know, Duke?”
“I know your woman is all
giddy about meeting you tonight, and all hyped up about that wedding tomorrow. She was almost making me sick.”
“Women,” Ryan stated with a laugh. “I thought I’d never get over here tonight, because Annie kept calling me with the checklist. She definitely does not have the temperament to plan weddings.”
“I can’t imagine,” Duke inserted. “I like that Annie, though…have ever since she came to my support group.”
“Annie was in your support group?” Harley wondered, mouth gaping as she stared at Duke.
“Once upon a time.”
Shaking her head, Harley smiled at the thought of her own mysterious John Wayne and her roommate back home. “Duke, you fascinate me. Really.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, giving her a wink.
“You ready to go, Harley?” Ryan asked. “Keeping the secret has been killing me. I’ll be glad to finally get it out in the open.”
“Sure.” She patted her burly friend on the shoulder before she walked away. “See you later, Duke.”
Taking Ryan’s hand, she strolled towards the motorcycle, offering him a flirty glance as they walked together.
“What’s gotten into you? You’re awfully feisty tonight.”
“I don’t know, just happy I guess.”
They rounded the corner into the bright sunshine, and Harley squinted her eyes against the glare as Ryan pulled her toward his motorcycle, kissing her hand as they walked. Scooping his helmet up, he held it aloft as he smiled at her, unable to break their contact to strap the protective device on his head.
“I love you, Harley Davidson.”
Laughing, she blew out a breath in mock anger. “That is so obnoxious.” Dropping the helmet to his side, he moved closer. “For the record, I love you, too,” she mouthed against his lips as he pulled her into him. After a quick kiss, he drew the helmet up and over his head. She did the same, strapping hers under her chin. Ryan straddled the bike, waiting for her, and she stared at Tiny’s for a second, remembering the first night she and Ryan shared a motorcycle ride. The thought instantly made her feel even warmer inside.
Swinging her leg over the bike, she settled against him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. He paused momentarily as he placed his fingers across her arm, and she suspected he was thinking how far they’d come as well.
Kelsey had a new lease on life, Annie had been rocking a fairly normal hair color for months, the huge house at the end of Wonder Lane was looking much improved, she was calling her parents every Sunday afternoon, and Mitch was finally letting her use some of her own ideas at the station. Plus, she was on the back of a motorcycle that belonged to the love of her life.
As he brought the engine to a roar, she smiled to herself inside the helmet, thinking that things couldn’t get much better.
Harley took the steps two at a time in front of Ryan, who laughed and jogged to catch up with her.
“Wait for me,” he pleaded, managing to grab her hand and slow her down.
“I don’t want to miss the surprise,” she insisted.
“You won’t. Hey, just stop for a minute will you?”
Pausing near the door, she looked up at him expectantly.
“Is there something you’d like to say, Mr. Temple?”
“Yes,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “There are a lot of things I’d like to say, actually.”
“And they can’t wait until a little later?” She gazed into his deep blue eyes, feeling her stomach perform a gymnastics maneuver.
Lowering his head, he placed his lips against her neck, kissing the soft spot right below her ear. She shivered as he leaned back, keeping his arms firmly around her waist.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the fact that you love me,” he whispered.
“You might as well get used to it, because it’s pretty rock solid,” she assured him quietly, reaching her fingers up to his cheek and tracing a path down the side of his face. “Now, can we go inside already?”
With a sigh, he released her so she could open the front door and step quietly into the house, crossing to the kitchen slowly as she glanced around the room.
“Where is everybody?”
She knew she had a rather befuddled look on her face, but having a surprise party with only two people yelling surprise seemed a little preposterous.
“You worry too much, it’s still on track.” Pausing to shove his hand in his pocket, he pulled out his cellphone. “Annie’s bothering me again.”
“Why exactly is Annie calling you? It would make a lot more sense if she was calling me.”
“You want me to make sense of Annie?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows. “Here, hold this a second.”
She dutifully stretched her hand out, and he dropped the contents of his pocket into her palm. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she glanced at the mound he had dumped there—change, keys, something sparkly…
With a slight gasp, Harley stared at the items in her left hand.
“What’s going on?” She brought her right hand up to fish a princess-cut diamond out of his loose change. “You’re walking around with a ring in your pocket?” Trying to slow the beating of her heart, she glanced around the room again. “There’s not a party for Kelsey, is there?”
“Not exactly,” he answered, watching her study the ring.
“And what about the surprise?”
“That’ll be me, remember?” Scooping the contents of her hand back into his own, he shoved the change and keys back in his pocket. “You told me that when you said yes, I had to act surprised. Marry me tonight, Harley.”
Tilting her head slightly, she offered a bit of a smirk. “How am I supposed to marry you tonight, exactly?”
“We head to Vegas. Right now.”
“But the wedding tomorrow…I’m pretty sure you can wait one day.”
“Baby, you’re not listening to me.”
“Oh, I can hear you,” she said with a laugh, sliding the diamond onto her finger and holding it out for inspection. “You’re just talking crazy. Be serious.”
“I am serious,” he insisted, dragging a paper from his back pocket and throwing it on the counter. Taking a break from peering at the ring, she unfolded the paper and glanced up at Ryan.
“This is a confirmation for a plane ticket.”
“Two tickets, actually.”
“To Vegas.”
“Exactly, and if we don’t leave soon, we might miss our flight.”
Laughing, she self-consciously reached her hand up to touch her hair. “This is just…who’s going to marry us?”
“I don’t know. Elvis?”
She glanced up from the plane confirmation, unable to ignore the fire in his eyes. A burning reaction began deep in her stomach, threatening to overtake her.
“But the wedding—”
“We’ll be back first thing in the morning. No one will even miss us.”
“And Kelsey?” she asked, feeling slightly guilty.
“Do you honestly think Kelsey would let me get away with that? They’re waiting at the airport right now.” Taking her left hand, which now boasted the ring, he pressed it against his chest, the tip of her fingers pushing down his T-shirt enough to make his tattoo visible at his neckline. “Marry me. I don’t want to go another day without being your husband.”
The energy coming from him was so intense, she could almost feel herself trembling. Dragging in a shaky breath, she nervously moistened her lips.
“I’ll have to pack,” she whispered.
“Kelsey packed you a bag. I’m sure it’s completely impractical, but it’s waiting for you at the airport.”
Giving her a disarming smile, he lowered himself to one knee, gazing up at her expectantly.
“You really don’t have to do that,” she informed him with a grin.
“No?”
“No, I’m in. All in. Over my head.”
While retrieving the keys from his pocket, he slid one hand behind her neck, bringing his face within an i
nch of hers.
“Surprise,” he whispered, his breath warm against her lips. “Maybe I should get a new tattoo to celebrate. I’m thinking ‘Harley’ right across my finger.”
“I’m thinking I might spend hours studying your tattoos tonight.”
“Scratch that, then. Looks like I’m going to be pretty busy...you know, being studied. I hope to become your new favorite subject.”
“Do you offer a doctorate program? Because I’m very interested.”
She had a couple more witty remarks running through her head, but they were cut short as he rewarded her with a leisurely kiss, his fingers moving to cradle the side of her face. When he finally released her, he motioned towards the door with his head.
“I should call Annie so she knows where we’re going,” Harley suddenly thought, pulling her phone from her pocket.
“Not necessary,” he told her as he stepped across the living room, opening the front door. “Why do you think she’s been bothering me all afternoon?”
“What a sneaky man you turned out to be.” With a laugh, she stepped out onto the porch, pausing while he locked the door behind him. “What do you think of Harley Laine-Temple? I think it has a nice ring to it.”
“That’s a mouthful,” he suggested, taking her hand as they moved toward the motorcycle. “How about I just call you baby?”
“I can deal with that.” Pausing near the bike, she stopped to watch Ryan, thinking about the first time he asked her out. How she had managed to tell him no was a mystery, standing so close with her heart pounding. She could almost kick herself now for the time she wasted.
“You’re staring at me,” he said as he grabbed his helmet. “What’s going through that head of yours?”
“Just thinking that Wonder Lane could use a lot more of you. I’ll be doing the sleepy little street a great favor, won’t I?”
Shoving his head into the helmet, he laughed through the open visor. “We’ll have to come up with a great title for the house. A place like that deserves an awesome name.”
Crowned (Girls of Wonder Lane Book 2) Page 32
