Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
I looked down. “Fresh cherry tomatoes?”
“They’re good from the garden from hell, aren’t they?”
“Mmmm. Like eating balls of sugar.”
Continuing with the puzzle. “Rip and Etta?”
“How long have they been married now?”
“I don’t know. A few months?”
Rip and Etta had secretly gotten together as a couple within a few weeks of Rip moving in. That part hadn’t shocked us. They were two peas in a pod. But we had been surprised when Rip proposed. He stood to lose some of the survivor benefits he received from his deceased wife’s pension if he got remarried. When we’d mentioned that, he’d said he was fully aware, and he’d rather be broke and make an honest woman out of Etta than have some cash in his pocket—although they didn’t have to worry about cash anymore.
Gray had gifted them the house they lived in as a wedding gift. Well, that and the other surprise gift he’d arranged. Somehow Gray had talked Rip’s daughter into coming to their wedding. Rip had cried like a baby when he saw her walk in. And the rest of us couldn’t help but follow suit.
Gray peeked at the list. “The next one better be self-explanatory.”
Magic tongue
I shifted in my seat and smiled.
Next up was Love of my life.
“Do you love me?” he said.
“Of course. More than anything.”
“Keep going.”
“Rainbow?”
“What did you say to me after we finished painting Ella’s room with that giant rainbow as a surprise?”
I remembered. “I said you were the rainbow of my life. You cleared the way for the rain to stop.”
He took my hand and squeezed it. Together we ran through the remainder of the pro list.
“Figure it out yet?” he asked.
“Maybe I need to read the cons.”
There was only one thing listed on the con list. I read it out loud.
“Stuck with me forever.”
Gray stood. And then he got down on one knee and took my hand.
“I wanted to be prepared in case you needed to debate it before answering me. Knowledge of how to use the remote and program the coffeemaker, magic tongue, Rip and Etta beating us to the altar…they’re just some of a never-ending list of reasons you should marry me.”
He reached into his pocket and took out a beautiful box. Opening it, he revealed the most amazing engagement ring I’d ever seen. The center stone had to be three or four carats, and there were two stones on either side, each big enough to be an engagement ring on its own.
“When I told Etta I planned on asking you to marry me, and that I wanted to incorporate the stone from my mother’s ring into the setting, she insisted I also take her original wedding ring and use that stone in the design, too. So this ring is made of three stones from the most amazing women from my life. The big stone in the center is just for you. And the ones on the sides are my mother’s and Etta’s. While I was working with the jeweler on designing it, I realized it was also symbolic to have three stones—because you’re getting two of us, me and Ella.”
Tears streamed down my face. I looked down at our joined hands and noticed Gray’s were shaking. The man never showed his nerves.
“It’s beautiful, Gray. I don’t even know what to say.”
“I might have padded the pro list in my favor a little. And the one con, being stuck with me forever, might outweigh the two pages of pros. But if you agree to be my wife, I promise that every day I’ll work on adding a new thing to that pro list. I could say that you restored my faith in love, but you did more than that, Layla. You brought me back to life. So please marry me. Please tell me you’ll spend the rest of your life as my wife.”
I was so choked up, I could barely get out the words. “Yes. Yes. God, yes.”
Gray took my face in his hands, cupped my cheeks, and kissed me gently on the lips. “I almost forgot. I told Ella I was going to ask you to be my wife today, and she told me to tell you something.”
“What?”
Gray leaned back and placed his thumb against his hand, spreading his fingers wide. “Mommy,” he said. “She’s going to stop calling you Layla and call you Mommy, if that’s okay with you.”