A smile spread across Adaline’s face as she gave me a stern look before turning back to Chuck. “Well, Chuck, I’m afraid most of Emmit’s nights will be spent with me from now on.”
Chuck lost it laughing as he pointed to me and said, “I fucking love her already.” Turning, he called over his shoulder, “Come on, let me feed you both.”
Adaline took my hand and I could see it in her eyes. She tried to hide it, but every now and then it showed through. Stopping, I pulled her to me and ran my hands through her hair. Softly tugging, I pressed my lips to hers. Barely pulling away, I said, “I wouldn’t change a thing, Addie. We were meant to travel the road that led us here. You’re here now, baby, and that’s all that matters.”
Closing her eyes, I knew she was fighting back tears. “I never meant to hurt you, Emmit. Never.”
Lifting my hand and pushing a strand of hair from her eyes, I softly spoke, “I know baby. I know.” I rubbed my nose against hers and said, “Let’s eat. We have a busy day today.”
“You don’t think you’re moving too fast?” my brother Chris asked.
My hand pushed through my hair as I rolled my eyes. “No, Chris, I don’t. I’ve loved her practically my whole life. I don’t want to wait another minute.”
I peaked around the corner toward the master bedroom. Adaline was changing into a new dress she bought this morning after I told her my mother wanted to have us over for lunch. Adaline hadn’t seen my mom in three years, and I could tell she was nervous.
“Listen, Emmit, all I’m saying is the two of you just got back together. Give yourself time to adjust to things. I mean, are you sure she’s even going to enjoy that kind of life?”
Adaline came walking into the kitchen and gave me a sexy smile as she ran her hand along the granite.
“Yes, I’m sure. Listen, Chris, I’ve got to run.”
Adaline perked up. “Your brother, Chris?” she asked.
With a quick nod of my head, she dropped her mouth open and said, “Tell him hi and I can’t wait to see him again.”
“Addie said hi and she can’t wait to see you again.” I said as I took her arm and gently pulled her to me.
Chris let out a dramatic sigh. “Tell her I can’t wait to see her too, and Emmit, do me a favor.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Slow down.”
I shook my head as I grinned from ear to ear. “Dude, you know me better than that. I don’t know the meaning of the word slow.”
“Right. Tell mom I love her and I’ll see her at Thanksgiving.”
Adaline tilted her head, exposing her neck to me. Taking the invitation, I softly moved my lips across her skin. “Yep, will do. Later, Chris.”
“Later, Emmit.”
As I pulled the phone from my ear, I said, “Same old, Chris. Always worried about everything.”
Adaline expression was one of worry, “Is everything okay?”
Licking my lips, I gave her a wink and said, “Everything is more than okay, pumpkin. Come on, Mom’s waiting for us.”
Adaline pushed out a deep breath and said, “I hope she’ll be happy to see me.”
With a quick kiss and slap on Adaline’s ass, I laughed and said, “She’s ecstatic to see you, Addie. Stop worrying.”
I headed to the garage as Adaline followed closely behind me. As we stepped into the garage Adaline laughed. “Holy crap. Is that a . . . Ferrari?”
Walking her over to the passenger side, I opened the door and held her hand while she got in. “You know how I like my toys.”
Adaline shook her head as she glanced around the car. “I guess so.”
Five minutes later I was pulling into the driveway of my mother’s house as she stood on the porch waiting for us.
“Hold on, let me get your door,” I said as I jumped out of the car and jogged around to open Adaline’s door.
I helped her out only to have my mother scream Adaline’s name and slam into her as she gave her a giant bear hug.
“Oh, Adaline! I’ve missed you so much my sweet girl.”
Adaline looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I’ve missed you so much too, Candace.”
My mother pushed Adaline out at arm’s length and looked her over. “My goodness, you’ve become such a beautiful young woman. The flush on your cheeks is adorable. Adaline, your eyes look so happy, sweetheart.”
A beautiful rose color moved across Adaline’s face as she peeked over to me and then back at my mother. “I guess being in love will have that effect on you.”
My mother quickly glanced over to me and smiled bigger. “Let’s go inside; I’ve made your favorite.”
Adaline gasped. “Chicken tacos?”
“You’d better believe chicken tacos.”
I’d never seen Adaline’s eyes fill with excitement over food before. “Oh my gosh, I’ve missed your chicken tacos!”
I watched as my mother and Adaline walked arm and arm into the house. I knew in my heart what I was about to do was the right thing.
Time wasn’t stealing anything else from me ever again.
CANDACE AND I TALKED NON-STOP for two hours as Emmit sat by quietly and listened. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed her really until I saw her.
After a quick tour of her house, we went to sit on the back porch with a glass of wine.
“So, Adaline, what do you think about this new job?”
“It’s a blessing I feel like I don’t deserve.”
Candace laughed as she brushed me off. “Non-sense. Mr. Elliot has been talking about bringing on his own medical team for the last two years.”
Peeking over at Emmit, I noticed he was staring out over the lake. He seemed nervous and I wasn’t really sure why.
I turned back to Candace and grinned. “"It’s funny how you go off looking for what you thought was your dream . . . only to find out your dream was right in front of you the entire time."
I glanced down at my hands and let out a soft chuckle as I glanced back up. Emmit was piercing me with his gray eyes as I felt my heart sink to my stomach. “Turns out my dream was racing a hundred and ninety miles an hour around a race track.”
Emmit’s lips parted slightly as I watched his eyes begin to water. He quickly made his way over to me and lifted me up. Emmit pressed his lips to mine and kissed me amorously. I was so moved by the kiss I could feel his love rushing into my body.
When we finally broke our kiss and Emmit set me back down, he gazed into my eyes as he asked, “Will you marry me, Addie?”
A sob escaped my lips as I heard Candace gasp. I didn’t even need time to think about my answer. I knew what it would be since the first time Emmit kissed me.
I quickly wiped my tears away. “Yes! Oh God, Emmit. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Emmit smiled the most stunning smile I’d ever seen. He hooted and hollered as he reached for me and spun me around. Candace began jumping and clapping her hands while tears rolled down her face. “Let me get some champagne!”
Emmit looked back at his mother and said, “Sounds good, Mom.”
As Candace took off back into the house, Emmit took my hand in his and led me down the dock toward the water. My heart was beating a mile a minute as I tried to wrap my thoughts around the fact that I just got engaged. Emmit came to a stop at the end of the dock and faced me. Taking both of my hands, he flashed that dimple at me and I couldn’t help but giggle.
“You just made me the happiest man in the world, Addie.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Emmit, you just made me the happiest woman in the world. I don’t even know what to say right now.”
Emmit dropped my hands and reached into his pocket. He went down on one knee as I covered my mouth and began crying as Emmit opened the box in his hand. A beautiful princess-cut diamond sat in the blue velvet box as I started crying harder.
“I’ve been holding onto this ring for three and a half years, Addie. I can’t wait to slip it onto your finger.”