Chapter Twenty-Six
REED STOPPED FOR gas on the way to the jam session, and the pump must have been slow, because it took forever. When they got on the road, he drove past the Jerichos’ street.
“You missed the turn,” she pointed out.
He pulled her tighter against his side. “I got a text when I was pumping gas. I need to make a quick stop, if you don’t mind.” He drove through town and to the high school. The parking lot was packed.
“It looks like there’s something going on,” she said as they climbed from the truck.
“There’s a fundraising meeting tonight. I’m bidding on a job and just have to pick up the papers from the family. They’re going out of town tomorrow.”
“I thought your next job was the Majestic.”
“Mm-hm. This is a small one. I don’t close on the theater for a few weeks yet.” They ascended the stairs, and he held the door open while she walked inside.
It was eerily quiet. “Where’s the meeting?” she whispered.
“In the auditorium. Why are you whispering?”
“I don’t know. It feels like I should.”
He chuckled. “For a girl who snuck out to hang with a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, you don’t seem to have another rebellious bone in your body.”
She poked his side. “Don’t make fun. I used up all my rebellion on lying to my family. That was hard for me.”
“I know, baby. I remember. I love that you’re only a bad girl with me, in private.” He stopped outside the auditorium and wrapped his arms around her, gazing deeply into her eyes. “Sorry we’re late to the party, baby.”
“I don’t mind. It’s not like I haven’t been to a hundred jam sessions at the Jerichos’ before. If Phoenix and Lauryn weren’t playing instruments for the first time, and if my sisters hadn’t gone to so much trouble to make me look half decent, I would say let’s skip it and go lie out under the stars by the creek in your backyard.”
“You look way better than half decent, and we’re not missing this party. We’re not missing anything ever again.” His lips came coaxingly down over hers in a deep, slow, penetrating kiss. “Ready?”
“The way you kiss, I’m always ready.”
“Damn, I love you, baby.” He took her in another delicious kiss.
“Maybe I should wait out here?”
He shook his head, his slanted smile playing with her heart. “No way. We have only one more week before you go back to New York. I want to spend every minute with you.”
He pushed open the door, and it was pitch-dark inside. She leaned into him and said, “I think we have the wrong room.”
The lights came on, and Grace gasped. Balloons and streamers hung from the ceiling, along with sparkly gold stars and silver crescent moons. A banner was strung above the stage that read STARRY NIGHT PROM.
“That was the name of my prom,” Grace said. “I didn’t go, of course, but…When’s their prom?”
“This is your prom, baby. It’s our prom.” Without taking his eyes off her, he shouted, “Let ’er roll!”
The curtains went up over the stage, revealing Grace and Reed’s family and friends, along with nearly everyone she’d gone to high school with, as well as what looked like half the town—including a very pregnant Sophie and her husband, Brett, the Jerichos, Nana and Hellie and their husbands, Phoenix and Lauryn, Janie and Boyd, Chet, Haylie, Sin, and dozens of other friends. Even Winona was there. Tears sprang from Grace’s eyes as people poured down the steps, filling the auditorium, and Sable’s band began playing “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain.
“Our song,” Grace said as he swept her into his arms and began dancing. She was trembling, crying like a fool, and so in love with Reed, she couldn’t even think straight. She couldn’t believe what he’d done, or that so many friends were there. Girls she’d cheered with, some with pregnant bellies or toddlers on their hips, and parents of the girls she used to hang out with. Practically everyone from town she’d ever known danced around them, calling out greetings, as Reed gazed adoringly at her.
“How did you pull this off and get all these people to come? And Sophie! She wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow. I don’t know what to say.” She wiped at her eyes, trying not to smear the makeup that her sisters had worked so hard on. “Nobody’s ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you.”
“Baby, I told you I want to make all your dreams come true, and we have a lot of time to make up for.” His eyes skimmed over the crowd. “I made the most out of the time you spent working on the play, and I had some help from the prom fairies. I asked Sable and Lindsay if they could reach out to your friends. Once word got out, we were barraged with volunteers.”
She looked around them, smiling and waving at everyone as they danced. Volunteers? For her?
“That’s what friends do, Gracie,” Reed said. “And this is what I do. The man who adores you.”
He took her hand and dropped to one knee. A sound of disbelief rushed from her lungs as the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on the two of them. Rivers of tears slid down her cheeks, and she was vaguely aware of Sable’s band playing a slower, softer song, but she was riveted by the man who held her heart in his hands, kneeling before her.
“My beautiful, sweet Gracie. I went too many years wishing you were in my arms, regretting what I never said or did. If these last couple days have taught me anything, it’s that we never know how much time we have left. I’m done waiting, baby. I don’t want to regret a single thing. I know our lives are complicated. You’re living in New York, and I’m here, but I don’t care. We’ll find a way to make it work. I will never ask you to give up anything, and I will support your every dream. You are the light of my life, baby, my best friend, my lover…”
Her throat swelled to near closing, and she was sure it was because her swollen heart had invaded every other part of her body.
Roy appeared by Reed’s side and handed him a velvet box. Roy winked at Grace before stepping back, but Grace was too stunned to even acknowledge him as Reed rose to his feet and opened the box. He placed his hand on Grace’s cheek and wiped her tears with his thumb, smiling when fresh tears slid in its wake.
“Gracie,” he said in a voice so loving she cried harder. “You have owned my heart since you were just a breathtakingly pretty cheerleader who challenged my very existence, and you will own it long past the time I take my last breath.”
He slid the most gorgeous ring on her finger. A ring she’d seen before. Memories climbed from the recesses of her mind. What type of ring do you want? he’d asked when they were teenagers, walking along the main drag in Wishing Creek. You know I’m going to marry you one day, Gracie. You might as well show me what you want. It had taken her only a second to show him, because she’d seen the display in the jeweler’s window every time they’d walked by on their stolen nights together, and she’d fantasized about one day…
Now that cushion-cut diamond with the pink sapphire halo was on her finger, and Reed was gazing into her eyes, his boyish grin and loving heart already a part of her.
“It was hell trying to describe this ring to the jeweler who took over the shop after his father retired,” Reed said with a smile, “but he got it right, don’t you think?”
You remembered. The words lodged in her throat. It was all she could do to nod.
“This is our script, baby. We’ll revise it however many times we need to until it’s perfect. You’re my leading lady, and I’ll always be your man. Will you marry me, Gracie? Be my wife? My forever?”
“Yes!” came out on a sob. She launched herself into his arms, and the crowd whooped and cheered as they kissed through salty tears. “Yes, yes, yes,” she said between kisses.
They were passed from one embrace to the next, congratulated, kissed, and danced with. Brindle and Morgyn had Axsel and Pepper on FaceTime during the proposal so they were able to watch the whole thing. Grace was so overwhelmed when she finally landed back in Reed’s arms, her head was spinning.
They danced and kissed as Sable belted out “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. Grace hadn’t even known Reed knew how to dance, but the man had serious moves.
When the song changed to a slow song, Reed gazed into her eyes and said, “I told you I’d marry you one day, Gracie.”
“You did, and I’m so glad. I love you, Reed, and I can’t imagine a day without you. We live so far apart,” Grace said anxiously.
“You’ll never be without me. I’m with you always, baby. Distance between us or not, I’m with you. We’ll make this work. I’ll come up every weekend. I can’t go without seeing you for too long, so I’m thinking we might put FaceTime to a test, too.”
Her heart hurt just thinking about leaving, but she had commitments, an apartment, a life in the city. And now she had a life here, too.
“Cutting in to dance with my girl,” Sophie said as she pried Reed’s arms from around Grace and hugged her. Sophie’s royal-blue dress clung to her burgeoning belly. “Congratulations again! And happy prom!”
“I can’t believe you kept this a secret! And, oh my gosh, you look too sexy for a pregnant woman!”
“She does, doesn’t she?” Brett said. “My wife is hot as fuuuuck.”
Sophie laughed. “That’s my man, always dirty talking.”
“Hey, babe,” Brett said with a raise of his brows. “I’ll be happy to act that out if you’d like.”
Sophie batted her handsome husband away. “I love you, but take Reed and go do guy things. I want to chat with Grace for a minute.”
Reed pulled Grace into a quick kiss. “Have fun. Tonight’s your night, baby. Enjoy.”
“Holy cow, Grace. I never thought I’d see you with a dreamy look in your eyes,” Sophie teased.
Grace sighed. “Look around us, Soph. He went to so much trouble. Who would know how much this would mean to me besides Reed? All the people we grew up with are here. And you came home early.” Her eyes welled with tears again. Her breathing hitched, and she gulped for air.
“Oh boy, come here.” Sophie pulled her into another hug.
“My baby girl is completely overwhelmed tonight,” her mother said as she joined them, and put her arms around both of them.
“It’s not just tonight. It’s everything. It’s Reed and how much I love him, and Pepper and Axsel being included, and…I practically ran from this town as fast as I could after high school, and nobody hates me for it.” Grace wiped her tears, but when she looked at Reed, then at Sophie, the faucet began again. “And now I’m engaged to the man I have always loved, and Sophie’s having a baby and staying here for the next few months. I’ll be in New York all alone. How can I leave Reed? And you guys? Mom…?”
Her mother hugged her again, tight. She brushed Grace’s hair away from her face as she used to when Grace was just a girl. “Reed made sure our entire family could be here tonight, honey. He was very specific in not wanting Axsel or Pepper to miss out. We’ll have a chance to Skype with them tomorrow morning at breakfast, which, by the way, Reed arranged so you would have a chance to celebrate with just the family. You won’t ever be alone, Gracie,” her mother said. “No matter where you are, a piece of us is always with you.”
Grace looked across the dance floor at Reed, bursting with love for him. She was pretty sure she left loveprints everywhere she went, like footprints in the sand. Reed was talking with her father, Brett, and Sophie’s parents, and she knew her mother was right. Even when she and Reed had been apart, he’d remained in her heart. That’s what had kept her from feeling anything for another man.
“We need to change the subject or I’ll cry all night,” Grace pleaded.
They talked about Sophie’s baby shower, which was taking place Sunday at her parents’ house, and were interrupted umpteen times as friends congratulated Grace. Nana and Hellie came over, and Nana went on about how hard it had been to keep the secret of tonight’s event.
“I’m shocked you were able to,” Grace said honestly.
Nana’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “We’re mighty good at keeping secrets when it’s in the best interest of those we care about.”
“Years of secrets,” Hellie said with a wink, before they disappeared into the crowd, giggling among themselves.
“Why do I have a feeling Reed and I weren’t quite the secret we thought we were?” Grace said to her mother and Sophie.
“Oh, honey,” her mother said casually. “I told you mothers know things. Nana is a mother too.”
A little while later, as Phoenix and Lauryn played their instruments with Sable’s band and Grace chatted with Sophie and her mother, Grace’s mother motioned toward Brett, who was dancing with Nana, and Grace’s father, dancing with Amber, while Reno stood watch.
“Your man did good, baby, and so did you,” her mother said. “Amber is beside herself over how much you’re doing for the community.”
“This all started as a way to help Amber with the bookstore. It just grew to something bigger.”
“Yes, and you did help her,” her mother said. “But you know Amber. She loves this town and the people in it as if they were family, and you’ve never shown much interest in them. It means the world to her that now you are, and how much you’ve helped everyone here. Thank you.”
Grace noticed Reed walking toward them, his eyes trained on her. “I think I should be the one thanking Amber.”
“If we’re being blatantly honest,” Sophie said, “it means the world to me that you’re doing more with the community, too.”
Sophie had always loved their small town, even though she’d gone to New York in a blaze of glory alongside Grace. She was happiest here, among the people who had known her all her life. The people whom Grace was finally starting to appreciate as they deserved to be appreciated.
“Oh, girls.” Her mother draped an arm around each of them. “It’s like I told Gracie the other day. Just because you have what you thought you always wanted doesn’t mean you always have to want those same things. I’m elated that you and Reed have finally given in to what your hearts have wanted all along.” She lowered her voice as Reed joined them. “Your beau can’t stay away for very long. I like that in a man.”
“Sorry, ladies, but if you don’t mind,” Reed said, “I’d like to dance with my fiancée.” He swept Grace into his arms and swayed to the music. “How’s my girl?”
“Still in shock, and so very happy I can barely see straight. How are you holding up? Did my dad give you a hard time about our secret?”
“No, baby. But he did say that he knew about us. I think his exact words were, ‘Do you really think a father of seven would let something like monthly orchids go without knowing exactly who was wooing his daughter or son? One call to the Meadowside florist and I learned everything I needed to know. But I wasn’t going to worry Grace’s mother over it, because any boy that would work at a florist before school every Monday just so he could earn enough money to buy my daughter flowers was a boy I knew I could trust.’”
Grace didn’t think it was possible for her heart to get fuller than it was, but between the news of Reed working in exchange for those monthly flowers and knowing her father had approved of them back then, she was teary-eyed again. “You did that for me?”
“I’ve always said I’d do anything for you. And I meant it.”
She fell deeper into love right that very second. “And my father knew all this time?”
“Crazy, right? We’re meant to be together, Gracie. I knew it from the moment I saw those mossy-green eyes of yours.” He pressed his lips to hers and said, “Take it all in, baby. Our families and friends are all here.”
His gaze moved over the crowd, and the shine in his eyes dimmed just enough for her to notice. She knew in her heart what was eating at him. Even though Frank wasn’t his real father, they’d had a breakthrough of sorts, and she felt Frank’s absence in Reed’s life tonight even more than she had when they were kids.
“Are they all here?” she asked carefully.
“You know me so well. You feel it too, don’t you?”
She nodded.
“There’s so much love in this room, and Frank’s just down the street, probably sitting alone. I think I’m kind of all he has, and I wonder if I should have invited him.”
She placed her hand over his heart and said, “That special body part is sure getting a workout lately. Frank’s visit taught you that life is short, but didn’t he also teach us—didn’t we prove to the world—that it’s never too late to make things right? You can still invite him. I think we’re going to be here for a while.”
His breath whispered over her lips. “You don’t mind?”
“Not at all, but first I have something for you.”
He waggled his brows.
“That’ll come later.” She leaned closer and whispered, “Hopefully many times.” That earned a luscious kiss that made her entire body wish later was now. “This isn’t as glamorous as diamonds, and it’s kind of silly, but…”
She lifted her bangles, revealing the girlfriend-boyfriend beaded bracelets with their names on them that Morgyn had made. Reed’s infectious grin told her it wasn’t silly at all.
“I didn’t know you could still get these,” he said as he took the one that had her name on it off her wrist. “I love that you got these, and I’ll wear mine everywhere.”
“I asked Morgyn to make them for us.” She helped him put it on his wrist. “You don’t think they’re ridiculous?”
He pushed his hands beneath her hair and brushed his soft, warm lips over her cheek. “I happen to have an affinity for history—and our history is anything but ridiculous.” As he lowered his lips to hers, he said, “And we’ve only just begun.”