Chapter Twenty
AMBER
“Amber! There’s someone here to see you!” Joyce was yelling at me from the front. I was in the middle of a session.
“Busy!” I yelled back.
“Can you just take a little break and come out?” she asked me, sticking her head in the back.
“Joyce…”
“Two minutes,” she said.
“Do you mind, Mr. Moyer?”
“No, Amber, my old hip could use a break,” he said. “Just don’t forget me,” he said with a wink. He was a seventy-two year old who had hip replacement surgery recently. He was a shameless old flirt, but adorable.
“I could never,” I told him. I followed Joyce out front, wondering what the hell could be so important. The largest bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen sat in a three foot tall vase in the center of the lobby. They were tropical flowers and I could even smell them from where I was standing. “Oh my gosh! They’re so pretty! Who brought them?”
“The florist dropped them off, but there’s more, I’ll finish up with Mr. Moyer. You go out front. Take your lunch break.”
“I don’t want to just ditch him in the middle of a session.”
“You do for this. Go.”
She was acting crazy. I grabbed my coat and scarf off the rack in the lobby and pulled them on. I pushed through the door and there was Dylan with a horse drawn carriage. Dylan was dressed in a black sweater and jeans and new black boots and cowboy hat. He was clean shaven – and he looked good enough to eat. Slowly over the past couple of weeks after I forced Kyle out of my conscious thoughts, I was able to start seeing Dylan the way I had when I’d fallen in love with him. “What is all of this?”
“It’s your birthday,” he said.
I laughed. “Yes, I know. I was there when I was born. Those flowers in there would have been quite enough. Where are we going on this guy?”
“You’ll see,” he said. He helped me up into the white buggy and followed me in. The driver tipped his hat and as he took off, Dylan covered me up with a thick blanket. The driver took us through downtown and we ultimately ended up at White Rock Lake.
As the driver parked the buggy, Dylan reached behind the seat and pulled out a picnic basket. “I brought lunch,” he said with a grin. This was all so out of character for him, it freaked me out a little bit.
“I can’t believe you did all of this.”
He slid down off the buggy and helped me down. “It’s about time, don’t you think?” I just smiled and followed him over to a plush spot on the grass and watched him spread out the blanket. When he finished, he reached for my hand. I thought he wanted to help me sit down and I didn’t even notice he was on one knee until he flipped open the little box in his hand. “Amber, will you marry me?”
My mind was racing. I couldn’t believe he was proposing. I couldn’t believe I had waited so long for this and now I was just not sure. I couldn’t believe he went so far out of his comfort zone to do all of this for me.
That was the bottom line. Everything he’d done for the past four months had been for me, or at least, for us. I smiled at him through the tears of confusion in my eyes and said, “Yes Dylan. I’ll marry you.” He looked relieved. He slid the ring on my finger. It was a little big, but it was gorgeous.
Coming to his feet, he said, “If you don’t like it, we can exchange it.”
“I love it. Did you pick it out by yourself?”
“Not really. My mom went with me.”
“Well, you both did well. I love it. Thank you.” He took me into his arms and kissed me. It was a kiss like we used to share in the old days, and it actually sent chills through me.
When he broke the kiss, he looked into my eyes and said, “Thank you, Amber. Thank you for helping me clean up my life and thank you for sticking by my side. I don’t know what I’d do without you and I can’t stand the thought of ever having to find out. I love you.”
That was the longest speech Dylan ever made in the history of our relationship. Things sure had changed…for the better. “I love you, too.”
I kissed him again and for a second while I was kissing my fiancé, my mind flashed over to Kyle. I hadn’t seen him for six weeks now. Every so often I thought about texting to tell him I hope that he was doing well, but that would be like scratching off a scab for me. It would start bleeding all over again and eventually form a scar. I left it alone and now that I saw how happy I’d made Dylan, I was glad… For the most part.
*******
That night after work, Dylan went out to his father’s ranch to drop off one of the horses for the vet to see. I held my phone in my hand for a long time, trying to prepare myself for giving this news to my mother, father, and sisters. I practiced it out loud…and then again, adding: “Please don’t say anything until I finish.” I knew at least one, if not all of them, were going to interrupt me halfway through and demand to know what the hell I was thinking, so I prepared a speech in my head about me and Dylan, how well he’s been doing, and how well we’re doing as a couple… I was still scared. I finally pushed in Marlene’s number and waited. She’d at least been around a few times and could see how happy he’s made me lately.
“Hey, little sister, I was just about to call you. Happy Birthday!”
“Hey, thank you. I got your Facebook message, too, that was cute.”
“You’re welcome; are you having a good one?”
“Yeah, it was really good. Dylan sent me flowers at work and then took me in a carriage ride and for a picnic.”
“Hmm.”
I laughed nervously. “Really, Marlene? Hmm… That’s all you have to say? That’s monumental for Dylan.”
“I’ll agree with you on that. He’s still on his best behavior.”
“And, why is that not a good thing?”
She hesitated. “I’m just afraid it won’t last.”
“You know, for a while after we first got together I felt that way, too, but you really don’t know about anyone, do you? I mean, anyone can change, right? Look at you and Steve.” Steve was Marlene’s ex-husband who was currently battling her for custody of Nona. She hesitated longer this time and said,
“Okay, I’ll give you that. I’m glad he stopped showing his ass.” I laughed again.
“Well, I have more news…”
“What?”
“Dylan proposed to me today…and I said yes.” I waited…and waited…finally I said, “Marlene? Are you there?”
She cleared her throat. I think she was actually crying. “Amber, honey, are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
She didn’t have much to say after that. She didn’t congratulate me and she didn’t mention the lunch date we had with my mom, dad, and sisters this weekend at the ranch to have a family celebration for my birthday. I didn’t call my mom or my other sisters. I decided I’d just tell them this weekend and let them all tell me how stupid I am at once.
Instead of planning a big wedding, I was already thinking that maybe Dylan and I should go to Vegas. Nobody in either family was going to be overly happy about it. His family thinks I’m as much of the problem as mine does him. None of them have even spoken to me since the night I had him arrested. I’m surprised his mother was willing to help him pick out a ring. My dad wouldn’t even allow Dylan to set foot on the ranch since Marlene told him what he said that night about burning her house down. It was all so depressing and the more I thought about it, the more depressed I became.
I sat there looking at my pretty ring and felt sorry for myself. When Dylan came home, he found me sitting in the dark in tears. I told him how I felt about our families as he held me and let me cry. When I’d calmed down some he said,
“If you could get married anywhere you want, where would it be?”
“I’ve always wanted to get married on the ranch like Marlene and Steve did by the lake.” When I was a kid, my dad had a lake put in on our property. Over the years, he’s had trees planted and grass and flowers. It’s like a secret garden. My sister had her wedding there and it was the most beautiful wedding I’d ever been to. I always imagined getting married there, too. He pulled me in tighter to his chest and kissed the top of my head,
“Then, that’s where we’ll get married. I’ll go talk to your dad in the morning.” That made me cry harder. First of all that he would do that for me, and second of all because I knew Daddy would say no.