Chapter Seventeen
“I can’t believe Mom just bailed like that.” Hannah wiggled her painted pink toes as Molly drove to the restaurant.
Molly shrugged as she took the tunnel away from downtown. “She said it was a headache. I’m just glad Dad could come get her so we could stay. I loved my massage.”
“Me, too. I nearly fell asleep.” Hannah yawned and stared out the window. “Where exactly is this restaurant?”
“Don’t worry. Troy always makes sure I have directions before he lets me go anywhere these days. The first few weeks it was cute, but it is already getting old.”
Hannah opened her mouth to ask a million questions that were none of her business and closed it again. It was her birthday, and she didn’t want to fight with Molly. “Thanks again for the save this morning. Mom’s head might have exploded if she caught me coming down the stairs.”
“Consider it your birthday present. You sure didn’t make it easy on me. You could have answered your phone.”
Getting out of bed meant the night was over, and she was still mourning the loss of it. It had been perfect. The perfect way to show him how completely she loved him. “Next time I will.”
Molly exited the freeway. “I still can’t believe you were the one to solve the mystery of the cards. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said they weren’t from Mason. I know Troy was hard on you both.”
She didn’t know the half of it. “Are you sure your directions are right? This looks awfully residential.” Not that she would mind being late for dinner. Her mother always ordered the most disgusting appetizers.
Molly’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “I know where I’m going. Is Mason going to be there?”
“Yes, but he’ll be late. He had something he couldn’t get out of.” And something he needed to help her get out of.
“That doesn’t bother you? I know you hate it when people are late.”
Hannah waved her hand through the air. “He’s never late, and when he might be, he always lets me know ahead of time.”
“So what is wrong with him? You can usually reduce a man to his faults in five minutes or less.”
“There is nothing wrong with him.” The edge in her voice surprised her.
Molly tapped her cell phone and hit a speed dial button. “You really like him don’t you?”
“Mason? Of course I like him.” Hannah arched an eyebrow as Molly did something else with her phone, then shoved it in her purse without saying a word. “What are you doing?”
“Just checking to see if Troy would answer.” Molly turned into a neighborhood Hannah vaguely recognized. “Do you love him?”
What was it with people and that question? She hadn’t managed to go there with Mason yet, no way was she previewing her revelation to her sister. She loved him, and he was overdue to find out. “Where are we going?”
“We’re here,” Molly said, pulling into a driveway behind Mason’s Bronco. Hannah looked around them. His parent’s house. There were cars everywhere, even Kate’s. What the hell?
Hannah jumped as her car door opened. Mason. Swinging her legs out, she looked up at him. “What’s going on?”
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Dinner. You hate French food.”
“You tricked me.” She grinned and stepped closer, suddenly remembering she hadn’t kissed him goodbye this morning.
“We surprised you.” He stepped away and pulled her toward the house. “Come on, your mom even made the fried chicken.”
Hannah froze. The last time she’d asked her mother to make fried chicken she had been sixteen. Her mother had tried some low-fat oven-fried boneless chicken breast concoction that had tasted like leather rolled in sawdust.
Taking both her hands, Mason dragged her to the house. “Don’t worry. I supervised.”
…
Mason couldn’t believe he’d ever considered doing this. Even now that he was sure of her answer, he was sweating. There was no way he’d make it through dinner. He wasn’t going to be able to eat a thing.
He had to stick to the plan. It was a good plan, well thought out, and she’d love it. But watching her laugh with Kate and his mother across the room made him want to tug her into a closet and just beg. Get it over with.
Kate had planned to fly in as a surprise all along. She hadn’t missed Hannah’s birthday in ten years. Mason was glad she’d had a chance to check the ring. And then so had her mother, and his, and Tara, and even Rianna. They all thought it was perfect, but he wondered if Hannah would want to pick it out herself. She was such a paradigm of modern independence and old-fashioned tradition that he never knew which way she’d go. And he hoped he never would.
After a quick peek in the kitchen, Mason made his way to Hannah. “Dinner’s almost ready,” he said, refilling her champagne glass.
“With all this champagne, you would think we’re celebrating something.” She looked at him pointedly. Mason stared hard at Kate. She better not have said anything.
Kate raised her glass. “To never having to relive your twenties.”
The rest of the family joined in the toast, and Mason breathed a sigh of relief. He was wound so tight he might snap. His mother and Kate excused themselves to help serve, and Tara chased Rianna through the house, leaving him and Hannah as close to alone as they had been since he’d ushered her through the front door.
Hannah turned on him. “I don’t know whether to kiss you or kick you. How could you arrange for our families to meet without telling me?”
Mason stepped back, just in case. “Given the choice, always kiss me.” The look on her face told him that was not going to happen anytime soon. “I thought it would be a nice birthday surprise. It gets you out of eating foie gras, doesn’t it?”
Hannah shuddered. “True. But this could have gone very badly.”
Forever the optimist. “But it didn’t. They had to meet sometime. And they get along great. Our moms have been cooking up a storm all afternoon, and my dad hasn’t been to the garage once.”
Swirling what was left of her champagne, Hannah looked up at him. “Exactly when did you plan this?”
Mason shrugged. Careful. “A few days ago, but we changed the menu this morning when you mentioned fried chicken. Until then, we were doing meatloaf.”
“You planned this after you broke up with me.” Hannah finished the last of her champagne, eying him over the rim of the glass.
“I set it up while you were deciding what you wanted.”
“Even after all the nasty things we said, you still knew.”
Mason nodded, trading his full glass for her empty one.
“Careful, or I might think you are trying to get me drunk.” Her lips kissed the edge of the glass as she looked up at him.
“I’ve never had you drunk, but I bet it will be fantastic.” She lowered the glass as he leaned in.
“Everything’s ready,” Mary Jean sang from the kitchen.
Mason groaned, took Hannah’s hand, and they made their way to the dining room. He was stuck all the way across the table from her. Her parents sat on either side of her, monopolizing her attention when she wasn’t devouring the meal of fried chicken, chipotle macaroni and cheese, maple-glazed carrots, and green beans with butter and almonds. Mason could barely stand to eat until she locked his ankle between hers beneath the table. It was strange how such a simple act relaxed and reassured him. Amazing how she communicated more clearly with her body than with her words.
After dinner, the crowd dispersed into the living room. “Time for presents.” Derek carried the boxes out from the closet where they’d been hidden.
Hannah’s face lit up as she sat on the couch. “This is the best birthday I’ve had since I was a kid. Food and friends and family and presents, too. And I was worried about turning thirty.”
While everyone was laughing, Mason handed Hannah his gift. “Mine first.” She took the lid off the tiny black box and pulled out the small velvet box inside. She shot him such a scathing look that made him wonder about his plans for the rest of his life. “Just open it,” he said.
The box creaked open, and she gasped. Her eyes danced before her mouth fell into a grin. “They don’t match.”
She held up the single emerald and single sapphire earrings for the family to see. The stones were genuine and hazy, like her eyes.
“They match you.”
“Thank you, I love them.” She kissed his hand before going on to the rest of her gifts. Not quite the thank you he was hoping for, but the best he could expect with both hers and his parents in the room.
“This is officially the best birthday ever.” Her face shone as she tucked away a set of red velour pajamas from her mother. Velour had potential. Completely covered and utterly touchable. Kate and Molly’s gift hadn’t made it out of the bag, but it was great if her blush was any indication. His folks had given her champagne flutes. Odd, because he hadn’t mentioned they needed them.
Mason swallowed hard and wished his stomach weren’t flopping around like a fish out of water. “There’s one more.” He stood and reached for the box that had been burning a hole in his pocket. He took a deep breath, two, and knelt next to her. Her eyes glazed over as he took her hand and began to speak.
“I have loved you from the first minute I saw you. I was drawn to you in a way I hope I never understand. One minute I was alone, and the next, there was this spark and I was madly in love with you. And I didn’t need to know your name. I just needed for you to let me love you.” The box opened silently. No one in the room was breathing. “Marry me.”
She focused on the ring, his face, and then the ring again. Maybe he should have just showed her the solitaire. But Kate insisted he have the band that held the emerald and sapphire that matched her earrings flanking the ring. Her breath quickened as she looked at him again.
“Mason, I—” Her gaze skipped over him and zeroed in on her father. “Daddy, I didn’t know.”
The older man chuckled. “I did, honey, and you have our blessing.”
Her eyes closed as she gripped his hand. “You asked my father?”
“I knew you’d want me to.” She pulled her hand away and covered her mouth as tears squeezed from her eyes.
“It’s just a lot to take in. I wasn’t expecting…and everyone is here.” She took a long breath to steady herself. Grasping his hand in hers, she looked him in the eye. “Why now?”
She had to ask after last night? “Until now, I wasn’t sure you’d say yes.” Hannah stole a glance at Kate and Derek. Mason shook his head. “We’re not in competition with anyone. I’ll wait until you’re ready.”
“You’ll wait?”
As if he had a choice. “Anytime, anywhere.”
She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his. He closed his eyes as their breathing synchronized and slowed. Just say yes. “January.”
His eyes flew open. What did that mean? “January what?”
Glassy, almost-green eyes stared at him. “Eighth. Before we go to New Zealand.”
His heart skipped in his chest. “Is that a yes?”
Before she nodded a second time, he kissed her, swallowing her laughter as he went.
“Hands where I can see them, Mason.” Mac’s voice said from somewhere far away. “You’re not married yet.”