Chapter 29
Sawyer
“The only force stronger than fear is love.”
~ Grant Turner
The sun was setting as Delilah and I drove back to Wishing Well for Harmony’s wedding reception. So much had changed so fast that it didn’t seem like it could be real.
My baby sister was officially a married woman. My dad was expected to make a full recovery and was set to be released from the hospital in the next few days.
Not only had Harmony said I do, but I’d also had a date to the nuptials that took place in my dad’s hospital room. When Edith had sarcastically commented that if that were to happen, she would check her pigs for wings, I’d been right there with her.
Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have thought that I’d not only have a date, but it would be with the woman that I now went to bed next to every night and woke up to every morning. Since I’d removed my head from my ass, Chewy and I had spent every night at Delilah’s. I had no desire to be at my house. It didn’t feel like home. Now that I knew what home felt like, I wasn’t sure it ever had.
Delilah was my home.
I’d never felt so close to someone. It was like she was the piece of me that had been missing. I’d told her everything that had happened in my past that led me to be so closed off, so scared to hurt her. She’d assured me that nothing was going to happen to her but that if it did the difference this time was, whatever challenges she faced, I’d be by her side. We’d face them together.
I’d never thought of it that way, but it made sense and was a much more positive way to look at things. That was just one of the many things that I loved about her. She was always looking at the bright side of things. Where I was pessimistic, she was optimistic. Where my mind went to everything that could go wrong, hers focused on everything that could go right. She was the light to my darkness.
I heard a sniff from beside me, and I turned to see a single tear falling down Delilah’s cheek. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she smiled brightly as another tear fell down her face. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything is right. I’m just so happy.”
“Me, too.” I squeezed her hand, and a strong impulse overtook me.
Yanking the wheel to the left, I put my arm across Delilah’s lap as I made a sharp turn off to my spot.
When I pulled to a stop, Delilah shifted towards me, her eyes were wide with excitement. “I like where you’re head’s at, but I’m not sure we have time. Don’t we need to get to the reception?”
I reached past her, the same way I had the first time I’d brought her here, to open the glove compartment. This time, I wasn’t reaching for a bottle of water. Instead, I pulled out a ring box. As the oldest grandchild, my grandmother had left me her ring. For a long time, I’d been sure that I’d never have any need for it. But, I’d asked my mom for it two days ago thinking that it would still be awhile before I’d use it, before the time would be right to use it. But this was it; this was the right time.
When she saw the box, her eyes shot up to mine in shocked disbelief. Then I opened it, and her hands flew to cover her mouth. She gasped as moisture formed in her eyes.
I smiled at her sweet reaction.
“Eight years ago, when you fell off that bridge and into the water, you might think that I was the one that saved you. But you’re wrong.”
Her brows wrinkled in confusion, and I knew that this wasn’t coming out right.
“I did save you,” I clarified. “But you saved me, too. I was dead inside. I’d given up on love, on feeling…anything, and you resuscitated me. You brought me back to life.” A half smile pulled at my lips. “I wasn’t happy about it at the time, and I did my damnedest to fight it. For years I resisted coming back to life, but you just kept saving me. You kept reviving me. Every time I’d see you smile. Every time I’d hear your voice. Every time I looked into your eyes, my heart would start beating again.”
She sniffed as more tears fell down her smooth cheeks.
“The last time we were here, you told me that you loved me.”
Her head moved up and down as she nodded emphatically.
“You also said that you didn’t need me. That you’d be fine without me and your life would go on.” Emotion started clogging my throat, but I pushed past it. “And I know that’s true. You don’t need me. You would be fine without me, and your life would go on. But the thing is, mine wouldn’t. I won’t be fine without you, and I do need you. Life without you isn’t living, it’s just existing.
“You make me a better man, a better person. You are the light in my darkness. I love you, Delilah Margaret Turner.”
Her nose scrunched adorably at my use of her middle name.
“I would ask if you’d make me the luckiest man in the world and be my wife, but just having your love already makes me that. So I’m just going to say that I want to marry you. I want to be the man that makes sure you remember to eat when you get busy. I want your smile to be the last thing I see every night and the first thing I see every morning. I want us to keep saving each other, every day for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Ye—”
I crushed my mouth to hers, cutting off her exclamations and I kissed her. I poured every ounce of pent-up love, desire, and need that I’d tried to deny and suppress into it. She matched my fevered passion with her own urgent hunger. When I finally broke our devouring kiss, I rested my forehead on hers as I slipped the ring on her finger, which was shaking.
“Umm…”
Her tentative tone sent a thread of panic ribboning through me. I’d always loved my grandmother’s ring. It was a solitaire round diamond. Its beauty was simple yet stunning. This was the first time I’d considered it might not be Delilah’s taste and she was the one that was going to be wearing it for the rest of her life.
“I can get you another ring.”
“What?” She pulled her hand away protectively. “No. I love it.”
Happiness and pride swelled in my chest, but if it wasn’t the ring that she was uncertain about, then I needed to find out what it was. “Then what were you umming about?”
“Oh, that.” Her eyes glimmered mischievously as faint pink rose on her cheeks. “I know we have to get to the reception, but I was wondering if we had time to—”
Once again I crushed my mouth to hers. This time though, it didn’t end with just a kiss. I made love to my soon-to-be wife and we were late to my sister’s reception. But Harmony forgave me when she saw the ring on Delilah’s finger. She grabbed the microphone and announced to the entire town that I’d finally removed my head from my ass and asked Delilah to marry me, and the entire place erupted in cheers. For once I didn’t mind being the center of attention. I didn’t even mind all the people coming up and congratulating us.
As long as Delilah was by my side and she was smiling, my world was right. She was my right. She was my light. She was my everything.