The Enforcer - Kelli Callahan Page 0,59
feel whole. You make everything better. I don’t know how I can possibly say anything more. And that makes me feel stupid right now,” Jake admits sliding his fingers up through his hair and turning away from me. “Believe me, I never thought that I would be in this position with a woman. I never thought that I could love or be loved. I didn’t want it. Do you understand?” he asks, and I nod.
“No, you don’t understand. How could you possibly understand?” he says, closing his eyes and breathing slowly.
“Jake, I think I understand.”
“Believe me, I want you to,” he says, shaking his head. “I want you to understand just how important you are to me and why I’m asking this of you. I want you to spend the rest of your life with me because I can’t imagine spending my life without you. Does that sound selfish?” he asks, as a light breeze teases the ends of his hair.
“No, I don’t think it’s selfish,” I say, filling with joy at the way his eyes burn into mine. “I feel the exact same way.”
“I don’t want to ever be without you. I don’t want to wake up one day and realize that the best thing that ever happened to me was pissed away,” Jake says, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I can’t believe I spoke to you that way earlier, Diana. I’m so sorry. I don’t know that I can ever say anything that will make up for it. Not really.”
“Jake,” I whisper.
“No, please let me finish. You deserve a man who will be kind to you, gentle with you. Someone who will be there for you and not leave you waiting or wondering how he feels. I won’t ever do that to you again, I promise.”
“I believe you,” I say, stepping forward wanting to place my arms around him.
“Diana,” he says, looking around. “This is the most beautiful place that I know of, and you are the most beautiful woman in the world. Will you marry me? Will you be my wife?” he asks.
“Of course,” I say, unable to stop myself from racing forward and throwing my arms around him, pressing my lips against his, and knowing, for the first time in my life, what it is to be loved.
Epilogue
Diana
“Diana, how are you feeling?”
Looking up, I smile at a familiar face. “I’m doing really well, thank you! How are you?”
“Fantastic. It’s so good to be out and about again.”
“You haven’t been going out?” I ask, “Why not? Everyone knows you’re the party couple for wholesome family events,”
“You know, John and I, we decided it was best to stay home, with Sam especially. What with all the arsons going on. It just seemed like the best thing all-around,” Jan says, tossing her long bleached blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’m so glad you were able to miss out on it. Of course, other than losing your house,” Jan remarks. I cringe internally. Leave it to Jan to overlook such a thing and somehow make it about her and her family.
“Oh, yeah. That was definitely a scary thing.” I rake my fingers through my own. “It felt like touch and go for a while there.” I haven’t spoken much about everything that happened with Jake, Michael, or his brother. It seemed best to let things die down and life return to normal. I don’t need all that publicity. “How is Sam doing?” I ask, both changing the subject, and feeling curious about the young girl who has been a tremendous influence on Holly.
“Sam’s doing great. She just graduated; you know?”
“I know, I was there,” I smile.
Jan laughs. “Right. Huh. Well, we’re really proud of her being valedictorian. She’s having a little brunch at the church this week. What if you and Holly come join us? You could even bring that Jake fellow you’ve been hanging around with.”
“My fiancé?” I ask, giving her a careful look.
She shrugs her shoulders. “‘Tomato, tom-ah-tow.’ Either way, he’s invited too.”
“Thank you, that’s very generous of you. I’m sure Holly would love to go. And I will definitely talk to Jake and see what he thinks.” My gut tells me it’ll be a hard pass on his part.
“Excellent. Just so you know, it’s Sunday dress code. What you’re wearing now is just fine.” She gestures to my soft pink tailored suit and skirt. “And, oh, you should have Holly wear that adorable yellow gown she wore to graduation― that was absolutely stunning on her!”
“Thank you,