Keith (Hathaway House #11) - Dale Mayer Page 0,55
“I could check out how big your residence is, and maybe I can move in with you and commute when I have to.”
“Oh, my goodness.” She stared at him, stunned because he was saying the words that she’d wanted to hear but, at the same time, hadn’t expected to hear.
He said, “I’m not very good at this. I mean, really not good.” With a sigh, he pulled out a very tiny thin metal ring. “This is my mother’s. I thought Robin would want it, but she told me it makes better sense for me to have it to give to someone special, like Iain would give her an engagement ring. I’ve just hung on to it all this time. So I know it certainly isn’t an engagement ring, no diamond or anything, and it’s only a token—and a cheesy token at that. But it’s a piece of my mother that I hung on to with my heart, and I haven’t been able to let it go. Maybe I can add a diamond to it, signifying you, so there’s a piece of you as well. So I was wondering if maybe, sometime down the road—” He heard her catch her breath as she stared at him, tears in the corner of her eyes. And she already had her hand out, her fingers splayed. With a gentle smile, he placed the little band on her ring finger, and he whispered, “Will you marry me?”
Her fingers closed around his in a hard tight grip, and she tugged him forward ever-so-slightly and kissed him.
“Yes,” she whispered, just before their lips met. “Double yes.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I didn’t expect this when I first came here,” he said. “And I’m not anywhere near in the shape that I can be, but I’m getting there.” He smiled. “So that means you’re seeing the worst that you could possibly see, and I can only tell you that it’ll get a whole lot better.”
She smiled and reached up a hand, gently rubbing her fingers across his cheek, and she whispered, “If this is all there is,” she said, “I’m delighted to spend the rest of my life with you. Please don’t worry about how good you can be or where you’re going because you’re no longer alone. This is a journey for the two of us, and we can work it out, no matter what way it goes.”
He tilted her chin and kissed her. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for being awake at five o’clock in the morning and showing me that the world wasn’t such a lonely place.”
She chuckled and whispered back, “You’re so welcome. And thank you for letting me know that the world isn’t full of short-term relationships. Thank you for showing me that there really is somebody out there for each and every one of us.”
Epilogue
Lance Mayfair stared at the picture from Iain. In fact, there were multiple photos. It’s just that none of them were registering as being from his friend. How was it even possible? Iain had left the same VA hospital Lance was in, as a mess. A determined jokester but somebody who would turn his life around. They hadn’t talked too long or too deep because it had been painful for them all. But Lance had never really expected to hear from Iain again. Instead, here he was, sending him photos and letting him know that there was life after the VA hospital. Not only life but a crazy-good life. He stared in shock, and then he read the simple message again.
Get here. It’ll make all the difference in the world.
Lance quickly responded.
But will it? Or is it just more false hope?
No, it’s not false hope.
Just then his phone rang. He picked it up and answered it. “Are you sure? Because, man, these pictures look like they’ve been seriously edited with Photoshop.”
Iain’s laughter boomed through the phone. “I know they do,” he said, “but I would never steer you wrong. It’s a completely different world now. Take a look at that last photo. That’s me. That’s me right now,” he said. “Compare that to where I was when you saw me last.”
“It’s unbelievable,” he said.
“I know. It is unbelievable, but it happened here to me, and you can do it too. Don’t mess it up. This is one of the biggest opportunities you’ll ever have,” he said. “Send in the application, and I’ll put in a good word.”
And with that, Iain hung up,