Sweet as Candy - Karla Doyle Page 0,87
amount of broccoli to eat without getting a reward. Compromising had come easily for them.
Everything about this day, this plan, was his. No discussion. Hopefully, no compromise required. He’d know soon enough.
He took Macy’s hand on one side and Candace’s on the other, then led them to the first small clearing with a bench. A wide, pink ribbon had been tied from arm to arm, with a white “Reserved” card hung over the center. The conservatory staff had really come through for him this morning.
“Won’t you get in trouble for doing that?” Macy whispered, as he untied the ribbon.
“No, because it’s reserved for us.” He guided his two beauties to the seat, then took a step back and reached into his pocket.
“Are you taking a picture?” Macy asked.
“Maybe in a minute.” He withdrew the paper first, unfolding Macy’s recent drawing, the thing that’d hung the cloud over Candace’s face yesterday after school.
“Why do you have my drawing in your pocket?” There was never a shortage of questions when Macy was around.
“It’s a photocopy. The real picture is on the refrigerator, at home.” At home. He still loved saying that. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to put it in a frame so it lasts forever.”
“Will you hang it on a wall somewhere?”
He nodded. “I’m thinking of the front hall. Then everyone who comes into the house will see our whole family, even if we’re not all at home.”
Candace’s eyes shone as she smiled. If he left things exactly this way, it’d be enough to ease her worries about Macy’s drawing.
That wasn’t enough for him. He stepped forward and set the picture on the gap between their legs, then removed two small, black boxes from his pocket. Opening the hinged lid on Macy’s box, he knelt in front of them.
“Candace and Macy, I love you with my whole heart. The truth is, my heart wasn’t whole at all until both of you became part of my life.” He handed the wiggly six-year-old her box, bearing a small, delicate ring. “Macy, with your permission, I would like to marry your mom, and—”
“Yes, yes, yes! Ask her, ask her!”
Despite laughing at her daughter’s reaction, tears were already rolling down Candace’s face.
Slight detour in the plan. That was okay, they’d circle back.
Shifting to face Candace, he opened the second box and placed it on his palm. “There is no ring, no single material thing anywhere that can adequately show you how much I love you, how much I value you, and how much I need you. This ring is just a small symbol of those things. It would be an honor if you’d wear this ring and let me spend the rest of my life showing you those things, every day, as my wife. Will you marry me, Candace?”
“Yes,” she said, cupping his face in her hands. “Yes, I will marry you.”
Cheering and applause erupted from the small crowd that’d formed in the path.
He couldn’t say for sure how long people hung around after that. Hard to see anything from the center of the tightest family hug of his life. Which brought him back to the detour point.
He kissed each beautiful face, then settled in front of Macy with both her hands clasped between his. “Thank you for letting me marry your mom.”
“You’re welcome.”
“There’s one more thing I want to ask you. I haven’t talked to your mom about this, even though I’ll need her permission if you say yes.” He glanced at Candace, hoping she’d get the gist of what he was about to do, and give him a sign.
Based on her hand-over-heart and hand-covering-mouth posture, he’d say he had her approval. She wasn’t trying to stop him, so it was time to move forward.
He met Macy’s innocent gaze and couldn’t hold back from smiling. He loved this little girl every bit as much as he’d claimed. Then some more. “We’re already a family, exactly the way you drew in your picture. I’m so happy that you think of me as your dad.”
“You are?”
“So happy, kiddo.” His heart had practically burst open when he first saw the picture she’d drawn at school, that she’d labelled him as my dad. Never in a million years had he expected to feel this way. But he did. “If you want to keep calling me Jake, that’s okay. But if you want to call me Dad, that’s more than okay with me.”
“It’s okay if I call you Dad in front of my friends?”
“I would love that.