Depends on Who's Asking - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,68

the window and his lips twitched.

Dad looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes.

He turned back around and said something to Saint who immediately started to nod his head.

“I think they’re talking about me,” I admitted. “I feel bad because I didn’t get Saint very many presents. I was kind of mad at him, I’ll admit. But I got him something yesterday. But I left it at home.”

“What?” she asked as she ripped open a bag of Lay’s potato chips and pulled out a handful.

I held my hand open for one and she dropped it inside before coming up to stand beside me.

“I’ll bet that he’s asking your father for your hand in marriage.”

I gasped and turned. “You really think that?”

• • •

SAINT

“Are you sure that you want to marry that?” Connor asked, sounding amused. “She’s weird.”

I looked at where Carolina was now blowing on the window to make a massive spot so she could write in the condensation.

“What’s she writing?” I asked. “I don’t have my glasses on.”

I’d left them inside when we’d opened presents and had forgotten to put them back on.

“It says ‘did he say yes?’” Michael said. “I’ve changed my mind. You can have her. But you have to fix her.”

Clayton and Connor started to laugh.

I, on the other hand, felt elation pour through me at having his permission.

There were a lot of things that I felt like I didn’t do right in life.

If I could start over, I would definitely have pursued Carolina a long time ago. A year ago, to be exact.

“I knew the moment that y’all saw each other that night that she was pulled over by that motherfucker who wasn’t a cop that she had feelings for you. My baby girl has a good head on her shoulders. I just hope that you know that there are no takebacks,” Michael said.

My eyes met his.

“I wouldn’t ever give her back, even if you wanted her,” I told him bluntly.

Michael’s smile was fierce. “If I wanted her, I think that I could get her to choose me.”

“I’ll bet if I open that door right now, she’ll come to me first,” I countered.

“Ohhh,” Connor said as he walked to the door. “Let’s see.”

He opened the door, and whatever Carolina had been writing was smudged as her canvas was taken away.

She blinked at Connor.

“Close it back. I wasn’t done.”

Connor did as he was told and watched with amusement as she finished writing whatever was on the door.

“What’s that one say?” I wondered.

“It said, ‘if you’re asking him if you can marry me, I say yes.’” Connor snorted.

He opened the door again, but this time it was Nikki who told him to close it back.

She leaned forward, refreshed her fog on the door, then started writing.

“What’s it say?” My voice was laced with amusement.

“It says ‘I want grandbabies.’” Clayton was laughing so hard now that he was doubled over with his arm around his stomach.

“Are you sure, sure?” Michael asked. “Because my daughter gets her weirdness from her mother.”

This time when Connor opened the door, Carolina walked out. She walked around her father and threw herself into my arms. “Well?”

My brows rose as I looked down into her eyes. “I’m sorry, but since you’ve already proposed, I don’t think that I need to ask my question. But, just sayin’, the polite thing to do is to ask my father for my hand in marriage.”

She snorted and looped her arms around my shoulders, not saying anything, but waiting patiently.

“I had this all planned out,” I said. “I was going to ask you when we got home later.”

“Saint,” she whined. “Come on!”

Grinning like a fool, I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out the ring that I was going to propose to her later with. And, in front of her entire family, I dropped down to one knee and held the ring up for her to see.

“Carolina, I know that I haven’t known you long. I know that we have a lot of learning to do together. I know that you may not realize how much you mean to me yet, but I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to prove to you that I’m the best man for you. Will you…”

Smoke walked out of the house then and headed for the grass.

Then he took a massive dump right next to the deck stairs.

“…marry me?” I asked.

She looked at me, then at Smoke, then at me again.

“A thousand times today, and a million on