I stand in a far corner with a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice in hand.
“You having fun?” Lucky asks me, drinking a glass of juice at my side.
“Yep. Getting tired, though. My ribs will not stop aching and my head is throbbing.”
“You want me to take you inside?” His hand is on my lower back as he readies himself to guide me across the lawn.
I shake my head. “Not yet. I want to watch them dance some more.”
I’m talking about all of the members of our team. They’re ridiculous. I’m bummed that I’m on the injured list. I wish I could cut a rug out on the dance floor like they are right now. They’re making fools of themselves, something I’ve never wanted to do before, but I find myself jealous of it tonight. I’m ready to let my hair down and not care what anybody thinks of me. I should have done this back in junior high when Lucky asked me to dance. It took me ten years to find the right path, and now I’m too injured to take it. Thankfully, this is only a temporary problem. Lucky and I will be dancing soon enough.
“I’ve been thinking,” Lucky says after we spend a few moments watching our co-workers do some form of swing dance I’ve never seen before.
“Oh, yeah? About what?”
“About this shindig.” He waves his glass of juice around the backyard.
“Pretty nice, eh? Jenny’s good at last-minute plans. The Wexler girls don’t even let a would-be murderer ruin things.”
“Yeah.” He pauses before continuing. “Maybe she could plan our wedding.”
My heart skips a beat or two when I realize what he’s hinting at. “Maybe. You’d have to ask me first, though. And of course I’d have to say yes . . .”
He chuckles. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
I shrug, still facing the dancers but not really seeing what they’re doing anymore. “Nope.”
“Fair enough.” He puts his hand on my arm and turns me toward him. “Dance with me.” He pauses to take our glasses and set them down on a small nearby table before turning back to take me in his arms.
We both look down at my belly and laugh. “Easier said than done,” I say regretfully. It feels like I’m getting bigger by the hour.
He puts his hands on the sides of my belly and starts to sway. I go with the motion as I stare into his beautiful eyes. The sounds of the party fade and I can only hear him now.
“Toni, do you think you could be happy with a guy like me for the rest of your life?”
My heart feels like it’s going to explode. I love him so much, but I’m afraid to jinx what we have by letting him know. “You’ve been there all along, haven’t you?”
He shakes his head. “You have to say it, babe. You can’t keep running away from the hard stuff.”
I give him a teasing punch on the arm. “You calling me a coward?”
He pulls me in closer and leans toward me, kissing me softly on the mouth. “Chicken licken, bawk, bawk, bawk . . .” He’s smiling as he rests his lips on mine.
I grab him around the back of the neck and pull him in for a deeper kiss, reminding him who he’s messing with for a few moments before letting him go. “Fine—you want me to say it? Yes. I could be happy with you forever.” My ears are ringing with the admission. I can’t believe I just said that to Lucky . . . the kid with the BB gun, the buck teeth, and the glasses who I’ve been running away from for way too long.
He pulls back and stares into my eyes, his joking expression gone. “You did it.”
“Did what?” I feel silly now. I try to pull away, but he won’t let me.
“You let me in.” Tears well up in his eyes.
Normally I’d cuff him again for being so ridiculous, but I realize what this means to him and to me. To us. I nod, crying right along with him. “Yep. Now you know my big secret. I’m just a big wimp underneath it all.”
He draws me gently into a hug. “You’re my little wimp. I love you so much.”
I rub his back, my spirit soaring at his words. “You did it.”
He leans back to look at me. “Did what?”
“Let me in.”
He nods and we stare into each other’s eyes for the longest time. And then