I kissed her cheek. “Sure, Aunt Marie.” I wandered out of the kitchen and down the basement steps. This was a loud Christmas, as our second cousins from Boston were in this year. It was hard to dwell on my sad thoughts when I couldn’t hear myself think over the Yankees/Red Sox suck arguments.
“Hey, handsome. I was sent down here to help you. Where are the chairs?”
Evan turned to me and gave me a sweet smile.
“I’m sure you don’t remember,” He came over to me and picked up my hand. “But this is where we first met.”
“It is?” Evan nodded and laced our fingers together.
“Jack and I were down here the summer after freshman year playing Grand Theft Auto and you sashayed down the steps in tight hot pink shorts, golden hair bouncing back and forth.” Evan pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me.
I groaned. I remembered those shorts. I wore them everywhere just because of how much my mother said she hated them.
“I sashayed at fifteen?” I giggled.
Evan shrugged. “You introduced yourself and smiled at me, then asked if you could watch us play. I noticed how green your eyes were. I couldn’t concentrate on the rest of the game. Jack kept busting my balls because I was stopping at all the traffic lights with my stolen car. Fifteen years old and I was already ruined for anyone else.”
“I set the bar that high?” Evan pressed his lips to my forehead as he chuckled.
“Then I got to know you, and you were the sweetest thing. Not a mean bone in your body, other than when you and Jack used to fight.” Evan raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, he was lucky enough to be the only person I could tell when and why I was pissed off at them. I miss that, and so many other things”. I looked away and Evan turned my head to meet his gaze.
“You were always so beautiful, and watching you go out with the wrong guy over and over again was torturous. At least for me.”
“And for everyone upstairs, too.” I nodded up the stairway at my loud family. Thanks to Aunt Rose forgetting her hearing aid, they were even louder.
“Then by some miracle, a year and a half ago, I finally had my chance. I was done being a chicken shit.”
“You mean when I hit on you at Starbucks?” I kissed the corner of his mouth and ran my lips down his jaw. Evan chuckled and nodded again.
“I’m not sure when it happened. Maybe it happened right here all those years ago, but I fell in love with you. You were it for me and there was no going back. Then, I almost lost you.” I took his face in my hands and kissed his cheek.
“I’m so sorry, babe. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you like—”
Evan pressed his finger to my lips and shook his head.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over these past few months, I’m done wasting time.” A soft smile spread on Evan’s face as he got down on one knee in front of me. My breath caught in my throat. I can’t say I didn’t expect it, and always knew that we were heading this way, but now that it was actually happening, the air in the room got thin and my heart pounded in my ears.
“I love you. More than I ever thought I could love anyone. You’re everything to me. You’re my heartbeat, my lifeline, my Daisy. You’re all the beauty in my life. I need you. Only you. Whatever the future holds for us, all I know is I want it to be with you. I want to end every day by crawling into bed with you. I want you to have my last name.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring with a round stone set in an antique band. “This was my mother’s. I think she would approve. She was always happy when I was happy, and I’m so happy with you.” I ran my hands through his buzzed hair and down his stubbled cheek. Evan beamed at me, the way he always did. That look was what I missed the most when we were apart. He was my lifeline, too.
“Paige Alexandria Taylor, will you marry me?”
I got down on my knees and grabbed his face. Tears streamed down my cheeks as my mouth covered his.
“Hey,” Evan murmured against my lips. “Is that a yes?” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him harder. His hand tangled in my hair as he pulled me on top of him. I straddled his lap as our lips kept moving. I lifted my hips and then sank back down on him, drawing a growl from his throat as he grabbed my ass with both hands.
“Did she say yes? I can’t hear them . . .”
Evan took his lips from mine and laughed. “No, Aunt Rose. Not yet,” he yelled up the staircase with his hands still on my ass. I giggled as he turned back to face me, his brow furrowed, waiting for my real answer.
“Yes. Yes, yes, yes!” I screamed loud enough for the entire house to hear me. Loud cheers and clapping came from upstairs, followed by swift footsteps. Evan slipped the ring on my finger and kissed the top of my hand.
My mother was the first downstairs, smiling but shaking her head as we stood up. “We all got so nervous when it got quiet. We thought you said no. Congratulations baby girl!” She pulled me into a hug and then winked at Evan before she kissed his cheek.
“That’s not why I thought they got quiet.” Ellie smirked at me before she rushed over and tackled us.
“So you all knew?” I looked around at my beaming family. “You’re a bunch of sneaks. How long did you know?”
My uncle kissed my cheek and stood beside my mother.
“Evan asked us while you were still in the hospital if he could marry you. We only knew about his plan to ask you tonight a couple of weeks ago.”
“When I was in the hospital?” I glanced over at Evan and narrowed my eyes. “When?”
“The first night you were in ICU. I knew two things—you were going to get better and I was going to marry you.” He shrugged. “I was right on both counts.” My vision got cloudy with tears. This man never gave up on me, even when I gave him every reason to. He picked up my hand and kissed the back of my wrist.
“I love you. Thank you for not giving up on me.” Evan smiled and took my face in his hands.
“You’re mine. How could I ever give up?” He kissed my lips as his thumbs caressed my cheeks.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I think it’s time we break into the good champagne.” Aunt Marie rushed down the stairs with glasses and a bottle in her arms.
“So when do you think you’ll get married?” Aunt Rose rushed over and squeezed our arms.
“As soon as possible.” Evan answered for us and looked at me. “I think we’re past the point of long engagements, no?”
“I agree.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed his lips. “City Hall it is.”
“Over my dead body, City Hall!” Mom huffed at me. “You need to have a wedding.”
“No, I need to have a marriage.”
Mom pursed her lips at me.
“We can have something very small.” Evan interrupted the beginning of our argument. “We have a customer who has a restaurant with a back room. I’ll check it out after the holidays. I just don’t want to wait more than a few weeks.” Evan wrapped me in his arms. “I’ve waited long enough.”
Uncle John handed each of us a flute filled with champagne. Ellie held one glass in each hand.
I smirked at her. “Double fisting for the holidays?”
She shook her head. “Holding Jack’s glass. He told me when you guys got married, he didn’t want to miss a thing.”
“To Evan and Paige.” Uncle John raised his glass. “To happiness, to health, and to a long life together.”
I glanced at Ellie as she wiped away a tear and set Jack’s glass down before she took a drink. Life had no guarantees, and we all didn’t get the privilege of growing old with the one we loved. My life certainly didn’t turn out the way that I thought, but I still felt lucky. I found the one, and I got to keep him.
Anything else that happened, like my cousin said, was just gravy.