Page 67 of Love At Peace

After she’d confessed and apologized for all that she’d done, she finally seemed to grow up. She told Roarke she didn’t want his help. Or mine. With the baby growing in her belly, she realized she couldn’t repeat the cycle of raising a kid in a lousy environment. Just last week, we drove her to Des Moines where she could get the help and assistance that she needed. Therapy. Medical assistance for prenatal care. Her GED prep. And even a job. Moving into a woman’s shelter was her choice, and I was damned proud of her taking that step.

“Speaking of the bathroom,” I said, wincing a little at how much I was glued to him still, “I’m going to clean up.”

“Wait.” He reached over toward his jeans again, jostling me as I lay on him. “When I said I wanted to help make this a New Year’s you’d always remember, I didn’t just mean having sex.”

I laughed. “Oh. It didn’t?”

“No. I wanted to celebrate you being free from David. And I wanted to commemorate how much I’m committing to enjoying your ‘drama’ in my life.”

“As if you don’t have your own damn drama,” I teased.

“True. So we’ll share our drama.” He presented a ring box and opened it. “Forever.”

I blinked, staring at the diamond ring. “Are you... You’re proposing?”

“Yeah. What do you say, gorgeous?”

“I say...yes.” I smiled so wide that my cheeks hurt, taking a risk at opening my heart completely to become this stubborn man’s partner in drama. In life. In love.

Forever.

THE END