I kissed the back of her hand. “Once we get there, you will.”
As I made the last turn, Scarlette’s phone rang. “Who’s calling me?”
I glanced at the screen and sent Mom to voicemail. “It’s my mom. You can call her later.”
“She was going to have me go by their house to make sure the fridge got delivered.”
“We’ll do that afterward.” Scarlette and Mom were tight. Two weeks earlier, my parents decided to move to Bentonville to be closer to us. For now, they were renting, but planned to buy soon. They knew this girl was the one I planned to spend the rest of my life with. They just weren’t sure when I would ask. I hadn’t told them because I was afraid Mom might spill the beans.
I parked the truck, taking a deep breath and hoping I wasn’t making a mistake. After getting out I helped Scarlette down and led her to the place I’d imagined when I told her. This was it. I took off the blindfold and let Scarlette adjust to the light.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Our place.”
Scarlette looked at me inquisitively. “Our place?”
“Yes, our place. Well, I hope to call it ours. I bought it, hoping you’d spend the rest of your life with me here.”
Before she had a chance to process what was happening, I got down on one knee and opened a fancy black velvet box with a huge ass diamond ring nestled inside. Mom had said if I loved her, it better be big. Well, it was huge. Scarlette gasped, tears forming in her eyes. “Austin…”
“Scarlette Noelle, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes! Yes! Oh yes!” She threw her arms around me, sobbing.
I held her tightly. Nothing would ever compare to having her in my arms. My life was complete. Forever and always. I kissed her, dipping her back, and she giggled.
She sighed. “This place is beautiful. Is this where we’ll build the house?”
“If you’d like.”
Leaning back against my chest, she said, “I think it’s the perfect place.” Her eyes grew watery. “I can finally check off Mom’s final wish for me: to find happiness.” She gave me the most beautiful smile that nearly dropped me to my knees.
“Yes, you can.”
7
Scarlette
Two months later
“Scarlette, are you ready?”
Austin called to me from the other room, but I kept staring at the stick in my hand. We’d been married for a month and decided to stop using birth control the night of our honeymoon. We’d decided to let fate take its course. And it had taken its course at a rapid pace.
“We’re going to be late.”
I knew I should answer him, but I couldn’t. I felt like I was having one of those out-of-body experiences. Am I dreaming? Yes, I wanted this. But I never imagined it would be this easy. I could picture a little boy who looked just like Austin running around the house. Or a little girl with blond pigtails.
“I’ll be in the car. Hurry up, sweetheart.”
That snapped me out of my reverie. What do I do? Take the pee stick out to the car? Hey honey, look—two lines. Finally, I decided I would tell him when we got back. Maybe I should stash the stick somewhere? In a panic, I put it in the drawer.
We were headed to dinner with Austin’s parents. The reason had been vague. And when I asked Rose about it, she’d hung up fast and abruptly. It was odd, but I hadn’t given it much thought. They’d officially moved to Bentonville; I imagined we’d be invited to dinner with them often. I grabbed my purse and headed out to my new car. Austin had been insistent I have something safe. The leather seats were amazing. I loved the Audi Austin and I bought together.
I’m pregnant.
The thought stopped me. Tonight, I wouldn’t be able to drink any wine. Isn’t there something about fish and mercury? I worried his mom would figure it out before I had a chance to tell Austin. Maybe I could take a pretend sip and fake a headache. Ahh, I was terrible at faking it.