“In love with?”
I start to turn in her direction, then realize I’m still holding her brother, so I set him down more gently than he deserves.
“I didn’t know it was a real wedding,” he mumbles before I turn my back on him.
“In love with?” she repeats, staring at me.
“A Wayne always knows, Tanisha. Ask my mom. Ask any member of my family. It’s always been true. When we meet that one person that we’re supposed to spend the rest of our life with, the only person we’ll ever love, something inside just clicks. And we know.”
When her eyes narrow in disbelief, I take a tentative step closer, my heart in my throat. “It’s never happened to me before now. But with you, there it was. I think from the first time I saw you. Definitely after our first kiss. Absolutely before I agreed to marry you.”
“No one else? Not even…” Her eyes shift to the side and I know she’s worried about young ears.
“We were young and irresponsible. It never took. I didn’t think I’d get another chance, let alone have this—”
“Wayne click?” she says quickly, her cheeks flushing with cold or pleasure. I’m hoping the latter. “Are you sure? You wouldn’t talk to me and you slept in the guestroom. I thought after seeing her again, and then the lawyer’s email, that you might want to renegotiate. I was trying to give you space. And using that time to think about ways to talk you out of it,” she admits that last bit with an embarrassed grin.
“I don’t need to think about it. I definitely want to renegotiate.”
When she frowns, I realize she misunderstood, so I drop to my knees in the snow in front of her, my pants instantly soaking through.
“Emerson?”
“Tanisha Wayne,” I say, taking her hand with a smile. “I’ve got a boring job and a starter house, and I can be difficult to live with. A stubborn, proud pain in the ass.”
“That’s not how you do it,” Barry says in my ear, suddenly right beside me.
“Yeah, Dad. That was just sad.” Langston looks disappointed.
Tanisha has tears in her eyes but she’s trying not to laugh. “They have a point, Emerson. Maybe we should call Robert? He’s the marketing genius, isn’t he?”
I give her a look that promises a spanking but concede that I could have done better. “Let me try again. Tanisha Wayne, I’m deeply and completely in love with you. Lang asked Santa for you last year and you came and filled our lives with color and throw pillows and more happiness than we know what to do with. You belong with us. I think we’ve been waiting for you all these years. Marry me again, for no other reason than that. With no time limits or escape clauses. And this time, we really need to do it in front of both our families, baby, or my mother will skin me alive.”
“I didn’t plan on this at all,” she whispers, almost to herself. “But I hoped. I love you, too. All of you.”
Lang nudges me and I see the rose I bought at the mall in his hand. I try to take it from him, but he doesn’t let go, instead reaching across from me and setting Barry’s hand on top of mine. I look up at Tanisha with my eyebrows raised as we all hold it out together, and she laughs.
“I get the final rose?” She flattens her hand over her heart as she stares down at us.
“Always. Now will you take it and say yes so I can get up before I lose all feeling in my knees?”
“Yes,” she gasps, grabbing the flower greedily. I’m on my feet and swinging her off of hers before she can blink.
She loves me.
“I thought they were already married. She can’t live with a man she’s not married to.”
Tanisha’s driver, Derek, has already moved into action with a strong grip on Arush’s arm. “I was thinking I should take him to the hotel you were planning to put your family in, ma’am.”
Tanisha lifts her head from my neck, tear tracks chilling on her cheeks and a grateful smile on her lips. “That’s a wonderful idea, Derek. See if they can get the suite a few days early. And can you make sure they bring him something to eat? He’ll be sorry if he doesn’t. His stomach is sensitive.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“I missed her. And her biryani,” Arush says as they head to the waiting SUV.
She’s mine now. And I’ll never take her for granted.
“Speaking of food, let’s get you boys inside,” she says, still swinging slightly in my arms. “You can tell me about your day while you help me with dinner.”