Just then the door opens and the idea of my brothers breaking up another important moment of my life makes me want to yell.
But it isn't any of my family at all.
It's Anchor, here with a bouquet of flowers, a solemn look on his face. "Lemon, can I come in? Your grandpa said you were here."
"Are you Lemon’s man?" Grandma asks.
I bite my bottom lip.
"You told her about me?"
I nod. "My family doesn't keep much to themselves."
"So I'm realizing," he says, walking toward the hospital bed.
The fact that he's here makes me wonder what else he has in store. "You brought me flowers?" I ask, looking at the bouquet.
He shakes his head. "No, silly, these are for your grandma.” Facing her, he smiles. “I got you roses, Rosie. I figured with your name you might like them.”
"They're beautiful," Grandma Rosie says.
Anchor sets them on a table next to her bed. "I'm Anchor, by the way, the man who fell in love with your granddaughter. I know you're supposed to ask the father for permission, but Lemon tells me you're the matriarch. What do you think of me and Lemon getting married, of her being my forever?"
Grandma Rosie takes him in, looks him up and down. "Lemon told me you met at the lake."
He nods. "That's right."
"I'll have to tell you what that lake means to me and my husband. It's where we said I love you for the first time, and later, the place he proposed."
Anchor smiles. "You don't say."
She sighs contentedly. "I think there's something special about the fact the two of you met there too. And if you're asking my blessing to marry this beautiful woman, you have it. I believe in love at first sight, and my son Redford does too so I am guessing he won’t object. I met the love of my life when I was seven years old."
Anchor reaches for my hand. I squeeze it, dumbstruck by the words he just spoke. Marry me? My whole world shifts into focus, my fear subsides, my future in front of me. Anchor chooses me.
"Lucky woman," Anchor says to Rosie.
She beams. "Indeed. And turns out you're a lucky man."
"A fool too," he says, looking at Grandma, and then his eyes land on mine. "I'm sorry, Lemon. I got scared this morning. I got scared of what loving you might mean—that I wouldn't be good enough for you. That I’d let you down. But I think together we could do anything. Hell, you could start your interior design business. We could have a family in that lovely cottage of yours. We could grow old together." He looks over at Grandma. "If only we get to be as lucky as Rosie here."
"I know you've seen loss," I say to Anchor, my hands tight in his, "and I know my life seems pretty perfect compared to the heartache you faced. But I don't want you to be scared of the fact my story has been sweet and yours has been sour. Maybe we can just write our own story together, a new one."
"I feel like what you're saying right now is a proposal.”
“Do you want me to propose?" I ask with a laugh.
He grins. "I'm not opposed to it. But for the record, I brought up marriage first. Just so we’re clear that I was all in on this idea."
My world brightens, becomes whole, in one conversation. "Will you marry me, Anchor? The man I just met two days ago, who caught my heart and soul and took my breath away. Will you be my husband?"
He pulls a ring out of his pocket, a glittering diamond, an oval cut. It's big and beautiful. And he takes my finger, sliding it on. Grandma covers her mouth, gasping, tears in her eyes.
"Well, this day just got better," she says, hand on her heart.
"Marry me, Lemon Rough. Teach me what it means to be a family man. And I promise you, I will never leave your side."
"I thought I was the one doing the proposing," I say as Anchor pulls me up from the bed, draws me into his arms, and holds me tight. "I love you," I tell him for the very first time.
"I love you more, Lemon. And I'll love you forever."
When we leave the hospital, my family is downright gobsmacked.
One, they just met Anchor.
Two, apparently no one ever really thought I would get married.
Mac and Graham and Reuben are looking at me like I'm crazy. And I am. Crazy in love.
Anchor and I return to my house. Our house, maybe?
And he doesn't wait to get me in bed. With the door closed, I lean against it. He wraps his arms around me and kisses me deeply.
"Forgive me for this morning," he says. "Please, please, please."
"It's already forgotten. You leaving showed me what I want. And god, Anchor, all I want is you."