Page 100 of Edge of Desire

“So, close your eyes, then.”

I did and he held my hand as he slid a ring on my finger. Surprise couldn’t come close to how I felt. My mouth formed an O and Preston laughed as he stuck his finger in it. I opened my eyes to look at my hand. On my finger sat the most beautiful round diamond on a wide platinum band that was studded with tons of pave diamonds.

“Dear God! This is gorgeous,” I breathed.

“You really think so?”

“Uh-huh,” I mumbled, as I stared.

“I have a confession. I had a little help from Justin and Caroline.”

“Uh-huh.” I was numb from shock. I was getting married, and Preston had just given me the most amazing ring ever.

“Avery, are you okay?’

“Uh-huh.”

I think he laughed. Then his arms were around me and he picked me up, carried me inside, and shouted out to Melissa, “She said yes!”

“Woohoo!” Melissa screamed.

Still numb, I flung my hand out so she could see my bling.

“Good God almighty. Can you even hold your hand up? That fucker is huge! And you hardly have a muscle in your arm.”

Suddenly Melissa started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I wanted to know.

“I would love to see the look on your mother’s face when you tell her and when she sees this chunk of a diamond.”

“Yeah, well, that won’t be anytime soon, because I don’t want her to spoil my fun.”

My mother ... I knew I’d have to call her soon. Justin told me he’d kept her up to date on my activities, but she hadn’t reached out at all. I guess she was still angry with me for leaving. Too bad. I decided I’d call her eventually, but only when I was good and ready and in the right frame of mind. When the time came, and she met Preston, I knew there would be fireworks. God help the woman if she ever said anything derogatory about me, because he’d go after her with everything he had. It wouldn’t be pretty and I’m sure it would increase the ever-expanding rift between us. That’s why when we got married, eloping would be the best option for us.

Melissa left sometime after dinner and Preston and I celebrated with each other in every room ... on the floor, on the table, in the kitchen on the counter, in the shower, and finally in bed. With each passing day, I fell in love with him more. I remember having a conversation with Justin once and he’d told me how it was with Caroline and him. He’d said the same thing ... how it had gotten better every day. I’d found it hard to believe at the time, but now I knew it to be true. As I lay in Preston’s arms and watched the sun rise, I knew it all had been worth the long wait and sometimes you had to go through hell to get to heaven. We both sure did, but I was ecstatic that we’d finally arrived.

Epilogue

Preston

Three Months Later

The weather was perfect as it was August in Seattle. Initially, we were going to run away and just get hitched, as Avery liked to call it. But then I didn’t think it would be fair to her father. After all, she was the only girl of four children and wasn’t it a father’s dream to walk their daughter down the aisle?

After multiple conversations with Justin and Caroline, we developed the perfect plan to present to Avery. They invited us out for a visit in June, and when we arrived, we laid out the plans to her.

We’d been there a day, and the second night, they summoned us out back to their brand-new terrace they’d built. It was spectacular.

“Y’all, this is amazing. When did you do this?”

Caroline grinned and said it was only completed a few weeks ago. “The rain—you know how it rains here all the time—set us back a bit but we love it out here.”

They had created a haven where the views of the water were stunning. They’d even added another exit from the main living area to make it easier to access rather than having to wander through the entire house.

“Hey, wait. This door didn’t exist before, did it?” Avery asked.

Justin chuckled. “Not when you were here last. That was Caroline’s idea.”

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