Page 13 of Lily, Unwritten

He pushed the ring down my finger and smiled as he wiped a tear from my cheek. I touched the sparkling diamond, involuntarily taking a deep, shuddering breath. “You don’t have to stay on your knee,” I pulled him up next to me on the couch. “This ring is perfect.”

He shook his head as he pulled me close, our faces pressed into each other’s necks. “No, you’re perfect.”

“Your hand is still trembling…” I took them both in mine, watching the diamond sparkle in the candlelight.

“You don’t mind that there isn’t an F, G…”

“I love that you stopped the alphabet at E.”

“Does it fit?” Zack asked. He held my hand up towards his eyes.

“Perfectly. How did you arrange all this?” I gestured around the romantic room.

Zack nodded with a smile. “Samantha from next door came and did it. That’s why I was on the phone after lunch.”

“I can’t believe this….” We lay back on the couch together, both looking at my hand (which seemed a hundred times prettier with a huge diamond on it).

“It’s not too soon, is it?” Zack asked, his eyebrows scrunched up.

I shook my head, “It’s absolutely right.”

“Fiancée.” Zack grinned.

“How mad does that sound?! You’ll be a great Mr. Forshaw,” I teased as I threw my arms around him.

“Yeah, we’ll talk about that one later.” He checked his watch. “So, you look perfect. But if, hypothetically, people were going to turn up here later, would you want a bit of notice to get ready?”

“You know I would.” I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Sixty-minute warning then, gorgeous.”

I tried to jump up, but Zack pulled me back down and covered me in kisses. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d said no.”

“There wasn’t a chance I was going to say no.” I held my face against his and sighed - tired, tipsy, blissful. “What’s the sixty-minute warning then? What have you arranged?”

“Well, thinking about it now, I would’ve looked a right idiot if you’d turned me down. I invited a few people for your birthday and thought we could announce it when they’re all here?”

“Sounds perfect. Just give me fifty-nine minutes to get ready.” I wriggled out of his arms and headed upstairs, a ginormous smile on my face.

I changed into a gorgeous, floaty dress and kept my pretty new shoes on. Perched on the side of the bath I took a deep breath as I surveyed my reflection in the mirror.

Today had been a lot to take in. I twisted the ring around on my finger. There was no denying it was stunning. I dreaded to think what it had cost, but I adored it. There was, however, one thing unsettling me, and I didn’t want to let it in my mind, but it was inching the door open, and no way was it going to leave me alone. How would Luke feel when he found out?

He’d told me to go be happy, he’d let me go. I was doing what he wanted. I rubbed my hands over my face and felt the cool metal of the ring against my skin. My ring, my fiancé.

I jumped a mile as Zack knocked on the bathroom door. “Can I come in?”

“Of course,” I stood, my fingers still stroking over the stone.

“Were you crying?” I hadn’t realised I had been, but, yes, there were tears on my face.

I held my hand up again. “Was just checking it out from every angle. It’s been the best day.”

Zack wrapped his arms around me as we swayed together. “It’s not over yet.”

The doorbell rang and Zack placed one of his softest, sweetest kisses to my lips, before he bounded down the stairs to answer.

Within seconds the sound of Cassie’s laugh travelled up the stairs. Music began to play followed by the ring of the doorbell once again. For some reason I felt stuck to the side of the bath, not quite ready to make this real.

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