Page 92 of Dump and Chase

“It wasn’t a secret, so I don’t know, but you still got the job. Furthermore, you’re living with the guy.”

“I didn’t tell you that.”

“Warde did.”

I rolled my eyes. “Guess he didn’t tell you to keep that a secret.”

“Oh, he did, but I figured since I’m trying to make a point, I can tell that secret because you already know it. The two of you have been living together, I presume you’ve been going out with Brandon, or whatever you’re doing with him, and you’re still living with Grant. That tells me you’re where you want to be.”

“But his baggage.”

“Brandi isn’t baggage. She was barely carry-on luggage. Thank god you got pregnant and she kicked Grant to the curb. He probably would have married her otherwise and been miserable for the rest of his life.”

“And Brandon?”

“Like I said, good guy, not right for you. He needs someone who will kick his ass, and I know you can, but you’ve got a baby that’s your priority. You two will never work, but that’s just my observation.”

I was mesmerized by this conversation. “How did you come up with all this?”

“I was an Ethan Grant once, except I didn’t get my ex pregnant. And every day I think of how lucky I am that my wife picked me and not that idiot coworker of hers. He was totally a Warde and completely wrong for her. We’ve had twenty happy years so far.”

I thought about my conversation with Jim all afternoon, and I knew what I had to do. I drove home with a purpose, and of course traffic was the worst I’d ever seen. The first thing I did when I got home was pee because that was all I ever seemed to do. Then I ran to Ethan’s room and stopped mid-stride. He was packing.

“What are you doing?”

“I figured you wanted to make this into a nursery, so I’m going to stay with Ryan until the end of the month, then find a place to stay for the rest of the season. He broke up with Amanda, so he’ll enjoy the company. If you still need me to help with the nursery, I can do that.”

“No, no, no.”

He looked at me with exasperation. “Fine, I won’t help.”

“That’s not what I meant. Sorry. I came home with a speech planned that I hadn’t even thought through, and then I had to pee because I pee every hour, and now I’ve messed this up, so I’m going to start over.”

Now he was completely baffled.

I rubbed my forehead and tried to formulate a coherent thought, and it wasn’t working, so I started talking and hoped I’d make some sense.

“I had an amazing talk with Jim today. Apparently, he can keep a secret, but who really knows. He seemed to have me all figured out, better than I have myself figured out. In fact, he has you figured out too, and I’m not even sure you know him all that well.”

Ethan sat on the bed, probably trying to work out where the hell I was going with all this.

“Okay, what if I get straight to the point. I want to be happy twenty years from now, and the only way that happens is if it’s with you.”

“What?”

“I thought that Brandi had you all screwed up, but I don’t think so. I think I had you all screwed up, just like you had me all screwed up. I don’t always think things happen for a reason, but maybe this baby did. Maybe that’s what was needed to bring us together, and maybe your dad had a hand in it too. The point is, I want to be with you, raising our baby together. Coming home to you, going to bed with you, and waking up with you. That’s if you still want me.”

He got up and nearly ran for me, swinging me through the air. He kissed me and I held on to him for dear life.

“I love you, Tangi. I never stopped. I should have never stopped fighting for you,” he said, showering my face with kisses.

I started to cry and he wiped away the tears. “Let’s forget all that and move forward.”

“Wait,” he said, setting me down. He ran over to his duffel bag and pulled out the box. “Let’s try this again.” He got down on one knee. “Tangi Kildare, will you marry me?”

“Hell yes!”

Epilogue

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