Page 119 of One Life to Loathe

“You have the ring?” Jax’s surprise was obvious. “How have you managed to hide a ring from her when you’re in such tight quarters?”

“I put it in my suitcase next to my underwear.”

“Smart. That’s a good place for an engagement ring.”

“Just … shut it.” I might not have been burning everything down any longer, but I was still a donkey when the mood arose. “We’re arriving around two o’clock tomorrow.”

“Daisy will have everybody in the lobby to greet you guys,” Jax replied. He was serious now. He seemed to understand that I was a man on the edge of losing his sanity. “We’re going to say that we set up a little party in the ballroom. The decorations are exactly how you wanted them.”

“Donkeys everywhere?”

“Actually, there’s only one donkey. Daisy cried when I said you wanted more. She handled the decorations. I promise they’re going to make you happy.”

“I thought the donkeys would be funny,” I protested.

“Daisy pointed out—and I tend to agree with her—that there will be photos after you make your big move. No future bride wants donkeys all over the place in every engagement photo. She’s going to want something to frame.”

He had a point. “Just as long as it looks good.”

“It looks great.” He paused a beat. “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

Nervous was an understatement. My life had been picture perfect from the moment I’d told Sam I loved her. Everything had fit into place. I was happy. More than that, I was content. I was even looking forward to wearing the stupid fangs again simply because it meant that Sam and I would be working together.

Despite all of that, I couldn’t help being nervous. “What about her parents? When are they due to arrive?”

“They’re already here. They got here a few hours ago. They’re going to be in the ballroom when you guys get here. Make sure to text me when you’re about ten minutes out. We figured seeing her parents would be a dead giveaway that something big was going on so they’re going to be in the ballroom.”

I’d met Carter and Bonnie Summers when they’d visited us in Las Vegas less than a month after I’d started shooting. I’d been a nervous wreck—let’s face it, I didn’t have a lot of luck with parents—but they’d welcomed me with open arms. Not only had Bonnie treated me like a cute puppy she never wanted to say goodbye to, but Carter had taken me golfing and talked to me as a proper father. He was protective of Sam, but he was willing to act as a sounding board for me, too. I loved both of them. I’d told Carter I had every intention of proposing to his daughter onthat trip. When I explained how I wanted to do it, he gave me his blessing and promised to be there.

It appeared everybody was going to be following through on their promises.

The sound of the shower shutting off jolted me out of my reverie. “Thanks for everything—and I do mean everything. Sam is getting out of the shower. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

He wasn’t the only one.

SAM DIDN’T STOP TALKING FOR THE ENTIREride from the Boston airport to the Hunter Hotel. Wonder of wonders, Alexander was our driver again—I had no doubt Jax had arranged it—and he kept up a running commentary with Sam that had her delighting at the fact that people were already showing up in Salem to see the places we’d filmed at. SinceEvermorehad only aired two episodes—both of them whopping successes—even I was impressed.

I sent Sam inside when we reached the hotel. I knew she was chomping at the bit to see Daisy. That left me to take our luggage from Alexander.

“Things seem to be going well,” he said as he handed me Sam’s suitcase.

I nodded. “We closed up Sam’s apartment in LA when we had a long weekend off from shooting in Vegas. We moved her stuff into storage. What she doesn’t know is that it’s on the way here.”

“And what about your place?”

“I’m paying my manager to handle it. He’s packing it up and putting the house on the market for me. It should be unloaded in the next few months.”

“Which will give you the money you need for a down payment here,” Alexander mused. “Look who is putting down roots when he thought it was impossible.”

I gave him a dirty look. “Let’s not take it to a weird place. The hard part is still in front of me.”

“It’s not, though.” Alexander shook his head. “You’ve already won. You just don’t realize it yet.”

I hoped he was right. I tipped him but didn’t say goodbye. Something told me I would be seeing more of him now that we were back in Salem.

The hotel was bustling with energy when I entered even though we were in the middle of what Daisy referred to as the dead season. That’s why I’d managed to get the ballroom on short notice for the big proposal.

---