Page 113 of Reckless

“I'm beginning to believe that she is higher up on your list of favorite people than I am.”

“She occupies the number one spot, yes. Maybe you are number one on the list of your future husband.”

“And where am I in yours?” I asked as he kissed his way from behind my ear down my neck.

“Why are you so interested in my list?” He bit my shoulder.

“I simply want to know where I stand.”

Tyler lifted his head and looked at me. Then he sat up and pulled me with him.

“You are not on that list. Or any other. The way I see it you are here. With me,” he lifted a palm in the air. “Just the two of us. And everyone else is here,” he lifted his other palm. “You are a part of me. Way beyond any list I could possibly think of.”

I found it hard to breathe. My emotions suffocated me. He looked cool and collected like always.

“When did that happen?” I managed to gasp out.

“I don’t know. It’s just a fact. Just like it is a fact that I will be on that spa weekend with you, while my sister and Lucas take care of our babies.” I leaned in for a kiss, my heart hammering in my chest, not knowing how to respond. He slid his hands in my hair, not letting me get any closer. “Your hair still looks like sunshine.”

I closed my eyes, dropped my forehead to his and smiled.

He remembered.

***

Tyler

I gazed at the rows of grapevines, thinking about what I was about to do. The conversation Hannah and I had last week while Lucas and Clem were away for their anniversary was the perfect opportunity for me to pop the question. Instead of doing that, I came up here to do something without Hannah’s knowledge, hoping it wouldn’t blow up in my face.

“Excuse me,” I said, drawing the old lady’s attention.

“Hello. How can I help you?”

She didn’t remember me. It was for the best when I thought about it. The last time I was here, over a year ago, I lied to her that Hannah and I were a couple, expecting their first child.

“My fiancée really loves your vineyard. I want to book it for our wedding.”

“And she let you come here alone, dear?”

“Well, I haven’t asked her to marry me yet. Booking your vineyard is part of the surprise.”

The old lady sent me inside to talk to her daughter. Half an hour later, I left with a wedding date two years from now. I went straight to Poppy’s, where I hid the ring. I still had no idea how to propose, but I wasn’t risking landing on a perfect moment like the one last week without the ring in my immediate surroundings.

Then I went straight to Clem’s. I wanted to see my niece, who didn’t look like she came from another planet anymore. Long gone were the days when I could get away with calling her an ugly duckling.

I was surprised to find my future fiancée in my sister’s kitchen.

“I thought you were working the entire day,” I planted a kiss on her stone cold yet sweaty forehead. I took a step back examining her face. “Are you sick? You’re really pale.”

Daphne was practically trying fly from her mother’s arms into mine, so I took her from Clem and focused back on Hannah, waiting for an answer.

“I’m a little sick. Yes.”

“Do you want to go home?” Home currently meant a small house we rented just two weeks ago.

“Sure,” she said in a squeaky voice. I glanced at Clem. Her eyes were huge, she looked like she wanted to do something but didn’t know what.

“What is going on?” I asked her, when I placed the displeased Daphne back in her arms. Hannah was already leaving the house.

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