Page 72 of Anchored

Hank was my first love, and I’ll always look back on that time fondly. We were so much more than how things ended. I’m grateful for his love, and I’m equally grateful for his disappearance. Sure, I wouldn’t have Colby and the kids if Hank had stayed in Anchor Lake, but I also wouldn’t have had that dark time where I had to examine myself right down to my soul.

I found that no man was the foundation on which I’d build my life. My happiness is anchored in something stronger. It’s anchored to me, my home, and this town. It’s who I am when everything falls apart and my community rallies around me and I lift myself back up. That’s where my happiness comes from.

I’m proud of me.

If I teach my children nothing else, I hope they learn that failures and disappointments are not forever. They’re a temporary learning tool to chip away at all the distractions in life until we get to the very thing that can make everything better no matter our circumstances…ourselves.

And now I must go because I hear them pulling up to the house. Soon Colby will be in here to give me my good morning kiss. Darryl will want to show me the masterpiece he colored at the diner and baby William will need me to help him color his placemat because Daddy doesn’t do it right.

Basically, heaven has arrived.

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Holt

I got on my knee and asked a woman to marry me before. It was calculated, planned down to the exact moment between the main dish and the dessert at the fanciest restaurant in Atlanta with a ring I’d had made by a jeweler I can’t remember.

This proposal to Maple was none of those things. I’d asked for Grandma’s ring on a whim when I picked up Grandpa to bring him to see Gracie. He’d given it to me, under the strict instructions to only give it to a woman I could see myself growing old with. He’d had me close my eyes right there in my Jeep and picture it, describing the scene in detail to him. When he was satisfied that Maple was way more than a passing infatuation, he’d handed it over with his blessing.

I meant to keep it in my pocket for awhile, asking her when the timing was right, but all that flew out the window when I saw her puffy, red-rimmed eyes this morning. I wasn’t going to wait to ask, not when Grandpa and Gracie were the perfect example of timing gone wrong. Why was I waiting to make her mine? To put all her doubts aside and show her exactly how serious I was about her? To risk a mismatch in timing that could be disastrous? Absolutely not.

Pulling Maple to her feet again, I tuck her into my side. A crowd has formed and they’re all smiling at us, some without their dentures in yet for the morning. Debbie whacks me on the shoulder, her enthusiastic congratulations bellowing above the clammer of the old people that have gathered because they want a front-row seat to today’s gossip. Pat and Nancy swarm Gracie, looking like they’re ready to pounce on us as soon as the formidable Debbie clears out.

“I knew you had it in you, Holt.” Debbie pulls Maple in for a hug, thumping her on the back as well. Maple’s teary eyes widen over her shoulder as Debbie sways her back and forth for a moment before releasing her. “Let’s turn this Hawaiian theme week into an engagement party!”

Another cheer goes up and Pat and Nancy shuffle forward, having lost patience. They each throw a ring of fake flowers around our necks and cackle about us getting lei’d before the wedding. Maple looks at me over their heads, shock and happiness and hysteria fighting for dominance on her face. She looks down at herself, and I know what she’s thinking. She’s about to go to her engagement party in her grandma’s nightgown.

“We’ll be right there. Maple needs to change first.” I steer her toward Gracie’s condo.

Grandpa and Gracie clear out of the way and shut the door, closing off all the chatter from outside. I remind myself to thank Grandpa later for the moment of privacy. I really want to focus on Maple right now and that’s hard with all the people and chatter outside. Backing Maple into the kitchen, we just grin at each other like we can’t believe how we got here.

My hands skim over her hips and around to her perfect ass. “I love you in this muumuu, but if you want to go to the pool, maybe your dress would be better. Besides, I feel like I missed out not getting to see you in it for very long.”

Maple’s smile immediately dims, and I want to kick myself for bringing up last night. I hoist her up on the counter, wanting to be eye level with her. She doesn’t break stride at the elevation change, just trails her hands up my torso and onto my shoulders. “You know, you’ve been everything I needed after the way Dexter treated me. And I want to be everything you need after Macy.”

“You are,” I assure her.

She tilts her head back and gives me such a sultry smile I’m thoroughly enchanted with her. The retirement home could be burning down and I wouldn’t notice. “I can promise you I’ll never make cookies with chocolate in them. I’ll always have spare glasses lying around for you because you’re unbearably sexy in them. I’ll set reminders so you don’t lose track of time. I’ll hike with you all over the world and sit in the silence. I’ll even sleep in your bed because I trust that what we have is so much more than my past experiences. I’ll anchor myself in you and this town and our love.”

I dip my head and press my lips to hers. I love that she sees me for who I am and still loves me. I’m grateful she wants to be by my side, flaws and all. I pull back, already breathing like I ran a race and painfully hard below the belt.

“But I’ll never be the anchor that keeps your ship at port. I won’t weigh you down or hold you back. You’re free to be you. I really love the you you are.” I snort. “I sound like fucking Dr. Seuss, but he was quite brilliant, so that’s okay. I guess what I’m saying is that getting married will only enhance our lives, it won’t tie us down or stifle us. I’ll always be here, by your side. Your partner in life, wherever you choose to go.”

Maple plants a kiss on me. “I want to go where you are.”

“Done. And if that changes, I’ll follow you.”

Maple smiles and suddenly the summer heat has followed us inside. She spreads her knees as far as they’ll go in the muumuu and hooks her feet around my legs. “Think we have time for a little quickie before we go out by the pool?”

“God, yes,” I breathe, hands already leaving her hips to undo the button on my jeans. She helps me, shoving them down my legs just far enough to free my cock. She scoots forward on the counter and guides me to her entrance. I stop her. “I don’t have a condom.”

She bites her lip, eyelids already drooping. “I don’t care. I wanna have your babies anyway, husband-to-be.”

I groan, my forehead dropping to hers. “You can’t say stuff like that, Maple. This’ll be over before it even starts.”

She tugs on my dick, her hand forming a warm, tight circle that makes my eyes cross. “Then you better get it inside me quick. I want to feel you come inside me, Holt. Please?”

Nothing can stop my hips from plunging forward and sinking myself inside of her. We both shudder at the feeling, but noise from the crowd outside has me pulling back in a hurry, my thrusts short and desperate. Maple clings to my shoulders and I manage to get a hand between us, needing her right there with me. And quickly.

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