Page 56 of Carter's #Undoing

“How are you doing, sweetie?”

I glanced down at my mom and pulled her in for a hug. After missing her hugs for so long, I couldn’t get enough of them whenever Serenity and I came to visit. “Hey, Mom. I’m doing good. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I wasn’t worried,” she said with a smirk. “I was wondering how long the son I thought would get married first was going to wait to propose to the love of his life?”

I laughed. “Mom, Caden literally just tied the knot ten minutes ago.”

“I’m not talking about your brother,” she said. “I’m talking about you.”

Rubbing my head, I told her, “To be honest, I wanted to propose to Serenity months ago.”

“Why haven’t you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just haven’t.”

She gripped my chin in her hands. “Carter Madden, what aren’t you telling me.”

Man.There was something in my mother’s eyes that always seemed to see straight through me. I hadn’t even talked to my friends about my hesitation, but I wanted to be honest with my mom.

“What if she says no?” I blurted.

Her eyes softened. “You’re worried she doesn’t feel the same way?”

“I know she loves me,” I said. “But what if she’s still trying to adjust to the man I am now instead of who I used to be?” I couldn’t tell my mom everything. The truth would probably break her heart a little if I did. “I don’t want her to feel obligated just because she’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

“Oh hush, boy.” She waved me off. “That girl has loved you since she y’all were twelve. And when you left, she continued to love us. She’s not going to say yes out of obligation. She’s going to say yes because she can’t imagine being with anyone but you.”

I thought about my mom’s words as I watched Serenity from a distance. She was laughing at something Jordyn was saying, or her friend Tyler who I’d met a few times. But it wasn’t whatever she was laughing at that had me curious, but rather, the way her nose could always crinkle in the most adorable way when a joke was really funny. Or how she placed her hand on her chest when she had to catch her breath from laughing so hard.

Or my favorite, the way she rolled her eyes when a joke wasn’t funny to her at all. She always tried to do that when she thought no one was looking, but I was always looking, waiting to see how she’d react. She was sexy as hell when she was trying to be slick with her brush off.

You’re not scared of much.Yet, I was scared of this because I only wanted to get married once and if it wasn’t to Serenity, then I wouldn’t be getting married at all. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment where I decided that being afraid wasn’t in my MO, but daring to hope was.

“I think you’re right, Mom,” I said aloud, my eyes still on Serenity. “I’ve been looking at rings, I just haven’t settled on the right one.” When I turned to face my mom, she was holding out her hand, a ring in her palm.

I picked up the brilliant antique solitaire diamond with the gold band, my eyes open wide in disbelief. “You still have the first ring dad ever gave you?”

“Of course I do, sweetie,” she replied. “You can get her a better one later if you want, but I’ve been saving this for you and Serenity ever since you were teenagers. Or did you forget that you two were joined at the hip back then?”

I smiled. “I didn’t forget anything.”

“And neither did she.”

“It’s perfect mom.”

“I know it is, sweetie.” My mom looked over to where Serenity was standing. “I’ll tell her to come over.”

“What, wait?” I asked, gently grabbing my mom’s arm. “We’re at Caden and Cordelia’s wedding.”

“No we’re not, Carter. The wedding is over and the reception hasn’t begun yet.” My mom glanced at her watch. “And there’s still five minutes left before group pictures start.”

I placed my hand on my forehead. “Mom, it’s still their special day.”

“I already asked Caden and Cordelia if it was okay if you proposed today. The time was Cordelia’s idea so that you wouldn’t stress too much during the wedding reception.”

“Wai— Mom!” I tried to stop her, but she was already halfway across the yard.

“Unbelievable,” I huffed. For more than fifteen years, I’d faced some of the cruelest people in the world, yet, the task I was doomed to always fail was stopping Cynthia Madden when she was on a mission.

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