Page 83 of Bound By Redemption
“Please.” She looked at me wide-eyed, and I smiled. “Babe.”
She huffed out a breath. “Looks like she likes you. Don’t mess it up.” Ensley leaned over and gave Gladys a hug, Remy kissed her cheek, and they were off.
I took my seat once more.
“So, what do you need to tell me that you haven’t already?” It was true, we had a very long conversation, but this was something I had to ask without my woman here.
“I’m gonna ask Ensley to marry me. I’d like your blessing.”
She folded her hands, set them on the table, and leaned forward a bit. “Why do you need that from me?”
“Ensley loves you. Can’t ask her biological parents because her mom’s an asshole and dad’s dead. Anyway, they don’t deserve my girls in their lives in any way. You, though. You are the one who deserves the respect as her parent.”
A tear welled up in her eye, and it rolled down her cheek. She sucked in a deep breath. “Yeah. I like you. But still I’ll cut it off. Remember that.”
To this I laughed. “I’m pretty sure a woman telling me she was going to cut my junk isn’t gonna slip my mind anytime soon.”
I rose from my chair and pulled out Gladys’, who stood up. “Thank you. Means the world to me that you entrust me with Ensley and Remy. I’ll always be there for them. Always. And you’re comin’ to the wedding.”
Gladys wrapped me in her arms surprising me, which wasn’t like me because of my training. In response, I wrapped my arms around her too. Her little head came up to my lower chest. Damn, the woman was small.
She pulled away and tapped my chest. “Go get your girls.”
To this I smiled. She gave me her approval.
Now to ask Ensley…
* * *
The night was beautiful,the heat going out of the day and leaving a rather tolerable Georgia evening. I hadn’t planned on it being this nice, considering how used to the weather I’d become, but I’d take it.
I’d never seen myself as a romantic man. Even when I was younger it was nonexistent. Sure, there were a few times I got flowers for a lady or something like that, but it was never like this.
This—this had to be perfect.
Remy was sleeping over at my parents’ house, giving Ensley and me some much needed privacy. Loved my little girl, but I wanted just Ensley for this.
Lifting the outside furniture, I maneuvered it this way and that creating one large area of cushions with pillows all around. It was almost like a cocoon having only one area open for us to climb into.
The other small opening had a table where I had a bottle of red wine, a glass, a bottle of beer in ice and some snacks. I was not a wine drinker at all, but I’d found that Ensley loved a glass every now and then.
Every day we were learning more and more about each other. I could say with certainty that every part I came to know I loved. This woman was everything to me, and tonight she’d know it.
The twinkling lights above the furniture were a pain in the ass to put up. Dryerson helped me get them up. We zigzagged them across the space, connecting them to beams used as an arbor. The tricky part was the mechanism to move the lights took a bit to get done because it was a brand new program on my laptop I had to create.
After getting the electrical sorted and having to put a new GFI outlet in, it was done. Everything was ready for Ensley to get home.
She’d gone out with Katie and Austyn to get their “toes done.” I assumed it meant getting them polished, but whatever; it was the perfect excuse to get her out of the house, call Mom and Dad, take Remy over there and get back to create this.
Looking at my phone, Ensley wrote me a text saying she’d be home in ten minutes. Killing the lights outside, I made my way inside and shut the sliding glass door behind me.
I loved this home, but what I loved more were the touches that Ensley put into the space. Now, don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t give two shits about the pillows or blankets around. What I loved was her stamp. It was her saying that she lived here.
The pictures she started putting into frames and putting them on the walls was priceless as well. The three of us. Yes, Ensley was making this a home for the three of us.
There wasn’t a single nervousness in my body. I was happy for this. Excited even.
The door opened, and Ensley walked in saying, “I’m home.” Fucking loved that too.
