Page 97 of Somewhere Only We Know
“Not going anywhere,” she jokes.
I chuckle and hop out of the car, jogging around to her side and opening the door. I take her hand and help her out. Together, and carefully, we walk towards the entrance.
“I know this smell,” Jax says with a smile in her voice that triggers my own.
“You do. Step up.” I tell her and then take off the blindfold when we’re on the sidewalk entrance.
“Nate,” she sighs out when she sees we’re at the Botanical Gardens.
I bought the place out for the late afternoon and into the night. It was tricky, planning something behind Jax’s back. But when I went to Sarah and Kamryn with my plan, they were all aboard.
I take her hands in mine and walk backwards. The skirt of her dress ruffles around her legs and at this moment, with a look of awe on her face, Jax is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
We walk through the gate and her eyes bounce everywhere. Twinkling lights and solar ground lights, begin to create a path for us to where the real surprise is.
“I figured I would bring us somewhere only we know to do this.”
“What do you mean?” Jax asks as we get closer to where we need to be.
I fiddle with the ring she’s still wearing and when we get to the right spot, where her family can see and where the photographers can get the right shop, I slip it off her finger and put it in my pocket.
“Nate,” she scolds and it soon turns into a gasp when I drop to one knee and pull out her new ring.
“Almost ten years ago, you bulldozed into my life. You didn’t give me a choice to not be your friend. And for that, I’m so grateful. I feel like I’ve loved you before I knew what love was. And I feel like I’ve known you for my whole life. There was never a time after we met where I could imagine my life and you weren’t next to me. I know I’m to blame for those years apart, but you have been with me whether you knew it or not. I am so grossly in love with you Jaclyn Marie Rawlins.”
I look up at those honey brown eyes that are filled with tears as I pour my heart out to her.
“I know you said you didn’t want a new ring. That the one I don’t remember picking out was perfect. Well, I’m ignoring that.”
Her laugh is watery and she tries to wipe the tears as they fall, but fails.
“I want to do this the right way. So here I am, on one knee, about to ask you a very important question the way I should have all those years ago. Jaclyn Marie Rawlins, my best friend and the absolute love of my life, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she says in a watery response.
I slide on her new ring and instead of looking at the ring, Jax is looking at me. Standing up, I dip her into a kiss and hear the sounds of our loved ones cheering.
“I wanted them to be part of the magic.” I tell Jax when we break the kiss and look around to see our friends and families cheering and whistling.
“Holy hell, I love you so much.”
42
JAX
THREE YEARS LATER
“Are you sure we have enough space for everyone?” I ask as I look at our dining room with a now very critical and a bit of a self-conscious eye. The large twelve-seater dining table is made up with plate, silverware, a runner, and candles. Moody wallpaper contrasts beautifully with the oakwood dining table and the area rug underneath ties all of the color together.
“Yeah. The room is done to your specification,” my husband says from his spot at the counter while he chops up a basket-full of vegetables for tonight’s dinner. Nate’s right, although I’ll never outright tell him that because I love keeping him on his toes. He’d find me standing in the threshold everyday after the room was finished because I loved the way everything turned out.
“I have something for you.”He told me one night after I finished up my last meeting.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” I asked distractedly while scrolling through social media. A sheet of what I guessed are blueprints,covered my phone and it took me a minute to place them before I looked up at Nate. “This–is this…”
“The blueprints and a 3D print for the house you dreamed up when we were in college? Yes, it is.” He admits and drops next to me on the couch.
I looked at each room on the paper in awe. He remembered everything. Down to the built-ins and landing from one end of the house to the next. I remembered him telling me he had these drafted up, but seeing them in hardcopy form is still an out-of-body feeling.
