Page 84 of The Run Home
“I’m mad.”
He nodded. “I know, and I’m sorry for what Cassie said. I’m sorry for not showing you what you mean to me.”
I put my hand on his arm, trying to get him to stop. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. Please forgive me, Shae. I promise you I lit Cassie up like a Christmas tree. I told her I was in love with you. That you’re my one. My person. I’ve loved you since we were kids, Shae. I was just too young and stupid to know it.”
“And I’m a grown woman, too stupid to see that you love me,” I rushed to interject. “I’m sorry for not really seeing you.”
Boon reached in his back pocket, taking out a folded letter. “I found this while going through Mom’s boxes in the attic. It’s a letter your mom wrote me.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
He unfolded the letter and held it out to me to read. I bit my lip, eyes flooding with tears at her familiar handwriting. Boon explained, seeing that I couldn’t make out the words.
“After graduation, she gave me a card with some money in it. The card had this letter too. She said she saw everything I did for you behind the scenes. She asked me to always watch out for you since they wouldn’t be around forever.”
My hands shook but I blinked back the tears to read the final line Mom wrote.
Keep taking care of her, son.
Tears spilled down my cheeks. Here I was doubting Boon, and Mom had known all along what sort of man he was and how he felt about me. Boon gently took the letter, folding it and putting it back in his pocket.
“She knew.” His own voice raspy. “I’ve been protective of you since we were little kids, only now it’s in hyperdrive. I thought you needed protecting from bullies, but now I know the truth of it. I felt the need to protect you because I loved you. I’ve fallen head over ass for you as a grown woman, the mother of my child.”
I sniffled, looking up at him and letting the love I felt for him flow through me freely. Instead of bottling it up and trying to call it something it wasn’t, I let myself feel it. “I just didn’t want you to be with me out of obligation. I want the kind of love my parents had.”
Boon reached up and cupped my face, his thumb smoothing across my cheek. “I’m not here because of obligation, Shae. I won’t marry you until after the baby’s here if you need me to prove it. I wantyou, Shae Fletcher.” His dimples popped out with the smirk I love-hated so much. “For such a smart woman, you sure are dumb sometimes.”
“Hey! What kind of marriage proposal is this?” Tears continued falling down my cheeks, but Boon kept swiping them away.
He grinned and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. “I guess it’s hate-proposing.”
My laugh was watery, but it felt so good for the tension between us to melt away. I wound my arms around his waist, getting as close to him as I could with the baby between us, kicking away like he was excited about this reconciliation too. I stared up into Boon’s eyes, getting lost in them like I used to do when I was a teenager. Except this time, I didn’t look away when he stared back with all the love in his eyes. He deserved to hear it, deserved to be loved in return with the same intensity he loved me. Thankfully, I’d have a whole lifetime to get it right.
“I love you, bat boy.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Boon
My heart,the one that had always been Shae’s, finally relaxed into a normal rhythm. Those three little words had never sounded so beautiful. They held a lifetime of memories just waiting to be made together.
I kissed Shae, needing to swallow those words and somehow make every cell in my body know that it was true. She leaned into me, the familiar scent of her making my head spin. And then my son kicked me right in the gut. I jerked back, grinning like a fool.
And then I dropped down to one knee, pulling the ring out of the box that had marks in the velvet from the duct tape. An unconventional way to propose, sure, but Shae and I had always done things a little differently.
Shae’s face crumpled and she pressed her fingertips to her mouth to contain the sob. I held the ring up to her and her watery eyes went wide. Three carats would do that to a girl, the jeweler had promised me.
“Shae Fletcher, I want to grow old with you, raise our son together, and make every one of your days a good one. I promiseto not kick your tea party teddy bears, make fun of your weak serve, or leave you hanging all dressed up with nowhere to go. I’ll be here for you, first and foremost, and for our son and any other kids we may have.”
Shae shook her head in horror about getting pregnant again, but I just shot her a grin. “Super sperm, remember? Who knows what could happen?”
She rolled her eyes and I continued, getting to the point before my knee started giving me trouble on this cement floor.
“Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Shae dropped her hand from her mouth, her gaze firmly on mine when she answered. “Yes.”
