Page 97 of Break My Heart
I get up and take off the sweater, leaving me in a t-shirt. ‘Happy now?’
He laughs. ‘I bet that t-shirt cost almost as much as the sweater.’
‘Just put on a brewery shirt,’ Nash says to me. ‘You should be wearing that anyway to promote your place.’
‘Yeah, you’re right.’
Nick returns, standing near the end of the table. ‘If you all wouldn’t mind staying a minute, I have something I need to ask.’
We all look at him. He seems nervous, or excited. It’s hard to tell with Nick. He’s good at hiding his emotions.
‘Well hurry up and ask,’ Dad says, getting impatient.
‘Could everyone sit down?’ Nick says. ‘Everyone except Lyndsay.’
We all sit back in our seats as Lyndsay remains standing.
‘Nick, what’s going on?’ she asks.
‘Could you come over here?’
He smiles at her as she walks to the end of the table.
‘Nick, we need to get ready,’ she says in a hushed tone. ‘The festival starts soon.’
‘Yeah, I know. But first I need to ask you something.’
‘What is it?’
He takes her hands and looks at her. I suddenly realize what’s going on. He said he was going to wait until tonight, but I guess he changed his mind.
‘I fell in love with you back in high school,’ he says. ‘I didn’t know that’s what it was back then. I just knew I’d never felt that way about a girl and wasn’t sure I ever would again. Turns out I never did, until you walked back into my life.’ He pauses as Lyndsay tears up, her lip quivering. ‘I was too shy and stupid back then to tell you how I felt. I let you go without giving us a chance. And it’s the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. Well, that and becoming a lawyer.’
Lyndsay laughs a little.
‘But I’ll never make that mistake again.’ He gets down on one knee and pulls a small box from his pocket. ‘I love you, Lyndsay, and I would be honored if you’d spend the rest of your life withme.’ He holds out the box and lifts open the top. ‘Will you marry me?’
‘Yes!’ She lunges at him, nearly knocking him over as she hugs him. ‘Of course I’ll marry you!’ She pulls back. ‘But I thought you wanted to wait.’
‘Yeah,’ Brody says. ‘You told us you were asking her tonight.’
Lyndsay looks at us. ‘All of you knew about this?’
‘I wanted to make sure they’d be there,’ Nick says as Lyndsay looks back at him. ‘I was going to ask you at the dance tonight, but then I thought it wouldn’t be as special with all the noise and people around. I decided now would be better, when it’s just us and the family.’
‘Oh, this is wonderful!’ Mom gushes. ‘Congratulations to you both!’
The rest of us join in with more congratulations.
‘Let’s see the ring,’ Brody says.
Nick puts it on Lyndsay’s finger. She turns around and shows us, a huge smile on her face.
‘It’s gorgeous!’ Jen says, getting out of her seat and racing up to Lyndsay. Ivy and Callie do the same thing.
While they look at the ring, the rest of us get up to leave, congratulating Nick and Lyndsay as we go.
The rest of the day, I keep thinking about Nick and how happy he looked asking Lyndsay to marry him. I honestly didn’t think he’d ever get married. He never seemed like he wanted to. The longest he’d dated a girl was maybe a year but it wasn’t serious. He never talked about marrying her. Then he runs into Lyndsay last summer and a few months later, they’re engaged.
