Page 49 of Where There's Smoke…
The excitement slowly builds up inside me as I patiently wait for her to place the set of rings on the glass countertop. I carefully pick up the band and take time to admire every little detail of it. There were a few diamonds that wrapped around the band and mirrored that of the ring. I don’t know much about jewelry, but I knew this would look great on Phoenix.
“By the way, you know these are engagement rings, right?” Skyler asks, and I look up at her with a nod. “Wait…are you planning to propose to Phoenix?! That’s so…”
She pauses, and her mouth shuts as if she’s rethinking what she was about to say. I look at her, confused, but she just smiles and shakes her head.
“That’s amazing, Angel,” she nods. She senses my hesitation and looks at me as if she’s confused. “You seem hesitant.”
“I…”
My reply caught in my throat because I wasn’t sure how to reply to that. I loved Phoenix with all of my heart, and I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t been thinking about marrying her a lot lately. I thought for sure that she was gonna ask a couple of weeks ago when she told me she had a surprise for me, but that didn’t happen. Her surprise turned out to be tickets to seeHamiltonon Broadway in New Orleans. I was still happy because that’s one of my favorite musicals, but I couldn’t help but feel a little let down that it wasn’t what I expected.
My mind and my heart were conflicted because my mind was telling me that maybe it was too early to be looking at rings. However, my heart was already pulling my card from my purse, even though I hadn’t even heard the price yet. I sighed as my shoulders slumped.
“Honestly, I kinda am,” I admit, carefully placing the ring back in its place. “I want to marry her, but what if I’m moving too fast? It hasn’t even been seven months yet, but all I can think about is how much I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
“But she’s feeling the same, right?” She asks.
“Yeah, she always tells me how she can’t wait to marry me,” I reply. “Honestly, I never thought much about marriage before I met her. I’ve never had the best luck with relationships, but everything with her is so easy. I mean, yeah, we’ve had our riffs, but we’re still here, you know?”
“I do,” she smiles before patting my hand softly. “When Londi and I first met, I knew she was the one for me after witnessing her getting thrown off a horse, but then getting up as if nothing happened. She immediately started joking about how she and the ground had a long-standing relationship. Whole time, her ass is just clumsy, but she’s my clumsy love and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.”
That makes me laugh because there was never a dull moment when it came to Skyler and her wife of ten years, Londi. I’ve heard all the tales of the antics they’ve gotten up to over the years thanks to Londi’s adventurous side. It always made me look forward to all of the years to come with Phee.
“Also, if you ask me, there’s never a ‘too early’ when it comes to love,” she adds. “I believe that we all have our person, or people, like Kentrell and his partners, that just get us, you know? Once you find them, it’s almost as if the regular rules don’t, and shouldn’t, matter. You have to follow your heart, Angel. And no, I’m not just saying that so you can buy the rings.” We share another chuckle. “But seriously, Angel. If you feel it’s time, why wait for her to ask you? The worst thing that can happen is she says no, but let’s be for real. This is Phoenix we’re talking about.”
“You’re right,” I giggle, nodding in agreement.
“You have that woman wrapped around your finger, and I think she’d drop everything to marry you right on the spot if she knew that’s what you wanted,” she assures me. “And if that’s what you want, you should let it be known.”
“It is!I want to marry her so badly that I would go to the courthouse today and sign the papers,” I chuckle. “Yes, I want a wedding, but we can have that later. All I want is her.”
“Is that a promise, Sweets?”
I jump at the voice and quickly turn to see Phoenix a few feet away. I was so busy rambling that I hadn’t even noticed that she’d come into the store. My mouth was wide open as I tried to form a complete sentence to say to her, but as she came closer, all of my words suddenly evaded me. How the hell did she know I was here?
“Not you tongue-tied,” she laughed before pulling me in for a hug. “What are you doing down here, mamas?”
“She was looking at rings. This set in particular,” I heard Skyler say as she pushed the set closer to where we stood by the counter.
I watch as Phoenix’s smile grows wide once she sees the rings. She takes the one with the ring of opal and tourmaline around the diamond out of the case and takes my hand in hers. My heart is thumping a million miles a minute as she slides the ring onto my ring finger and then kisses my hand. She stands there and admires me as I wear it. I stand there in shock when I notice it’s the perfect fit.
“What did I tell you, Skyler? It would look so good on her,” Phoenix says, and my eyebrows furrow.
“Yeah, you were right,” she nods right as her mom comes out of the back. She motions for her to come over. “Hey, Mama. Look at how beautiful your creation looks, Angel.”
Ms. Nancy walks over with a smile as she puts on her glasses. “Yes, it definitely suits you, my love,” she tells me before turning to Phoenix. “All of the customizations came together so well, Phee. It’s perfect.”
I turn around when she doesn’t reply, and my hands instantly shoot up to cover my mouth when I see her on one knee. My heart was beating fast as tears streamed down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Was this really happening?!
“Phee…”
“Angel Savoie, you know I love you, right?” She says, and I nod. “Well, baby, I’ve known that I wanted to be with you since the first day we met. I knew from our first date that I wanted tomarryyou. I’m in love with everything about you and everything you are. When I’m down, you lift me up. When I’m sick, you nurse me back to health. Whenever I’m feeling lonely, I know that I never am because you’re always there, and I want to be that for you.”
“I want to sleep beside you and then wake up beside you,” she continues. “I want to be there for you when you’re sad, or stressed, or happy, or moody, all of it. I want to care for you and protect you. I want to watch your favorite shows and listen to you ramble about your interests.” I chuckle through tears, and she smiles softly. “Angel, I love you so much, baby, and I want to make you my wife, so…”
Skyler hands her the box, and my eyebrows furrow once again. When Phoenix opened it, I saw that they were in factnotcupcakes, but instead, one of my strawberry shortcakes.“Will you be mine forever?”was written across the top, and only then did I register that this whole thing had been planned from jump. I could do nothing but cry harder because I had not seen this coming at all.
“You stole my heart when I tried this cake last year, and I didn’t even know you yet,” Phoenix laughs. “I thought it was only right that it had a special place in this special moment, don’t you think?”
