Page 118 of Saving His Heart
“You don’t have to say anything, dear. Welcome to the family, forever this time.”
“Hey, that’s my line,” Preston yells, easing the heaviness that had settled over us. “Well, let’s just get the tears out of the way now then, shall we?”
My eyes snap to his. “Preston?” I warn.
“Sorry, Goldie. I can’t let my mom one-up me on our first Christmas together,” he says with a wink.
Fuck. Glancing around, I see Julia and Lanie both digging in their purses. Julia comes out victorious first and throws a pack of tissues at me.
“Thanks,” I mumble.
“Well, Goldie. We started out with a fake relationship that rapidly escalated because of the loud family you can now call yours. But it was somewhere along the fake that everything turned very, very real. I know I didn’t do a good job of proving it to you initially, but I will spend the rest of my life loving you. You’re it for me, Goldie.”
Preston stands and grabs a large frame that I’m just noticing was leaning against the wall and hands it to me. It takes me a few minutes to figure out what I’m looking at, but I begin to shake when I do.
“It turns out, having a hacker for a brother comes in handy for all kinds of reasons. Who knew hospitals had cameras in some operating rooms for teaching purposes?”
“Preston, th-this is—”
“A photograph of you, Emory. Holding my heart in your hands and keeping me alive. I had an artist work on it, so it wasn’t so macabre. But even with all the light changes and artful distortions, there is no mistaking you’re my lifeline. You held my heart in your hands, and you carry it always. My heart will only ever belong to you, sweetheart. From now until forever, my heart is yours.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” I sob. “I—”
“Well, I’m hoping you’ll say we can hang it in our new home.”
My head is spinning so fast I worry I’ll get whiplash
“What are you talking about?”
Preston nods to Dex, who lowers the lights and turns on the projector. On the wall opposite us is a computer-generated version of our dream home, right down to the subway tiles in the kitchen we fought over. He presses a button, and the screen changes to the field where we had our first date. Another press of a button shows the groundbreaking of our new home.
“Where better to spend the rest of our lives than where we had our very first official date?”
I’m openly sobbing now and unable to form words, so he wraps his arms around me and pulls me onto his lap as he sits.
“If you ever have doubts about my love for you, Goldie, I hope you can look at these images and let them erase all your fears. I love you now and forever. You’re my life, my love, my whole world. Dex and I incorporated all of our ideas into this version, but if you don’t like anything, we have plenty of time to change it.”
Just then, Dex pushes a button that reveals my library. The picture of me holding Preston’s heart is the focal point.
“Oh my God, Preston!” I gasp just as someone barges into the room.
“Boss, alarm 7.”
Seth visibly rolls his eyes before speaking. “That would be Loki’s apartment again.”
Sloane jumps up. “Ah, I thought I closed the door this time?”
“Ah-huh, come on. I’ll take you down to check it out.”
“Sorry, sis,” Sloane gives me a quick kiss then follows Seth.
“That’s okay. I’m not sure how many more tears I could take tonight,” I chuckle.
Peering around at all the faces looking back at me, it finally sinks in. My family is no longer just my sisters and me. My family is this group of friends and brothers. My family is wherever Preston is. For the first time, family means everything it’s supposed to. Love, life, and happiness. Forever.
Chapter 49
Sloane
