Page 77 of Until Forever

“Wow. You hired wait staff and everything? This sure is fancy.”

“Like I said. I wanted to celebrate us and the beautiful weather.”

“We’ll have plenty more beautiful weather when we get to LA,” I beamed in anticipation.

“Yeah, while everyone else freezes their butts off here in Silver Point. I can’t wait.”

We went on to tell each other about our days. Even though we worked at the marina together, we were usually so busy doing different things that, a lot of times, it felt like we didn’t work together at all. Which was good. It gave us plenty to talk about at the end of the day.

By the time I stopped questioning why he went through so much trouble to decorate everything, I was startled by the sight of something moving in the water. Just as I turned my head to see the boat coming towards us, music started to play. As they got closer, I realized a whole band was on board, rowing closer to serenade us. It looked and sounded so beautiful, with the full moon reflecting on the water.

“Music too!?” I shrieked.

I turned to look at Keith, but he wasn’t sitting across from me anymore. He had dropped down beside me on one knee.

Instinctively, I shot up to my feet and took a step back. “What are you doing?”

He flashed that smile of his and pulled a velvet box out of his back pocket. “I think you know what I’m doing, Lana Miller.”

I gasped in shock as he opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was a silver band with two rose gold accents with a breathtaking sea glass gemstone perched in the middle.

“That’s for me?” I whispered.

“Of course it is. Can’t you tell? I had it made just for you. I knew there wasn’t a ring that already existed in the whole world that was suited for you.”

It did look like it was made for me. I hadn’t been hopelessly optimistic enough to imagine Keith proposing to me since I was sixteen. I couldn’t remember what kind of ring I pictured in those fantasies. But this one seemed perfect. Everything about the moment seemed perfect. There was only one man I had ever wanted to ask me to marry him, and it was Keith. Now, here he was—down on one knee, with a ring made just for me. It was happening.

“Lana Miller, we’ve been in love since high school,” he said. “We wasted entirely too much time fighting this and running away from each other. Now that you’re mine, I’m not going to let us waste another second. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. It’s okay if you’re not sure. I know you’re stubborn. But I swear to you, if you give me this chance…I will spend every single day winning you over. I’ll convince you or die trying.”

I shook my head as tears started streaming down my cheeks. “Oh, Keith. You’re such a fool. Don’t you understand that I’m already convinced?”

“You are?” He swallowed hard. “So does that mean…yes? You’ll marry me?”

“Well, you didn’t actually ask.”

“Dammit. I knew I’d screw this up,” he huffed. “Lana Miller, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” I rasped through happy tears.

He slipped the ring onto my finger, then shot up to his feet and pulled me into his arms. The band on the boat started to play something that sounded sweet and romantic. Keith kissed me, then swayed us back and forth to the melody. I laid my head on his shoulder and danced with him for the longest time, opening my eyes every so often to admire the lake, our lake, and how beautiful everything looked…how perfect it all was. Inside, my heart swelled as I thought about how perfect we were together.

Something in me knew from the moment I first saw Keith that he was the one for me. I did everything I could to try and run from it, and he gave plenty of good excuses along the way to do just that. We were both stubborn and infuriating, and to some people, we were probably pretty insufferable. But to each other, we were a match made in heaven.

I melted against his body as we danced and felt astonished at how lucky we were to have each other. For the rest of our lives, it was just me and him…The way it was always meant to be.

Okay I love this story. Here are some thoughts. There’s no way she would have not checked on Claire. Even with Chris’s assurance, without her answering there’s no way Lana would have been okay leaving it be just based on past experience.

Second, I really wish Keith had gone to LA to talk to Kyle when Lana had her blow up. Maybe Kyle could have given him some advice? IDK just seems like Kyle was a big part of Lana’s life and since Keith couldn’t go to Claire, it would make sense for him to go to someone else.

Also Chris is a dumb schmuck and I hate him with a passion, just so you know.

I would have liked a niece to Uncle talk in there, maybe the night he leaves dinner. You know they say kids say the darndest things. I think it would have been great for Em to have this great piece of wisdom for him. Maybe before he talks to Derek?

I really wanted to be mad at Keith with Lana at the beginning but the little bit of information that we were given wasn’t enough for me to truly be angry. I thought she was just being spiteful because she had an unrequited love. It didn’t make me like her very much at the beginning other than her fiery attitude, I absolutely loved that. I think it may be better to give more of the story up front so we can back Lana a bit. Even if it’s just that he took her and then ditched her without the full story.

Loved Lana and Keith’s small town romance?

Click here to get the next title in the Mullins Cove series, Cater To You. Or keep reading for a sneak peek of Collided, a steamy friends to lovers series by my author friend Portia Moore.

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