Page 83 of Reformation

“Well, then, good. You’re really going to like what I have planned,” Garrett’s voice shocks me a bit as I turn to see him approaching our table. I swear every time I see him he makes my breath hitch. The sight of him in a crisp white shirt, khaki shorts, and boat shoes should not turn me on the way it does… but on Garrett? I’m freaking on fire and ready to jump him in the middle of this restaurant.

How is this man mine? I ask myself that question every day. I don’t know the answer, but I know that I’m going to enjoy every second I have with him, and hope that there are only more to come.

I turn around and tilt my head up, ready to accept the kiss I know he’s going to give me. Which he does, and I’m pretty sure I hear the rest of my table let out an “aww.”

“Are you ready to go?” he asks.

“Yup! Let me just get my check.”

He shakes his head. “Already taken care of. And so is everyone else’s. Congratulations on another school year, guys. Have a great summer.”

It takes ten minutes to complete the rounds of “thank-yous” and goodbye hugs, but before I know it, I’m sitting in Garrett’s car as we make our way to the Norfolk Airport.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going? You know I’ll see it when we print our boarding passes.”

“Can’t a man want to surprise his woman?”

“He can. And he has. You know how I am with surprises. What if I don’t like it? What if I’ve already been there? You know I don’t have a passport, right? What if Cassie screwed up packing my suitcase? What if there’s a tropical storm about to come and we get trapped there?”

“Woman, it’s like you think I don’t know you,” he says, lacing my fingers through his. “I know you’ll like it because I know you. You have not been there because you told me that you haven’t traveled outside the continental United States, but you won’t need a passport. Kelly double-checked Cassie’s packing and signed off on it. And I checked the weather. Sunny skies for the next week when we make it to the Virgin Islands.”

I’m stunned for a second, processing all that he’s told me.

“The Virgin Islands?”

He nods. “Seven days and six nights at an all-inclusive resort with a beach view. Sound OK to you?”

I shrug. “It’s fine.”

He sneaks a look at me. “Fine? It’s just fine?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” I say, looking out the window, trying to hold in my smile. “But if I can’t find anything to eat on the menu, or fall in love with you even more, it’s all your fault.”

I finally look at Garrett, who is all smiles as he brings the hand he’s holding to his lips, placing a deep kiss on top of my hand.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

Epilogue

Garrett

Seven months later

“Are you sure this is going to work?”

Cullen’s question takes me by surprise. “What do you mean, do I think it’s going to work? Of course, it’s going to work.”

My nephew shrugs. “I mean, do you think she’ll say yes? Are you just doing this in front of a lot of people so she won’t say no? She’s too nice to tell you no in front of a big room, ya know.”

“He has a point, Dr. Dixon,” Anthony chimes in. “She would never embarrass you like that. She doesn’t even like to reprimand her students in front of others. You’re in the clear. But she might call it off later.”

When I asked Cullen, Anthony, and a few other of her former students to help me when I proposed to Paige, I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. I figured she loves her kids and how memorable would it be if they set the stage before I got down on one knee and asked her to be my wife?

Little did I know that I’d get a mini peanut gallery full of opinions that caused me to question everything about my life and my choices.

“Quit giving Dr. Dixon a hard time,” Penelope says, smacking Cullen on the arm before giving me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We got this.”

At her words, the boys, especially Cullen, get back in their places, ready to enact our plan.

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