Page 120 of Sweet Ruin

“Very good. I know it can be scary, but I promise you I won’t let anything happen to her.”

The way my father spoke, it sounded like he’d move heaven and earth for my mom, and I believed him. I still wanted to be there to help though.

“I want to move back home,” I said to Matthew. “I want to be here with her through all of this.”

A crease formed in Matthew’s brow. “We’ll have to see what your mom says.”

It felt like he was trying to put me off as though he thought I could be talked out of it. But I had already made my mind up, and there was nothing either of my parents could say to convince me otherwise. So, I simply nodded, knowing it wouldn’t change anything.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about her condition sooner,” Matthew said. “But it was what your mom wanted, and I had to respect her request.”

“Yeah, she told me, and I understand,” I said. “She also told me you never got her letter about me, and she made you lie about that too.”

“Yes.” Matthew’s cheeks pinked slightly with embarrassment. “Your mom was the one to reach out to me. I wish it had been under better circumstances, but I can’t tell you the way my heart leapt out of my chest when I heard her voice for the first time in so many years.”

“I’m surprised you remembered who she was,” I said.

“How could I ever forget your mother?”

I swallowed because Matthew sounded so serious as he spoke, as though it was truly impossible for him to have let my mom slip from his mind even after all those years. Still, there was also a soft look in his eyes like I’d never seen before.

“I thought about her constantly over the years,” he said. “Sometimes I wondered if perhaps time might have morphed my memories of her. Made her into some sort of dream or fantasy that didn’t really exist as I imagined. But the moment I heard her voice and the first time I saw her... Well, she was everything I remembered and so much more.”

I smiled at him. I knew how incredible my mom was, but I’d never heard someone else talk about her like this.

“I’ve always regretted that life took us away from each other,” he continued. “And I wish I’d had the courage back then to walk away from my family’s legacy and stay with her. I wish I’d known about you and could have spent every day of these last seventeen years in Rapid Bay with you both. I made a mistake when I let her go. It’s not one I intend to repeat.”

I frowned, wondering what he was getting at.

“Isobel, there’s something I want to ask you.” His voice suddenly sounded anxious, a light tremor rippling his words. If this was more bad news, I wasn’t sure I was capable of hearing it.

“I know this might not be the best time. But after everything that’s happened, I don’t know if I can wait.”

I swallowed down my nerves and nodded for him to continue. “What is it?”

He was staring down into his hands, and he slowly lifted his eyes to mine. “I want to ask your mom to marry me, and I’m hoping you’ll give me your blessing.”

My eyes went wide with shock. “You are?”

He nodded. “I never got over your mother, and from the moment I saw her again, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. And with you. I want us to be a real family.”

I was speechless, and it took me a moment to realize I wanted the same. Somewhere along the way, I’d grown to love my father and couldn’t imagine my future without him. I wanted us to be a family too, and the thought of him being with my mom only made my heart swell. Her happiness was the most important thing in the world to me, and I felt like she would have that forever with my dad.

“So, what do you think?” Matthew asked. My silence seemed to be making him even more nervous. “Do I have your blessing? Because I would never dream of asking your mom without it. I—”

“Yes, you have it,” I grinned, my eyes wet with tears. “Of course, you have it.”

A smile flashed onto his lips, and his eyes sparkled. “Really?”

“Yes.” I sat upright and pulled Matthew into a hug. It was somewhat awkward because I was sitting in a hospital bed, but the way he embraced me made the tears in my eyes start to fall down my cheeks.

He seemed ignited with both excited and nervous energy as he moved back from me. “What do you think she’ll say?”

“I think she’ll say yes.”

My heart leaped at the sound of my mom’s voice. Matthew stood and spun round to reveal her. She was still lying in the hospital bed across from me, but her eyes were finally open, and she was smiling up at my dad.

“Yes, Matt, of course, I’ll marry you,” she said.

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