Page 49 of It Started with a Sunset
He had filmed a bunch of clips of things he had in his apartment that Summer had seen but hadn’t known the story behind. Things that he had kept for years, or sometimes decades, that meant a lot to him. He knew thatthingsstaying important to him over a long period of time wasn’t a direct correlation toherstaying important to him forever, and it was all probably rather cheesy, but he’d filmed it anyway.
Then he filmed a bunch of clips where he’d held an object that represented something they did together and talked about what it had meant to him and how it had made him fall more fully for her. He’d held one of the pamphlets they’d given the students after the campus tour and talked about how watching her in her element helped him realize that there was a deep, vibrant side of her that he hadn’t known existed before and how intrigued it made him.
He’d performed the small bit of the song and dance he’d accidentally seen her do in her Summergraham for Pavani when they’d visited her in the hospital, even though he couldn’t really pull it off and felt ridiculous doing it, and talked about how it helped him to realize how much she cared for others. He held up one of the jump ropes he’d gone back to Taheny’s Toys to get, and told about how it gave him a small glimpse into how strong she was, and how much it inspired him to be less rigid.
He’d held the receipt from the Indian restaurant and talked about how deeply he’d connected with her, held a Welcome Center drawstring backpack over his head like all the students had when the sprinklers came on in the ballroom and talked about how he loved her ability to adapt, a LBSU growl towel and talked about watching the sunset with her and their first kiss and how he knew at that moment that he would forever be in love with her.
He’d also talked about their bowling date, her dress, their first dance overlooking the city lights, having dinner with his family, and seeing her at work every day, and how each moment made him fall more hopelessly in love with her. He’d even set the whole video to the music of the playlist they’d danced to on the top of Lookout Hill.
He’d gotten the video all pieced together and had just been adding the music when Deja told him that Summer was on her way. He’d planned to edit it until it was perfect, get the big meeting room decked out with all the objects that had been in the video, and then enlist Valeria’s help to get Summer there, but everything was suddenly on a sped-up timeline.
But that was okay. He was adaptable, too.
He’d clicked to generate the movie so he could copy it to his tablet and get it to the big meeting room, hoping it would finish before she arrived. He might have made it, too, but the file had somehow gotten corrupted, and he didn’t have the hours it would take to recreate it. Everett had already texted him letting him know that Summer was in the meeting room, and video or not, he wasn’t about to waste another minute before telling her how he felt.
He walked from his office to the Welcome Center lobby and then went down the hallway leading to the big meeting room. He stopped just before he got to the door, ran his hands down his shirt and thighs to make sure everything was straight and that his palms weren’t sweaty. He probably should’ve run by the restroom first to check his hair, especially after running his hands through it in corrupted-file-frustration, but he’d just have to hope that it was fine enough—Summer was waiting for him on the other side of the wall.
So he took a deep breath and then walked into the room.
The lights were at half-brightness, but Summer still seemed to glow from where she stood in the middle of the room, right next to a blanket spread on the floor, wearing her Welcome Center polo, dark wash jeans, and blue and yellow-striped wedge heels that were anything but sensible yet so perfectly Summer. She bit her lip, her face showing a tentative hopefulness that he felt in his own expression.
Then a smile quickly spread across her face at seeing him. That smile seemed to write itself on his heart, instantly taking its place in the spot where forever memories resided. She was sheer perfection. He could stand there, soaking her in, always.
But he also needed to talk to her and felt himself being pulled to her. He glanced down at the blanket and the strange pile of vending machine goods on it, making sure he wasn’t going to step on it.
Summer glanced down at it, too, and let out a breathy chuckle. “It’s supposed to be a picnic. Those flashlights were going to be candles.”
Both their eyes flew to the door as they heard Tess say, “I’m so sorry I’m late. We had Ava’s dance recital, and—did we miss it?” She and her husband, Dane, were hurrying into the room, each holding one of their five-year-old’s hands.
Pavani shook her head and beckoned them to the back of the room.
Brock looked at the crowd of nine people at the back of the room, all watching them with anticipation and excitement like they were watching the climax of a movie they’d been dying to see. He had asked them all for their help, but he hadn’t really anticipated them being in the room for this part. “Is it weird that everyone is here?” It wasn’t exactly what he’d envisioned when he’d pictured this moment.
Summer shrugged and nodded. “But it’s also nice.”
He glanced back at them and nodded, too. It kind of was. It was like he and Summer had their own support section of people they cared about, cheering them on.
“Summer—” he said at the same time Summer said, “I wanted to—”
“You go first,” she said.
He nodded. “I made a video for you.” Her eyebrows rose in anticipation, so he quickly forged on. “But things didn’t quite go according to plan. I wanted to do a big grand gesture—you know, like Lloyd standing outside Diane’s window inSay Anything, holding up the giant boom box, or when Edward pulled up in a white limo inPretty Womanand ignored his fear of heights to climb up the fire escape to bring flowers to Vivian, or when Max gave Lorelei a thousand yellow daisies inGilmore Girls.”
“You watchedGilmore Girls?”
“I wanted the perfect way to show you how much I care for you and that I will always be there for you.” He knew she would’ve loved something like that. It would’ve been right up her alley. Some of the ideas he’d come up with would’ve been outside of his comfort zone, but that didn’t matter if it helped her to know how he felt.
“I wanted to do something that let you know that you are the most incredible woman I’ve ever known and that I’ve fallen for you a little more every day. Something to let you know that I won’t push; I know it could take a while to truly show you that it’s you, Summer. It’ll always be you and no one else. Something to show you that I will be here for you in whatever capacity you need me. Something to show you that I love you. I wanted to do something big.”
His heart hammered in his ears. He searched her face, wishing he could hear her thoughts and know how she felt about him. About all of this.
She took a quick step forward, closing the gap between them, her hands flying to the sides of his face, her eyes searching his. She pulled one hand back to swipe at a tear that started to run down her cheek, then placed her hand back on the side of his face.
“I don’t need something big like that. What’s most important is for you to know that I was wrong. So wrong. And so afraid. But I figured everything out. And now I get it, Brock. I get how people can fall in love and know they’ll love someone forever. I never really got it before, but I get it now, Brock. I love you, and all that matters is that you know that.”
He searched her eyes and saw the conviction behind her words. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her close as her warm, soft lips met his. They had kissed so many times in the past few weeks, but this one felt so different. It felt sure, confident. It felt like promises. It felt like love.
After a long moment that he didn’t want to ever end, Summer pulled back and smiled at him. And then everyone in the back of the room—all the people he’d somehow forgotten were even present—started cheering. Loudly. With clapping and shouts and whistling, as if the Aquamoose just scored the winning touchdown.
