Page 30 of Cut to the Heart of It
I stared up at him for a moment, still as board, then burst into a roaring laughter. Tears squeezed from the corner of my eyes as I failed to compose to myself. When I was finally able to open my eyes for a moment, I stopped laughing almost immediately when I saw his face.
He wasn’t laughing…or smiling. Under a cocked eyebrow, his blue eyes gleamed.
“You’re not serious?” I asked, a nervous chuckle leaving my throat as I brushed my palms over my thighs.
Johnny knelt down again, pushing himself between my thighs and grabbed my chin, his eyes locked on mine. “CJ, I want you with me always. And you can live out your dream of being a hobbit writer in the woods.”
Giggles erupted from me. “Johnny, I can’t just run away. What if you got sick of me? I need to find a new job or something. It’s not like I’d be protected.”
“Protected? You’re worried I’ll leave you high and dry?” His lips thinned and the gleam in his eye saddened.
I squeezed his shoulders. “No, I just mean, well, maybe but that sounds so horrible. I’d have no leg to stand on if you decided to give me the boot.”
“Okay so let’s get married.”
My body flew to a standing position, sending the chair rolling behind me and Johnny struggling to balance before he stood, too. “Okay, now I know you’re crazy. Let’s finish dinner and try to enjoy the weekend because next week I have to find a new job.”
He grabbed my hands, pulling each one to his lips and softly kissing my knuckles. “CJ, I may be crazy, but I also am stubborn. I know what I want. And I will spend the rest of our days proving it to you, if you’ll have me.”
My heart swelled but my stomach was doing summersaults.
“CJ,” he said before dropping down to one knee, “will you marry me?”
My breathing stopped. Pressure rushed behind my eyes.
“It may not be exactly how you imagined having a family, but I have a son who will love you, and one day he’ll have a family. You won’t have to worry about any asshole boss. You can write to your heart’s content, and I’ll worship you as long as you’ll let me and respect any times you don’t. This doesn’t have to be complicated. We aren’t complicated.” He stood and grabbed my face with both hands, tipping it up toward him. “You can even bring your dog.”
“Johnny, I—”
“Just say yes. Say the words and we’ll go this weekend.”
My mind moved a hundred miles a minute trying to wrap my head around it. “You know what, I screwed myself overthinking things my whole life, even when they didn’t feel right. This feels right.”
The edge of his mouth turned up. “What are you saying, CJ?”
I let the tears roll and smiled as I answered him. “I’m saying yes. Yes, I’ll marry you!”
He leaned down and kissed me hard. “So, Vegas?”
Laughing against his lips, I asked, “Vegas? What? When?”
“Now. This weekend. I can fly us out and we can have a moving truck back here when we get back.”
“Are you serious? This weekend?”
He pulled me close, his beard chaffing my chin. “Why wait? Even if you want a bigger wedding later, we can do that. But let’s make it official, now.” He rubbed his nose over mine before pecking my lips.
“What about my mom? I don’t care about a big wedding, but my mom has to see.”
“As long as she’ll fly, she will come with us.”
I stood for a moment and let it wash over me…I was about to marry a lumberjack then move to the woods to be a writer. “Pinch me.”
He kissed me, but gently bit at my lip. “I’d rather bite you, but what was that for?”
“To make sure this isn’t all a dream.”
“It’s a dream alright. My dream come true. Now, let’s get packing. Call your mom.”
