Page 112 of Secrets in Love
Never had I seen such a gorgeous man, and never had I felt more gorgeous.
He was wearing a tux, looked as though he’d somehow snuck in a fresh haircut, and was beaming. My hair was pinned up, but a few loose curls, a mixture of design and tempestuousness, sprung free, framing my face.
The gown Scarlett and Teddy helped Nate pick, via what was apparently the most chaotic video call ever, was so me and fit like a glove, showing off every curve that Nate loved, and had kissed, so much. My makeup was light, natural. Me.
With the sheer terror I felt in my veins lightened when I finally took the last step, Nate broke out into a dazzling smile, yet again ceasing the pounding in my chest.
Then my view morphed from Nate’s face to his mum’s as she kissed me repeatedly. “You look stunning, dear. I’m so bloody happy and proud, Evie.And I want you to know, whatever happens after this, wherever you and Nate decide to settle, Barry and I will be fine. We just want the two of you to be happy.” She kissed my cheek, then tutted as she rubbed it. “Now I’ve gotten my lipstick on you. Gah, I can’t believe we’re here. All those weeks Nate struggled, working himself to the bone at our place and at yours too. I never dreamed it would—”
“What? Did you and he work at our place?” I interrupted.
“Saoirse’s garden. Didn’t he tell you? He was looking after it when he came home. Spent hours there, cleaning it all up, re-sowing the lawns, and reviving the flower beds. I kept telling him to stop and rest, but he wouldn’t. He wanted it to be perfect for you. Just like he did today.”
“He…did?” Nate had replanted my mum’s garden. Had spent hours toiling at my old home after working all day on his own, and he let me believe it was Janet.
Even when he didn’t know if I’d ever see it. Even though I’d broken his heart. He still did it.
Nate cleared his throat. “Mum, could you let go of Evie now? I’ve kind of got something to ask her.”
“Oh, yes, yes. I’m sorry. It’s just…I’m just so happy.” After a final hug and kiss, I was released and sent onward.
“I can’t believe you did this. It’s perfect,”I whispered when I stood at his feet.
“You’re perfect. You look like an angel.” He looked around the room, leaned into my ear, then whispered, “One I can’t wait to defile later.”
“Christ,” muttered Finn, who was already a puddle of tears. “You need to work on your whispering, Nathaniel.”
I accepted Nate’s outstretched, trembling hand and was immediately pulled into a deep kiss I would never have wanted to end…if I wasn’t about to become his wife.
He then dropped to one knee.
“It’s taken me twenty years, a million silent prayers, and countless mistakes. I know I am doing this the wrong way round, but somehow that makes it even more us.”
“Nate.”
“Aoife Mary Austen. I have loved you my whole life. You’re my best friend, my everything, and I can’t wait to share every damn second of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, Nate. A thousand times, yes.”
Two years later
On the last day of summer, and with a smile I’d worn with more regularity in the past two years than any other time during my life, I stood and stretched. My weary bones cracked after hours of writing in the study that afforded me a million-dollar view over the Pacific Ocean—and of the loves of my life.
Daddy’s little shadow, Brittney, wriggled on the ground, awkwardly slipping into her tiny wet suit, then grabbing her board and running to the water. Her adoring audience—Nate, her daddy; her cousins, Iris, Ben, and their baby sister, Shelby; and finally, Brittany’s own sister, her twin sister, Emily—applauded as she paddled her boogie board out to the shallows, then nailed the first wave back to shore.
Our fraternal twins each took after one of their parents more than each other. One blonde, one brunette, one considerably smaller, and at almost two, it was clear their personalities were equally opposed. Britty was an outdoorsy extrovert who loved mud and dirt and adventure, while Em was more inclined to creative pursuits—dance, drawing, writing. Like her sister, Emily also loved the water but was too busy coloring to join in. The lower half of her body was also buried in sand.
“You home, Eves?” a raspy, tired voice traveled up the stairs.
“I’m in the study, Finn. Don’t bother coming up. I’m on my way down.”
I found my hungover, sunburnt brother in the kitchen, reaching for an ice-cold hair of the dog from the fridge. He and Nate had a two-man farewell slash early birthday party last night, and to say he was looking a little worn out would be an understatement.
“Don’t let Scarlett catch you with that.” I smirked, nodding to the beer. “Let me quote you from last night. ‘I promise, Red. Nomorebooze,Red. I’m doing a dry July, Red.’”
“Did I? When? I don’t remember that.”
“Since you didn’t remember it was January, not July, that doesn’t shock me.” I hit Finn in the back of his head and rejoiced in the shudder of pain and forehead grasp it provoked. “It was around two am, when she was trying to get you out of the bathtub you had decided to sleep in.”
