Page 62 of The Uncomplicated Café
After she finally settled on a white jersey-knit dress, she ambled down the beach, her sandals in hand. Her bare feet sunk into the soft sand, and the sharp, briny breeze brushed against her skin. She couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful afternoon, and her mind raced with possibilities for the day ahead. Would they finally discuss their earth-shattering kiss? Would he reveal what else he’d discussed with her father in Peru?
Nearly bursting with anticipation, she rounded a bend, slipping through a narrow crevice in a craggy rock formation, and emerged in a secluded cove beneath the Blessings Bay Lighthouse.
Her breath caught.
Jayce sat waiting on a quilted blanket, but he wasn’t alone. A dozen of her childhood stuffed animals sat beside him, arranged in a semicircle around a buffet of Oreos and juice boxes.
“What’s all this?” She flashed back to their pretend wedding in kindergarten, comparing the detailed memory to the display before her. Jayce had even remembered to stick a tiny bouquet of bougainvillea into the threadbare arms of Space Bear—the astronaut-themed teddy bear she’d dubbed her maid of honor. “And where on earth did you find all my stuffies? I thought I’d donated them years ago.”
“Turns out, your sentimental mom couldn’t part with them. She dug them out of storage for me.” He sprang from the blanket, and CeCe noticed the silk tie tucked into the collar of his T-shirt.
She laughed. “Pretty sure you know how to tie one of those by now.”
“True,” he conceded with a boyish grin. “But I was going for authenticity.” Proving his point, he held out a clumsily knotted dandelion crown. “It’s been a while since I made one of these.And your head’s a lot bigger than when we were five. I hope it fits.”
“Hey! My head’s not that big,” she protested playfully.
Jayce settled the crown on top of her curls, then stepped back to admire his handiwork. “Perfect. I was worried I wouldn’t have enough dandelions to make it all the way around.”
“If this is your idea of whispering sweet nothings on our wedding day, you have some work to do,” she teased, her whole body tingling in hopeful expectancy. Surely the nostalgic tableau meant something.
“You’re right. Pointing out the increase in your cranial circumference isn’t very romantic, is it? How’s this?” He cleared his throat and met her gaze. His expression shifted from playful to purposeful, and the intensity gave her chills.
“Nearly a decade ago, I stepped through that slit in the rocks and saw you standing in this exact spot, waiting for me.”
Her heart jolted. He was here? All those years ago, he hadn’t left early to avoid traffic after all? But instead of joining her, as planned, he’d left her on the beach alone. Why?
“When I saw you standing there, staring at the ocean, so beautiful, so painfully perfect, I knew I couldn’t do it: I couldn’t say goodbye. Not in person. Not looking into the eyes of the woman I loved.”
As he spoke, the world around her spun. Loved? He loved her? Did he still? Her head swam, struggling to process the revelation.
“I’d watched my parents’ relationship devolve from steadfast devotion to disgust, and the thought of repeating the pattern with you—” He broke off, shaking his head as if he couldn’t bear the thought. “Out of fear, I conflated their situation with ours, believing we’d face the same fate. And I couldn’t lose you, Toto. So, I chose the coward’s way out. For the next ten years, I gavethe greatest performance of my life as a man who wasn’t wholly, desperately, undeniably in love with his best friend.”
At the sincerity in his eyes, her breathing slowed. Tears blurred her vision. All this time, she’d clung to her own misguided conclusion, convinced he hadn’t met her on the beach that day due to disinterest—that she hadn’t meant enough to him. She thought of the text he’d sent, claiming he didn’t want anything to change between them. She’d been so quick to believe him, so willing to bottle her feelings back inside. And why? Because of insecurity? Because she couldn’t fathom the possibility that someone like Jayce could actually care for her as much as she cared for him?
Her chest ached for what could have been, but she pushed the regret aside, not wanting a single what-if to mar this moment.
“Cecelia Desirée Dupree, I recently asked you to be my fake fiancée, but what I didn’t tell you was that, more than anything, I wanted our engagement to be real.”
Her eyes widened as he dropped to one knee in the sand.
“Thanks for holding on to this, Space Bear.” He withdrew a small square box tucked behind the bouquet in the bear’s arms.
CeCe wasn’t sure if she was awake or dreaming as Jayce flipped open the box, revealing an antique moonstone ring—his grandmother’s ring. A ring she’d admired—and even tried on—on more than one occasion.
“I’ve spent a lifetime fighting my feelings for the sake of our friendship,” Jayce admitted, plucking the ring from its velvety resting place. “And in the words of the great Mr. Spock, to continue to do so would be highly illogical.”
Caught off guard by hisStar Trekreference, CeCe laughed, joy bubbling out of her as light and airy as the frothy surf lapping the shore. Was this really happening?
“Before you ask if it’s too soon, or point out that we haven’t even been on a date yet, let me make my case.” He held her gaze, more earnest than she’d ever seen him before. “We know everything there is to know about each other. We’ve stood by each other at our worst and our best. There’s nothing a first date will tell me about you that I haven’t already known for years. Most importantly, I know that I love you. And I don’t want to spend another second pretending I don’t. Besides,” he added with a mischievous grin. “I already have your father’s blessing.”
“You do? When did you…” Her voice curtailed as she answered her own question. Her father had alluded to there being more to his conversation with Jayce. Had Jayce really flown all the way to South America to ask for her hand in marriage?
It all felt too surreal, too close to a dream come true. She tried to anchor herself in the feel of the warm sand, the wind in her hair, anything to cement reality.
“So, what do you say, Toto?” He grounded her with his loving gaze. “Will you be my best friendandmy wife?”
For several seconds, she merely stared, overwhelmed with emotion. How many times had she longed for this exact moment, believing it would never happen? How deeply had she loved this man without ever breathing a word?
