Page 106 of Cross My Heart
Knowing I will not be able to sleep until I’ve read it, I lean into Dexter and read through two-hundred and fifty-two days of our love story.Sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, all of it having an effect on my heart. Reaching the end, I realize it has a false back.
“What is this, Dex?” I ask, noticing a tiny little ribbon sticking out of a small square cut into the back flap of the book.
“Open it,” he tells me.
Pulling on the ribbon, all the air in my lungs comes out in a whoosh. Attached to the silky red fabric that says ‘Lanie, will you marry me?’is the most elegantly beautiful oval solitaire diamond ring I have ever seen. Looking up from the book, I notice Dex has dropped to his knee in front of me.
“Before you, Lanie, I was sure true love didn’t exist. I thought I was content living my life for my kids, never opening my heart to anyone again. Then you waltzed in here with a sass I hadn’t known I was missing in my life. Slowly, you healed my broken little family, and nothing would make me happier than to officially make you a part of the family you saved.”He pauses.
“Before you answer, you should know, this was a group effort. The day after your little t-shirt stunt, Mimi, Pete, Julia, and all the guys went with me by facetime and helped me pick out this ring. There was a lot of negotiating that went into it. In the end, we all decided this was the one for you. So, tell me, Lanie, will marry me and be our forever?”
Sniffling, I drop to my knees in front of Dex. “You have something backwards, Dex. I didn’t heal your family, you were never broken, just bent a little. You guys saved me when I didn’t know I could be saved. You gave me courage when I felt weak. You gave me confidence when I thought that part of me was lost forever. You gave me love when I didn’t know I could be loved. You, Dex, made me whole, and there is nothing I want more than to become your wife.”
Dexter doesn’t wait a minute more to place the ring on my slightly swollen finger and kisses me, hard. All of a sudden, I hear cheering and screaming and possibly crying.
“What the heck is that?” I ask.
Dex looks sheepishly at the coffee table, where I see tiny faces all in a grid on his phone. Everyone we love is on a group facetime and just witnessed the best moment of my life. “She said yes, guys,” he tells them in confirmation. He looks back at me and shrugs, “it was only fair, I made them all a part of our story from day one, it wouldn’t have been very kind for them to miss the best part.”
“Dex, I think the best is yet to come,” I tell him.
“I do believe you’re right, fiancée,” he replies.
Fiancée.Never in a million years did I think taking a nanny job in North Carolina would lead me here.Now that I am, though, I don’t ever plan to leave.
Epilogue
Dexter
Aweek after I proposed to Lanie, she informed me that Julia was coming to visit. Then she told me Julia was moving here permanently with her son. Lanie was hoping it would be okay for Julia and Charlie to stay in the guest house while she looked for a place of her own. Of course, I said yes. Having Lanie’s family close by was going to be an answer to our prayers once these babies arrived, I knew from experience.
“Honey, we’re home,” I hear Julia sing out as they walk through the door. Walking towards the foyer, I greet them both with a hug.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” I tell her, “where’s Charlie?”
“I decided to leave him with Mom and Dad for the week,” Julia tells me.
“Now that she has official permission from work, she can make the move at any time,” Lanie tells me, happiness filling her voice.
“We told you, the guest house is yours for as long as you want it. It just sits empty otherwise, and it is the perfect size for both of you.” I remind Julia.
“Thanks, Dex, I really appreciate that.” The more time I spend with Julia, the more I appreciate all her quirks and insecurities.
“Come on, let's show you around, Lanie said you wanted to start baby-proofing before Charlie gets here, so I left a box of supplies on the kitchen counter for you. It’s a long story, but I had a lot of extras,” I tell Julia, and Lanie laughs.
* * *
Four daysinto Julia prepping the guest house for her and Charlie, she comes bursting through the kitchen door. She has a way of entering a room that could rivalKramerfromSeinfeld.
“Lanie,” she screams at full volume before realizing we are both sitting at the island.
Shaking my head, I try not to let the groan escape, that is apparently how Julia always enters a room.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there,” she says.
“You didn’t look,” I mumble, resulting in a shot to the ribs from Lanie’s elbow.
“Lanes, I just remembered what you need! Can I borrow your car?” she asks.
