Page 122 of Mr. Fixer Upper
When the scene changed again, Paige flinched. She knew exactly what day it was when she saw herself watching the SUV roll up to the curb. The camera captured Paige’s ashen face when Meeghan strutted up to Gannon and laid one on him.
“You might wonder why I’m showing you this when you already witnessed it firsthand. What I wanted you to see was this…”
Meeghan had sauntered over to look at the footage, Paige had taken off, and Gannon had unfrozen. Swiping a hand over his mouth, he wiped the layers of gloss away and stormed over to her.
“Aren’t you happy to see me, sexy?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded. But Gannon wasn’t looking at her. He was looking for someone else. “What part of stay the hell away from me don’t you understand?” he demanded.
Meeghan sidled up to him again. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to play,” she purred.
Gannon’s face was a mask of anger and revulsion. “I told you before, I want nothing to do with you so you’d better get used to that fact.”
The voiceover began again. “Paige, I know we talked it through, but I needed you to see, really see that there hasn’t been room in my life for anyone but you since the day I met you. And that’s why I did this house for you.”
Paige brought her hands to her mouth, shaking her head.
“I saw it, and I knew it was yours.” He gave a little half grin. “Ours.”
“Oh, my God.” It all made sense now. He’d asked her opinion on every room. She’d chosen half of the finishes in the house and had zero suspicions. How had she not seen it?
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” the Gannon in the video said. “But the first few times I told you I loved you didn’t go well. So I wanted to make sure that I got it right this time.”
Paige’s tears weren’t silent anymore.
“Paige?”
She turned at her name and saw Gannon, in the flesh, standing behind the couch. She swiped at the tears that just wouldn’t seem to stop falling.
“I love you, Gannon.” She blurted out the words with no preamble, no buildup. But there was no keeping them locked in anymore. “I’m in love with you, and I didn’t realize it until I saw your dining room wall.”
“Ourdining room wall.” He smiled and strolled around the couch, his hands in his pockets.
“You’re insane. This can’t be happening.” Paige shivered, wanting to reach out and melt into his arms.
“Here. Catch,” he said. He slipped one hand from his pocket and threw something to her.
She caught it out of midair and held it up. It was a keychain with keys on it. “For the house?”
He nodded, silent and waiting.
She could barely see through her tears. The keys were warm in her hand. She brushed her thumb over them and felt something other than key. Holding the keychain up again, Paige gasped.
The diamond was a fat solitaire with a halo of smaller diamonds on a simple band. She bent at the waist, desperate for breath and not believing her reality.
“I’ll get down on one knee if you want me to,” Gannon offered. “But we both know it’s not my style. So how about I tell you what I want, and you tell me if it’s something that fits.”
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
“I want you to be my wife. I want us to work really fucking hard. I want to have kids with you. I don’t know how many, but they’ll probably be loud and stubborn like us. I want to call you first whenever I have news. I want to spend the rest of my life just trying to keep up with you.”
He shoved a hand through his short hair. He was nervous. Gannon King was shaking in his boots. “You’re the best person I’ve ever known in my life, and if you tell Nonni that, I’ll call you a dirty liar. But youarethe best, Paige. You’re smart and driven and so damn sexy and strong. You put up with me without crying all the time—except for right now. And I can’t think of anyone in the world I’d rather share my life and this house with.”
Paige tried to mop at the tears with the sleeve of her sweater still clutching the ring in her hand.
“And just so you know,” Gannon said, “the house is yours. Even if you say no. But I hope the memories of sex on the kitchen counter would haunt you forever if you go that route. So what do you say?”
“You propose to me by showing me footage of another woman kissing you, and then you call me a dirty liar and threaten to haunt me if I say no.”
