Page 79 of Forever Fallen

This was all so breathtakingly beautiful, and she could hear the soft sounds of music in the distance along with the rustle of the weeping willow in the faint breeze, reminding her of fairies.

This was magical.

“What’s going on?” Sophie whispered, staring at Ryan’s beloved face, completely stunned and trying so hard not to get her hopes up for something that might not be true or happening.

“I thought maybe we could renew our vows and tackle starting our marriage again – the way it should have been done - if we weren’t in such a hurry the first round,” Ryan said tenderly. “I want to hang on every word, remember every moment, and do this the right way this time, Sophie.”

She couldn’t speak as she met his eyes, seeing the love shining there, as he got down on one knee and looked up at her. His hand slipped into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.

He was proposing?

They were already married and… this was the surprise?

This is what he was doing?

He was planning all of this when she accused him of lying or cheating that afternoon? Sophie had suspected the worst, immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion, and had struggled with it the last day or so… when he was right there, before her.

She felt terrible!

“I’m so sorry…” she whispered tearfully – only to see the shock on his face seconds before he started to open the ring box.

“What?” Ryan strangled out, getting to his feet.

There were several horrified gasps behind them, and it dawned on Sophie how this looked to everyone – including Ryan.

“No… I mean ‘YES’,” Sophie stammered, seeing his incredulous expression and the pain in his eyes. He thought she was turning him down?

“Oh my gosh, Ryan, my timing is terrible! I was apologizing for the other day and what I said. Yes, yes, yes to whatever you were fixing to say. This is what you were doing? You were planning all of this?”

“Yes… I want to marry you again – the right way,” he began quietly. “If things had been normal, we would have dated. I would have called you, taken you out to dinner, given you flowers, stolen kisses, and eventually proposed. We would have had a storybook wedding full of memories… instead of that rushed disaster that neither of us was prepared for.”

“Disaster, huh?” she chuckled nervously, smiling up at him at the memory of the moment she took his name. She hadnt even known his last name until it was all over with and was signing the marriage license. “It was quite a mess, wasn’t it?”

“What are they talking about?” someone whispered loudly behind them, and they ignored it.

Sophie stared at Ryan, realizing her whole world, her life, was right here before her… and head-over-heels in love with her – and she with him.

“I wanted to right that wrong for you, for us,” he murmured. “I want to say our vows, look back on this moment, and tell our children someday about how much I love their mother…”

Sophie dragged in her breath at his words.

“That I loved her enough to marry her twice in the first few weeks I met her,” Ryan smiled tenderly. “Will you marry me again, Sophie? I want to put a ring on your finger, tell the world you are mine, and kiss my bride with all the feelings deep inside of me…”

“Should I be ‘shy’ this time around?” she teased tearfully.

“Please no…” he grinned. “My heart couldn’t take it.”

They stood there, sharing a knowing look as she fought back a laugh. They had churned through their vows as a perfunctory thing that had to be done, skipped the rings, remembering how he’d lurched forward and kissed her quickly… and how they’d very nearly skipped the kiss, too.

“Is Reaper…smiling? Holy cow! He is…”

“Should I be scared?”

“I thought you said he was brutal and cold-blooded? This is so darn sweet.”

“It’s the end of the world… isn’t it?”

“The apocalypse is coming… I’m tellin’ ya!”

---