Unraveled (Holding On Book 3) (26 page)

“I think it’
s sweet,” Quinn sighed. “Now, let me help you to the bedroom. He should be back by the time you wake up.”

~*~*~

Carly’s eyes fluttered opened and she smiled. Jesse was obviously home because she could smell the aroma of something scrumptious being made for dinner. She rolled over and very carefully hoisted herself out of bed. Her ribs were still sore but they weren’t causing her nearly as much pain as they had at first. Still, a small task like lifting herself out of bed wasn’t easy.

Once up, she shuffled across the room. The bedroom door was cracked open and she could hear clattering coming from the kitchen.
She slowly made her way down the hall, stopping when she reached the kitchen door.

“Hey!” Jesse said, looking truly surprised to see her. “I didn’t think you’d be up quite yet.”
He set aside the knife he was holding as Carly slowly moved into the kitchen. He crossed it to greet her. Carefully, he pulled her into a gentle hug, still mindful of her sore ribs.

She hugged him back,
enjoying the way he rubbed his cheek against hers. She peeked over his shoulder even as he tried to subtly steer her back out of the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

He frowned, realizing she’d caught a glimpse of the dining area in the background. “I just wanted to make you dinner. Chicken Parmigiana. It’s still your favorite, right?”

She nodded and stopped moving her feet, causing them both to come to an abrupt stop. “It is. But what is all of this?”

She squirmed out of his grasp. He let her go easily, worried he’d hurt her damaged body if he held on too tightly. With a few slow strides, she crossed the room. The table was set, complete with a tablecloth. A vase of her favorite flowers adorned the center. A bottle of champagne rested in a silver bucket at the end of the table. Candles were lit throughout the room, casting a romantic amber glow.

“This is so beautiful! But why are you doing this? I don’t need this,” she said stubbornly. She was afraid she was going to overstay her welcome if he thought he needed to constantly pamper her like this. He’d been doing so since the day he brought her home.
Although, tonight, with the candles and champagne, he’d really gone overboard.

“I’m allowed to do nice things for you,” he said as he gave her a playful nudge.

She blinked as she looked around the room. “But…” she said, feeling embarrassed, “I feel like I never do anything for you. I haven’t done
anything
for you.”

“Sure you have,” he said as he came up behind her, looping his hands around her waist. “You gave me a chance. That’s what I wanted from you. For you to give me a chance to show you we could work. And we do, don’t
we?”

She nodded as she leaned back into him.

“You’re too good to me,” she murmured. “I feel like I haven’t done anything to deserve you.”

“Hey,” he said sternly, “don’t do that.
”

A feeling of unworthiness overwhelmed her. It wasn’t that she felt she’d been a bad girlfriend. It was just that Jesse had been
so
good to her. He’d stayed by her side as much as he could while she was still in the hospital. Now, he’d barely left her side since she had gotten out. Her heart swelled as she realized just how much she loved him. She wasn’t sure there were even words to express her feelings for him. Her eyes began to prickle. Ever since her accident, she’d found that she was far more emotional than she used to be.

Perhaps because she was reminded again of how fragile life was.
The driver of the other vehicle hadn’t fared as well as she had. He was still in the hospital and his road to recovery was going to be long and bumpy.

“It’s just…” she started to argue but he cut her off.

“Come here,” he said quietly. “You look like you need to sit down.” He carefully led her into the living room.

She gasped in surprise. A fire was blazing and more candles were lit. A quilt was placed on the floor in front of the fire again. Flowers were artfully strewn around the edges of the quilt.

“What is going on?” she demanded.

“You’ve always made everything difficult,” he said with a chuckle. “I don’t know why I thought tonight would go smoothly.
I expected you to sleep for another half an hour. I wasn’t quite ready yet.”

“Am I being a bother?” she wondered. He was right in the middle of finishing dinner. Now she was taking him away from that.

He laughed at her question. “No. You’re not a bother. Dinner can wait.”

She frowned as she let him lead her to the quilt. When they were seated, she felt that overwhelming feeling again.

“I love you. I love you so much,” she blurted out. “You came back into my life at a time when I thought it had completely unraveled. But you were there for me. I think I would’ve become completely undone if you hadn’t. If you hadn’t been there to keep me together when I needed you the most. And I know I’m not very good at telling you how I feel. So, I’m doing it now.” She let out a shaky breath. “I think I’ve always loved you. And I’ve always fought it. But I don’t ever want to be that person again. I don’t want to fight what I feel for you. I love you and I want you to know that.”

She reached out to him, cupping his face in her hands as she leaned in to kiss him. She could feel him smiling as his lips pressed against hers.

When she pulled away, he chuckled. “I take it back. Maybe you’re not making this hard after all.”

She looked at him, confused.

“Carly, I have not been able to get you out of my head. Not since the first time that I saw you. I know that our relationship has been all over the place. But one thing that’s really never wavered is how I feel about you. You have no idea how it feels to hear you say you feel the same way. I—”

She put a finger to his lips. “I didn’t throw all of that at you so you’d feel like you had to say it back.”

He shook his head and gently brushed her hand away. “Carly?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Would you please just let me do this?”

“Do what?”

He sighed as he shifted slightly. It took her a moment to realize what he was doing. It took her even longer to realize what the gorgeous emerald cut ring, resting in a box, being held out to her meant. She leaned away from it, too surprised to do anything else. For a moment she thought maybe her pain medication was making her hallucinate.

It made more sense than thinking
this
was actually happening.

“What is that?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“Cricket,” Jesse said with a laugh. “I’m trying to ask you to marry me! But you’re not letting me do a very good job of it.”

“Marry you? You mean like…become your wife?”

He nodded. “That’s typically how it goes. Proposal, marriage, kids…You get the idea.”

She frowned. “I don’t think I would make a very good wife. I can’t even cook. I’d probably make a horrible mother.”

“I don’t care if you can cook or not. I think you would make the best wife. And an even better mother,” he patiently said.

“You really want to marry me?” she asked. She glanced at the ring again. It was such a gorgeous ring. And it was resting in the hands of a man she knew she would love forever.

“The honest truth? I’d marry you, today. Right here, right now. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. If I haven’t gotten over you by now, if I haven’t gotten you out of my system by now…I don’t think I ever will.” He took the ring out of the box. Carly’s eyes followed the motion. “Just a few minutes ago, you said you felt like you’ve never done anything for me. I don’t agree. But if you really want to do something for me, do this: Agree to be my wife.”

She glanced away from the ring and back up at Jesse. She knew she couldn’t imagine her life without him.
Maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised to hear he felt the same, but she was. All of the years they’d wasted were years they could never get back. She didn’t want to waste any more time.

Sh
e slowly nodded her head. “Okay.”

A grin spread across his face. “Okay? I mean, it’s not the ecstatic response I was looking for. But—”

“Yes,” she said with more conviction. “Yes. I want to marry you. I want to be your wife. I want you to be my husband. I want to have a family with you. I want my future to be with you.”

“Thank you,” he said as he reached for her hand. He easily slid the ring into place.

“How did you know?” she wondered. An emerald cut had always been her favorite. She knew she’d never told him that. Nor had she ever told him her ring size. “It fits perfectly,” she said in dismay.

He grinned at her. “Quinn. She told me an emerald cut was your favorite. I’m glad I clarified that with the jeweler because I damn near bought you a green ring on accident. Quinn also told me your size.”

Carly smiled softly.

“You can also thank her for coming over today so I could go pick it up.”

She pulled her gaze away from her hand. She’d been staring at the gorgeous piece of jewelry, her promise of the future. “I thought you had an appointment you couldn’t miss.

“With the jeweler,” he clarified.
“So, the ring? Is it what you hoped for?”

She nodded slowly and a tear trickled down her cheek. Jesse leaned over, carefully wiping it away. Her heart nearly burst with the love she felt for him.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “It’s everything I hoped for. You…you have given me everything I ever wanted.”

Epilogue

Eleven months later…

“I’m pregnant.”

“That’s not funny,” Quinn said as she straightened Carly’s veil.

“I’m not laughing.”

“No, but you’re smiling. Wait. Are you
serious
?!” Quinn narrowed her eyes as she took a long, hard look at her sister’s seemingly flat stomach. If there was a baby in there, the satiny white, beaded fabric was concealing it well. When Carly nodded, unable to contain a huge grin, Quinn squealed and threw her arms around her sister. “Mom’s going to kill you!” she said with a little laugh.

Carly laughed and hugged her back. She had been waiting all morning for a few seconds alone with Quinn. Now, having sent her two bridesmaids—Jemma and Melissa—
off to recheck all of the decorations, she had a few minutes alone with her matron of honor.

It was the weekend before Christmas and the church was exquisitely decorated with red
and white peonies. White twinkle lights surrounded the windows. Crimson bows adorned the pews. The service was schedule for late afternoon so that the ceremony could end in candlelight.

“Jesse and I, we’ve done everything backwards. We decided, why not this, too?
” she said with a happy smile. “We’ve been talking about starting a family since the night we got engaged. So a few months ago, we started trying. We knew we were getting married. So as long as we waited long enough to be sure my dress would still fit, and that I would be done with school,” she said with a laugh, “we thought, why not start trying?”

Quinn was beaming when she said, “I am so, so happy for you!
You know, every time I’ve seen Jesse today, he’s had this huge, ridiculous grin on his face. I thought it was just because he was finally marrying you. I guess that’s only part of it.”

Carly nodded. “We just found out yesterday morning. I don’t think either one of us has stopped smiling.
This week? It has been the absolute best week of my life.” She had just graduated. Finally…
finally
getting her degree. She was finally going to become Mrs. Jesse Nyland. And possibly most exciting of all, they were going to have a baby.

A sudden burst of emotion slammed into her.

“Oh, sweetie, don’t cry,” Quinn said softly.

Carly waved a hand in front of her eyes, trying to dry her own tears. “I know, I know! I’m just so happy I can’t help it. I keep doing this,” she said with an
embarrassed little laugh. “One minute I’m fine, the next minute, I’m leaking all over.”

Quinn reached for a box of tissues. She handed one to Carly just as a knock on the door cut through the room.

Quinn hurried over to answer it. The crimson fabric of her dress
swished
as she went.  When she reached the door, she pulled it open cautiously.