Wounded But Not Scarred (New Adult Rockers 2) (17 page)

“You’re right,” she agrees.

The mood lightens even more so from
there, and the wheels in my mind start spinning as we drive back into town. Now
that Paige has good news about her grandma, I’m thinking that tomorrow might be
the perfect time to ask her to marry me. Now, I just have to figure out how I’m
going to pull it off.

We spend the rest of the day
running errands and enjoying our hometown. We stop for lunch and then buy a few
early Christmas presents.

“Did I tell you that Daisy is going
to be moving in with Daddy?” she asks, as I drive her back to her house.

“No. That was fast. But I’m happy
for him.”

She smiles. “I thought so, too. He
said not until after the holidays.” She fiddles with her hair and looks over at
me. “Is your mother sure that I can’t bring anything tomorrow?”

“If she told you not to worry about
it, then don’t worry about it, we'll bring some wine. She’s going to be
thrilled just to see you.”

“Oh!” she says excitedly. “I
forgot! I was thinking that maybe in between your parents’ house and Jami’s
house, we could stop by Whitley’s Farm.”

Whitley’s Farm was a huge piece of
land outside of the city where every year thousands of Christmas lights were
strung up and they offered things such as carriage rides and hot cider.

“It’s on the way to Jami’s house,”
Paige explains, looking hopefully at me. Of course, I would be happy doing
almost anything Paige asked, as long as I’m with her, but I suddenly get a
great idea.

“Sure. I think that would be nice.
And you’re right, it’s on the way.”

“Yay!” Paige is beaming, which is
incredibly endearing and sexy at the same time.

After I drop Paige off at home, I
head back to my parents’ house. My parents have been great about letting me
crash while I’m home during the tour breaks, and the house smells of all kinds
of good things like pumpkin pie and hash brown green bean casserole.

“Hey Momma,” I call, “Smells good!”
I come into the kitchen and give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, Blake. Thanks, honey. How was
your day? Did you and Paige see any nice houses?”

“Actually, yes. Both were nice, but
we really loved the last one in particular.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. It’s a little big, and it’s
part of Belle Meade, though it’s small by Belle Meade standards.”

My mother raises her eyebrows. “
Belle
Meade
?”

“I know, I know. But it’s nice and
secluded. Very private with a gate. Five bedrooms, and room for us to work on
our music.”

My mother nods as she stirs a pot
of something. “Sounds very nice. And yes, you probably do need the privacy. You
and Paige are cropping up everywhere.” She points with the spoon at the
Tennessean
lying on the kitchen table.

I walk over to the paper and pick
it up. There are Paige and I on the cover, holding hands as we walk along a
Boston street.

“Front page news,” I murmur,
reading the caption.

Nashville’s newest country stars
(and hottest romance!) return home from their latest tour for the holiday
weekend.

“Who cares?” I ask annoyed,
scanning the brief article, which basically details how my band and Paige are
“sky-rocketing” to fame thanks to our brilliant new albums.

“Plenty of people care,” my mother
says, “and I’m a proud momma!” Her brows crease together as she continues to
stir.

“What?” I ask.

“Well, that’s not the kind of
publicity you need though with the Devlins still sniffing around.”

“Momma,” I say sternly, “What do
you mean
still
sniffing around?”

My mother gives a little shrug. “I
just happened to be at a fundraiser last week, and I overheard Scarlet Devlin
complaining to one of her cronies about how upset Savannah has been.” She makes
a face. “But I’ve heard that Savannah is doing just fine.” From my mother’s
tone, I can tell that she’s also heard the rumors of Savannah’s rampant
promiscuity.

“I don’t want to give them any more
thought,” I say dismissively. “Besides, after tomorrow, we’re going to have
bigger things to worry about.”

“Oh?”

“Yep. Like planning a wedding.”

“What?” my mother screeches,
dropping her spoon in her sauce and looking at me. I grin like a fool and nod.

“I’m going to ask Paige to marry me
tomorrow.”

“Oh my gawd! Blake that is
wonderful!”

“Paige wants to go to Whitely’s
after we leave here, so I’m going to do it there. And since her grandmother
came out of her coma today, I figured now would be a good time.”

“Oh, honey, that’s wonderful. Of
course, I’m a little disappointed that it’s happening
after
you leave
here.”

Typical mother.

She smiles. “Well, she’ll just have
to stop by sometime this weekend so I can see the ring actually on her finger.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll stop by.”

My mother chats on excitedly about
wedding planning, and after a few minutes I politely excuse myself back to my
room. I pull out the tiny velvet box and leave it sitting in plain sight on my
dresser.

Time seems to speed up now that
I’ve decided on a definite time to propose, and I spend half the night tossing
and turning, trying to think of what I’ll say to Paige when I propose, and how
I’ll do it at Whitley’s. Should I propose in front of a beautifully decorated
Christmas tree? Or should I do it on a romantic carriage ride among the trees?
I hadn’t cared nearly this much when I proposed to Savannah.

Thanksgiving morning dawns cloudy, and
that actually makes me happy because that means the lights will look even
brighter as they twinkle on the trees at Whitley’s.

I have a quiet breakfast with my
parents and then I get myself ready before heading over to pick up Paige and
bring her back over.

“Hi! Happy Thanksgiving!” she says,
bounding into the car and kissing me firmly on the lips.

“Mmhm. Happy Thanksgiving to you
too.”

Paige is dressed in a cream sweater
dress with dark tights and brown boots. Her hair is pulled back into an elegant
twist and she looks positively glowing.

“How was your morning?” I ask as I
pull out onto the road.

“It was good. Daisy slept over and
she cooked breakfast, and then we just laid around and watched the parade for a
bit.”

“Sounds like my morning too.”

We talk about the house some more
as we drive to my parents, and my mother pulls open the door before we even
make it to the porch.

“Paige!” she exclaims. “It’s so
good to see you, honey!”

Paige hurries up the steps to give
my mother a hug, and afterwards my mother pulls away to look at her.

“You look gorgeous as always.”

“Thank you. You look lovely too.”

My mother beams. “Come on in. We’re
going to eat in an hour or so.”

“Wonderful.” Paige smiles and
reaches for my hand before we follow my mother inside. During my absence my
aunts, uncles, and cousins have arrived and the house is packed with nearly
fifteen other family members. Paige and I barely get a chance to speak to one
another because we’re both being pulled in so many directions.

Paige is catching up with some of
my female cousins who she went to school with, and it makes me happy to see her
so animated. I know that Paige lost all of her friends after what happened to
her and I know she would love to have some more girlfriends in her life.

We sit down and eat, and the meal
is a loud and happy one. Afterwards, we hang out for a bit and when I look at
my phone, I realize we need to get going if we want to have time at Whitley’s
before we are supposed to be at Jami’s.

“We have to go,” I whisper to
Paige.

We start to say our goodbyes, and I
find myself patting the inside of my jacket pocket to make sure that I still
have the ring.

“That was so much fun,” Paige
comments as we’re driving away.

“It was. I’m glad we did that.”

Again, time seems to speed up, and
I notice my palms sweating against the steering wheel. Paige doesn’t say
anything, but I see her look over at me a few times. I park the truck once we
arrive and I see that a lot of other people had the same idea to visit today.

“What should we do?” I ask, taking
Paige’s hand. “A carriage ride? Walk around?”

Paige leans into me and sighs
happily. “Let’s get some cider and walk around for a bit.”

We purchase two cups of hot cider,
and I lead us away from the crowds, and towards some of the trees that are
farther away. Some people recognize us, and I can tell Paige is happy to get
away from the crowds too.

We weave in between the tall trees,
distancing ourselves further and further. We cross a few people, mostly couples
like us, milling about and holding hands.

Once Paige finishes her cider, I
feel my insides coil nervously and I know that I’m going to have to act soon.

“Are you okay?” she asks, as I toss
our cups in a trashcan. “You’ve been really quiet.”

“I’m fine,” I say too quickly.
We’re approaching a beautiful spruce that is covered with hundreds of tiny,
twinkling lights. The tree is breathtaking and I know the moment has arrived.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be short
just now. I’ve just had some things on my mind.”

“Oh. Is everything all right? I’m
sorry I didn’t get to talk to you much at your family’s house. It was just so
nice catching up with everyone.”

“No, no, that’s not it at all. I
was glad to see you so happy and talking with everyone.”

She frowns. “Then what is it?”

I take her hands and pull her
towards me so that we’re directly in front of the tree.

“Paige, I promise nothing is
wrong,” I say huskily. “In fact, things couldn’t be better. Being with you is
the happiest that I’ve ever been. I love having you back in Nashville, and I
love being on tour with you, and just being with you.” I’m getting tongue-tied.
“I love
you
.”

Paige chuckles, still clueless. “I
love you, too.”

“The thing is,” I say, taking a
deep breath, “It’s not enough.”

I see worry cross her face.

“It’s not enough just to love you
and see you when I see you. I want more than that. I want to spend the rest of
my life with you –’’

I see Paige gasp mid-sentence as
she begins to realize what is happening. I get down on bended knee.

“I want to commit myself to you,
and spend every single day with you. Paige Magnolia Lawson, would you make me
the luckiest man in this world? Will you marry me?”

“Oh my god,” she whispers and her
hand flies to her mouth as I open the velvet box, revealing the sparkling
diamond. Her eyes fill with tears. “Yes!” she cries, “Of course, I’ll marry
you, Blake!”

Smiling wide, I stand up and hug
her, pulling her to me as our lips crush against each other's and I feel like
my heart is going to explode.

I feel like I’m living in a dream
as I kiss Blake, and I feel his tongue eager and excited, probing into my
mouth, as we kiss each other with insatiable hunger, passion, and love.

Giddy, I pull away, feeling myself
panting from my raw attraction to him and the overwhelming love I feel for him
in this moment.

“Well, give me your hand,” he
laughs, still holding the box, and I giggle nervously, as Blake takes my
shaking hand in his and gently slides the ring over my finger.

“Oh my god,” I whisper for the
second time, “It’s gorgeous.” The ring is a sparkly princess cut, showcased in
a square frame of smaller diamonds. It sits in a white gold setting, on a band
inlaid with more diamonds. While the stone itself is large, the entire ring has
a delicate and antique feel.

I throw my arms around Blake again,
and he laughs gruffly as he holds me.