Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Charles

It was getting later, nearing sunset, and I found myself at the lighthouse. I felt bad that I hadn’t returned my grandmother’s calls, but I couldn’t just go back without Melody. I called her.

Grandmother answered on the first ring. “Hello, Charles. What’s wrong? Where have you been?”

“Something came up, and I needed some time to think. I’ll be home later. I’m sorry I’m missing Christmas dinner.”

“Where is Melody? Is she with you?”

I took a deep breath, tamping down the fear that had been festering all day. “She’s not with me. I’ll let you know. I have to go.”

I hung up and returned my gaze to the ocean.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Melody’s voice said, cutting into my thoughts. “Is this where you went after you tried to break up my wedding?”

I turned to see her walking toward me across the beach. “What are you doing here?”

Her face lit up with a smile. She was wearing a Christmas dress and makeup, and her hair was done up in curls. “I must admit I didn’t look too far for you; I just had to get ready first. I couldn’t come find you looking the way I did.”

I wanted to wrap her up in my arms, but I hesitated. “And Peter?” I couldn’t imagine that she would come find me to tell me that she had decided to go back to him, and I hated to admit I had a lot of insecurities.

She reached for my hand. “Do you want him to be here?”

“No.”

Her face turned serious. “I wanted to be with you, but an update on Peter; Bill actually came and escorted him to jail.”

“What? Are you serious?”

She laughed and slipped one of her hands behind my neck, pulling me down to her. I didn’t resist. Our lips touched, and I wanted to believe that she was here to be with me. That she was mine.

She kept me close to her, leaving a trail of gentle kisses around my lips. So many emotions washed over me. I pulled her closer and did a deep dive into kissing this woman, letting go of all of today’s desperation. We kissed and kissed.

She finally pulled back and laughed. “You want to know the good thing about me seeing my ex?”

“What?”

She placed both hands on my face. “It gave me clarity. Clarity about what I want. About the relationship I want and the man I want at my side. Clarity about the fact that I love you.”

My heart was about to burst. “You love me?”

“I think I always have.”

This woman was a drug for me. I pulled her closer. “I’m not going to lie, Mel. It was hard to leave you earlier.”

She pulled back, and sympathy washed over her face. “I’m sorry.”

“All that matters is you’re back.”

A smile appeared on her lips, and she dropped to one knee. “I might be crazy, but let’s make this official.”

Shock coursed through me, and I pulled her back to a standing position. “Oh no. No, no, no.”

She laughed. “What?”

It was my turn to get down on one knee. “In our story, with our grandchildren, it’s not going to be you that proposed. No way.”

“Our grandchildren?”

My heart raced. “I… Sorry. I know you have Will, but if you’ll have children with me…I mean, if you want to…”

Her face turned serious. “I’d love to have children with you.”

“You would?”

She laughed. “I would.”

I stood and hugged her.

She held me and then pulled back. “But I need to be honest with you, I’m not sure if I still can. I mean, it’s been so long. I’ve been on birth control, and I just don’t know.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll all work out.”

She leaned up and kissed me. “Yes, it will.”

I put my hand into my back pocket and extracted a small box, opening it to expose a ring. “This is my mother’s.”

Her hands went to her mouth, and her eyes widened. “What? Your mother’s ring? Are you serious?”

Tears filled my eyes. “Melody Ray Harris, will you marry me?”

She nodded rapidly. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

I picked her up and spun her around, laughing. She laughed, too. Eventually, I put her down and pressed my lips to hers. Once again, we were kissing, soaring, flying. The past and the future mixed together in a perfect symphony.

When we finally stopped kissing, I took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger.

She was crying. “It’s perfect.”

“I knew it would be.”

She stared at it for a long time. “Why didn’t you give this to Sheila?”

Her question took me by surprise. It must’ve shown on my face.

“Not that you had to. I’m just surprised.”

I swallowed hard, staring into her eyes. “I was going to give you this ring that Christmas, when I was supposed to see you and before everything went weird.”

She sucked in a breath. “Oh my gosh. I ruined everything.”

“No, you didn’t.” I took both of her hands. “What my grandfather said was horrible. I can see everything that happened, how confusing it was for you, and I’m sorry about it all.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “If I’d just swallowed my pride and talked things through with you, then we wouldn’t have lost all those years.”

“You have Will. God brought us back to each other. We have Christmas magic.” I stopped and shook my head. “I can’t believe I’m quoting my grandmother.”

Melody laughed.

I laughed too and held her close. “We’re together now, and we will make a good life together.”