Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

T ully

I’d set up everything tonight not sure if I would be able to sway Colson. Not sure if he’d run, thinking I was too much trouble after all. But seeing him willing to give up everything to be by my side in whatever I wanted to do? It was everything I’d wanted nineteen years ago and didn’t get. Which meant I had every intention of being everything Colson wanted nineteen years ago and didn’t get. He deserved to realize his own dreams. To stay in the town he loved so much. To be near family and friends. To build a life where “us” was the mutual goal. To finally be two fully healed adults promising to love each other forever, no matter what came our way.

I opened my mouth to explain that I didn’t want him to give up his job but every alarm in You Got Served started blaring, drowning out my words. The siren came from behind me, right on time. Colson’s eyes went wide and he dropped my hand. He was a blur of motion, coming around the table and hoisting me over his shoulder in one smooth move I didn’t see coming. Suddenly the world was upside down and Colson was leaping over the fence and jogging to the other side of Main Street.

“Colson!” I beat my fist on his perfectly lovely ass.

He flipped me back over carefully, setting me down on the curb before crouching down. His hands cupped my face. “Stay here. I’ll see if anyone’s still inside.”

He’d gone into firefighter mode. I should have planned for that, but didn’t. My man loved to run in and save people. It was in his DNA to run toward trouble. Look how many times he’d run straight for me.

I grabbed his bicep and kept him from standing back up. “Wait!”

The fire truck’s brakes hissed as it came to a stop in front of You Got Served. His buddies streamed off the truck, far more of them than usual. Instead of going into the ice cream shop, they formed a line along the truck, shoulder to shoulder. I was trusting them to do this right and that was asking a lot from this bunch of knuckleheads. They’d laughed their asses off when I first asked for their help. Then Joey promised me they’d come through for me. For Colson.

“What the—” Colson’s head was on a swivel, trying to figure out why they weren’t rushing inside the shop. People from surrounding businesses had flooded the streets, brought out by the alarms, siren, and now this spectacle of firefighters.

Captain jumped off the back of the truck with his bullhorn. “Colson Wolfe?”

Colson looked back at me. I shot him a wink and stood up, dragging him with me. “He’s right here!”

“Tully,” he hissed.

I ignored him, getting him out to the center of Main Street before I let go and took a step back. My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest. This had to be my most important performance yet. There were no cameramen or boom mics hanging over my head, but every single person I knew had their phones out, recording this moment. The crowd wasn’t exactly quiet. The squeals and gasps and whispers were almost as loud as the damn siren on the firetruck.

Captain swept his arm toward the row of firefighters like Vanna White. The guys all had cheesy grins on their faces as they brought their helmets to their chest, one white letter taped to each helmet.

W-I-L-L-Y-O-U-M-A-R-R-Y-M-E-?

Colson’s lips were moving, trying to figure out what it all spelled. He would have really sucked on a Wheel of Fortune episode. It felt like forever before he swiveled on his heel and turned his bewildered gaze toward me.

“The lady has a question for you,” Captain announced through the bullhorn.

I licked my lips and launched into it, dipping down to one knee right there in the middle of the street. The murmurs from the crowd got louder and I hoped like hell Gigi had gotten Mama there in time to witness this stunt.

“Colson,” I said firmly. Proudly. “I’ve loved you for what seems like forever. We had a bit of a break.” Even Captain laughed at that—right into the bullhorn. “But I like to think we got our second chance. Before God, our families and friends, and every person in Blueball, will you marry me?”

Colson looked like he’d been sucker punched. He bent over, hands on his knees to peer down at me. Maybe he thought I was some sort of illusion. I slid his old wedding ring off my left thumb where I’d been hiding it and held it out to him. “I engraved it this time.”

The inside of the ring said forever, which was what I could finally promise him. At eighteen, I’d had no concept of forever and therefore had no business making that promise. Which is why I’d fucked it up. But I was older and wiser now and had the wrinkles to prove it. Forever was exactly what I wanted with this man.

“Say yes!” I heard Warrick shout from somewhere on the sidewalk.

A few others shouted the same thing, until the entire town of Blueball began to chant, “Yes, yes, yes!”

It hit me like a freight train as my knee began to ache jammed into the pavement and the whole town stood watching. If Colson said no, I could be more humiliated than I’d ever been in my entire life. If I thought being fired from my show was humiliating, this would be a thousand times worse.

Colson gave his head a little shake and pulled me to my feet. His hand stayed on my elbow, his frown just as severe. “What about the show?” he asked in a low voice that I could only hear.

“I turned them down. Repeatedly. I don’t want it. I want to stay here and work with Em and Savannah and Pip.” I reached up to cup his face, hoping he believed me. “I want a simple life with my friends, family, and you .”

“But I’ll resign. I don’t care. I’ll go with you.”

My thumbs stroked the edges of his stupidly handsome mustache. “I love that you’d be willing to give all that up, but I still say no. No to anything except staying here in Blueball with you.”

Colson’s eyes shifted back and forth on mine, as if to confirm I told the truth. I knew the moment he believed me. He exhaled, long and low, his shoulders coming away from his ears. Peace. Contentment. I’d finally been able to give him that.

“Then I say yes.”

“Yes?” I squealed, making sure I understood.

His smile could have knocked a girl to her knees. “It’s always been yes when it comes to you.”

He leaned down and kissed me, then tipped me over his arm and took the kiss to a whole new level. Not even Hollywood kisses by the two hottest A-listers could compete with this one. The cheers and sirens faded away and all I knew were Colson’s arms around my waist, his lips turning my body into one giant flame of desire, and his heart thumping out the same rhythm as mine.

The drops of water hitting our skin were the only thing that made us break apart. I gasped as Colson stood me upright. He tilted his head back and let the rain fall on his face, a giant grin plastered there. I looked over to see Captain standing by the nearest fire hydrant, letting the water gush out into the air like a geyser. Kids pulled and tugged their parents, beginning to jump and splash in the water, cooling off on this warm summer night.

Warrick, Em, Savannah, Pip, Joey, Gabi, Mama, and Gigi surrounded us, offering hugs and congratulations. Someone turned off the siren and the manager of You Got Served shouted from the doorway that there was free ice cream. It wasn’t exactly free. I’d given her my black Amex card today and told her to keep scooping. Cheers rang out and everyone shouted their congratulations, making an impromptu party in the middle of Main Street for our engagement.

And to think I gave all this up years ago. I was certainly a dumbass back then.

“Wait!” I pushed my way through our family to get back to Colson. “I didn’t give you the ring!” I grabbed his hand and slid his wedding ring back on his finger. It was a tighter fit now, but I got it mostly on there.

Colson pulled me further aside where we could hear each other, wrapping his arm around my waist to pull me tight. His fingers swept from my shoulder down to my left hand. He held my hand out where he could see the redness on my finger. “What is this?”

I winced. “I got a matching constellation tattoo.” My left ring finger matched the tattoo he’d gotten when we were eighteen.

Colson’s head dropped. When it came back up, there was a sheen of tears in his eyes. He bent, kissed my finger gently, and stared at it like he couldn’t believe I’d done it.

“I’d slay dragons for you too, hotshot,” I whispered. “Are you sure you’re okay with me swapping gender roles and proposing to you in front of the whole town?” He was a big, bad firefighter, after all. I was sure the guys would give him crap for it later.

Colson just smiled and shook his head slowly. “I don’t give a shit what roles we play as long as we’re together. Took me a long time to listen, but I’m not messing this up again. It’s you and me, Tully. Always.”

I snuggled further into his chest. “You should check the engraving on your ring.”

“What does it say?”

I smiled up at my ex-husband-soon-to-be-again-husband. “Forever.”

His grin set my sandals on fire. “Finally.”

And then he kissed me.