Chapter 14

I wake up, and for a moment I don’t know where I am. Then I realize I’m in Graham’s bed. The sun streaming in on the opposite side of the room lets me know that it’s definitely daylight. But Graham isn’t in the bed with me anymore. I glance at my phone and see the time and holy shit! I haven’t slept in this late since high school!

I quickly face my face and brush my teeth—using his toothbrush—because we’ve had our mouths all over each other. Then I throw on my clothes and go find my kids. They’re probably starving this late in the morning.

Both of the rooms they slept in last night, the doors are opened and the beds are empty. So I creep downstairs. The scent of coffee makes everything in me perk up a little. Then I catch the salty, fatty smell of bacon. Damn, this man is too much.

I find them all in the front room with the big window facing the woods surrounding his house. And there are my two kids, both wrapped in tinsel of some sort, hanging ornaments on an enormous tree.

“Good morning. I’m so sorry I slept so late,” I say.

“Mommy,” Lydia and Bennett yell together. They come over to me, hugging me.

“Did you sleep well?” I ask.

“Yes,” Lydia says. “That bed is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever slept on. It’s like a big poofy cloud.”

“Mine too,” Bennett says.

“Hungry?” Graham asks, handing me a cup of coffee.

“Starving actually.” I take the coffee and he leads me to the table, where he then brings me a plate of eggs, toast and bacon. My stomach rumbles loudly.

He leans down and kisses my cheek. “Morning, sugar.”

“You didn’t have to let me sleep in like that. It’s not your job to feed and entertain my kids.”

“Maybe I want it to be. You needed the sleep. I’m always up early regardless of when I go to sleep.”

“Mommy,” Lydia says. “Doc says he’s going to make popcorn and we can put it on strings and then decorate the trees outside. The birds will come eat the popcorn!”

I smile at her. “That sounds amazing.” I glance up at him and then watch my kids continue to put ornaments on his tree. Bennett’s are all clumped in one general area. “Doc and I have to do something in the other room. We’ll be right back.”

I grab his hand and pull him into the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you doing all of this? You can’t play with their emotions like that, Graham. Surely you know that.”

“Lizzie, I’m not playing at anything.” Then he pulls something out of his pocket and drops to one knee.

I gasp, covering my mouth. “What are you doing?!”

“Marry me, sugar. Be my wife. My partner in everything.”

My heart is pounding so loudly I can barely hear his words. “Okay, listen, I know you’re a natural caretaker. You love kids.”

“I love your kids,” he clarifies.

“Well, they’re very lovable. But I know what this is. My ex shows up and makes a scene and you, being the amazing man that you are, decides to ride in on your white steed to rescue the poor single mom.”

“Is that what you think this is?” he asks. Then he stands to his feet, sets the ring box on the kitchen counter.

“Your intentions are misguided. So sweet, but I don’t need you to rescue me.”

“What’s not what this is. Lizzie, I love you. I love your kids. I want us to be a family.”

“And you what ordered an engagement ring on Door Dash?”

He tilts his head. “Sort of, but I’ll explain that later. Right now, we have things to hash out.”

“You love me all of a sudden? Look, I get it. My kids are the coolest. But I don’t want us to be together just because you suddenly think you want a family.”

He starts to say something, but I hold up my hand.

“You’ve been a confirmed bachelor all your life. That’s the thing everyone says about you. You even said as much the day I came into your office, accusing me of being after your money. Now, the day after you have a confrontation with my stupid ex, you’re changing all of that.”

“Take all my fucking money. I don’t care about the money. I care about you. And none of this is about Billy. If he’s so goddamn stupid he can walk away from you more than once, then that’s on him.” He taps himself on the chest. “I am not that man. I’m smart enough to recognize what I have in front of me.”

He scrubs a hand down his face. “I’m not rescuing you, sugar. The very opposite is true. You and Lydia and Bennett, y’all are the ones doing the rescuing. I thought I wanted to be alone.” He shakes his head. “But I don’t. I’ve just been existing, waiting for y’all. Now I finally feel alive.”

I narrow my eyes at him and he pulls me out of the kitchen and into the laundry room. He picks me up and sets me on top of the washing machine.

“Obstinate headstrong girl,” he says with a shake of his head.

I gasp at him when he uses a quote from my favorite book. “How did you know?”

“Your names, for one. But also you have the first line tattooed on your ankle. So I’m going to take that and break this down this way. I’ve been Mr. Darcy. Cranky, arrogant, and alone. Then you show up and turn my life completely upside down. In the very best of ways.

“Nothing between us is happening suddenly. Christ, when that doctor’s office in Fredriksberg called for your reference, do you know what I felt?”

“Anger. You yelled at me.”

He rolls his eyes. “Well, yes, but only because the thought of not seeing you every day for the rest of my life,”—he swallows visibly—“made me feel hollow and full of panic at the same time.”

I do realize I’m crying right now, but I just look at this beautiful, amazing man in front of me. The one who recognized the opening line from Pride and Prejudice. The one who stole my heart that very first night. What would I have even done had it not been his office I’d walked into on that Monday morning? Panic rises in my throat like bile. And now I recognize what he’s trying to tell me.

“This isn’t sudden,” he says again. “This started the moment I met you in that bar. I’ve wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you. And yes, your kids are great. Perfect. But me wanting you doesn’t have anything to do with that. Last night after we made love, you fell asleep, but I didn’t. I sat up, watching you. And then I walked to the other bedrooms and checked on the kids. They were sleeping peacefully. And I realized that for the first time in—ever—this house felt like a home. And I don’t ever want any of you to leave.”

I give him a watery laugh. “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you in the bar that night. I thought you were the sexiest man I’d ever seen and, the way you were looking at me, set my skin on fire.”

He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I don’t care if we have to be engaged for a year. I’m not going anywhere. You’re it for me. The only woman I’ve ever truly wanted. Please say you’ll marry me.”

I cup his cheeks, loving the feel of his scruff against my palms. “Yes, I’ll marry you. On one condition.”

He rolls his eyes. “Are you always going to be this demanding?”

“Probably.”

“Okay, what’s your condition?”

“I want to know how you pulled an engagement ring out of nowhere since last night.” I suck in a breath and put my hand to my chest. “Oh God, this isn’t some ring you bought another woman or something?”

He laughs. “No. I’ve legitimately never had the urge to propose to anyone ever before. But the minute I knew I was going to ask you, I wanted to wake you up and ask you right then.”

“So the ring?”

He shrugs. “Bram’s daughter owns the mercantile shop in town. He brought it to me last night after I texted him that I was going to marry you.”

“You texted your friend about me?”

“He’s known about you from the beginning. So yeah, he and his wife drove this over to me last night. They might have been a little excited that I was serious about getting married.”

“You really wanna marry me?”

“I do.”

“What will people say when you marry your nurse?”

“Don’t give a shit. But also, I fell in love with Liz, the woman from the bar. She just happens to also be Lizzie, my nurse. But I prefer to say partner. That’s what I want. I want us to work side-by-side on all the things.”

I wrap my legs around his waist and pull him closer to me. “You’re going to spoil my children, aren’t you?”

“Rotten. I’m going to spoil you too, sugar.”

***

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