He pulls back and digs into his pocket. Before I can ask what he’s looking for, he drops to one knee. Please don’t.
He takes my hand and holds out a beautiful diamond and sapphire ring. “Jackson—”
“Shh,” he says. “Please let me get this out before I muck it all up. Devyn, I don’t want to be your boyfriend anymore. I want to be your husband. I want to be Nathan’s stepfather. I want the three of us
to live together and be a family. We’re good together. It makes sense to take this next step. What do you say? Will you marry me?”
I slam my hand over my mouth to choke back a sob. Jackson’s expression tells me he’s reading my reaction wrong. He thinks these are happy tears. “I…” How am I going to say this? It’s going to crush him. “Jackson…I can’t marry you. I’m sorry; but I can’t. I’m not ready.”
He frowns. “I don’t understand. Don’t you love me?”
I wipe a tear away. “I do…but it’s complicated.”
He stands up and brushes himself off. “What’s so complicated about it?”
“I…” I can’t think of anything to say.
“Is this because of Riley?” he asks. “Is he the reason you won’t say yes?”
I can’t look him in the eyes. “Jackson, you’re such a good man. But I’m just not ready.”
He tilts my chin up, forcing me to look at him. “I notice you’re not denying it. What’s going on, Devyn? Do you still have feelings for him?”
“I…I don’t know.” I shrug. “Maybe.”
Jackson tucks the ring back in his pocket. “I see. Well, that certainly does complicate things.”
“Do you hate me?”
He shakes his head and kisses my forehead. “No. Of course not. You need time to digest everything; that’s all. I know we’re right for each other, Devyn. And I’m confident you’ll see that too. Maybe I just need to do a better job convincing you.”
I sniff. “Jackson, you’re too good to me.”
“Nonsense,” he says. “I love you. And you love me. Let’s just focus on that.” He leans over the table to sign the credit card receipt then grabs my purse, handing it to me. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to drop you off at home. I just remembered that I need to get up early to meet my mother for breakfast tomorrow.”
“You didn’t mention anything about breakfast with your mom.”
He shrugs. “It slipped my mind.” He offers his arm. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
“Okay,” I say.
DEVYN
“HI, DEAR. I’M AFRAID I have some bad news,” Rose, Nathan’s sitter, says in a hoarse voice.
“What’s wrong?” I hold the phone up with my shoulder as I’m pulling Nate’s shirt over his head.
“I won’t be able to sit with your boy today. I’m afraid I’ve come down with food poisoning.”
“Really?” Ugh! My big pitch is today. This couldn’t happen on a worse day. I clear my throat. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Rose. Thanks for letting me know.”
She coughs. “I’m sorry, dear.”
“Feel better,” I say. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Devyn. You’re a sweet girl.”
I end the call and glance at the time. I only have an hour before I have to leave and no clue what to do. Nate’s preschool isn’t in session on Tuesdays, Drew can’t just walk away from his shift, and Rainey is in some training thing for work. I suppose I could call Jackson.