“Exactly. I picked the wrong damn time to start doing things your way.”
“Hey, now—” Amelia started in a sharp tone, but Tyler cut her off.
“I didn’t come back to argue, Amelia.”
She looked at him with large dark eyes, taking in every detail of his face as though she were trying to catalog it, memorize it somehow. “Then why did you come back, Tyler?”
Tyler took a deep breath. “I came back to tell you that I’m going to be breaking our agreement.”
Her auburn eyebrows drew together in confusion. “What do you mean, breaking our agreement?”
“Well,” he began, “when all this started, we agreed that when the thirty days were up, if both of us were in love, we would get married. But if one of us still wanted a divorce...we would part as friends.”
Amelia swallowed hard and focused her gaze on the glass in her lap. “So you’ve come to tell me we’re not going to be friends any longer?”
“No. I’ve come here to tell you that divorce is off the table.”
Amelia nervously chuckled, a tone of disbelief in her lyrical laughter. “I think I’ve heard this out of you before. A couple weeks ago, in fact. And look where it got us.”
“That was completely different. The last time, it was because we were having a baby and I thought it was the right thing to do. This time, we’re not getting a divorce because I am in love with you. And you are in love with me, even if you don’t want to admit to it.”
Amelia’s mouth dropped open, a soft gasp escaping her lips. “You what?”
“I love you,” he repeated. “And I’m not going to let you run away from this. I can’t just stand idle while you try to ruin everything we have together. I tried to just sit back and let you lie to yourself and to me, but I can’t do it anymore.”
Tyler set his wine on the ground and turned on the bench until he was facing her. He scooped up her hand and cupped it between his own. “I love you, Amelia. And I loved you long before there was a baby, even before our wild night in Las Vegas. I’ve realized that I’ve loved you since study hall and shared lunches on the lawn by the football stadium. I’ve loved you since the day you called me over to the empty seat beside you in freshman English and introduced yourself. You were the most beautiful, sweet, loving creature I had, or have, ever met in my whole life.”
“How could you have been in love with me all these years?” she argued. “You never said anything. You never acted like you had feelings for me.”
“I didn’t fully realize it. All these years, I knew that I loved you as a friend. I didn’t allow for the possibility of anything more than that. But the feelings were there, simmering under the surface. Every time I dated a woman and something just didn’t click. Every time I saw your number come up on my phone and my heart leaped a little in my chest. Christine knew it, but somehow it took the possibility of losing you forever to make me see the difference.”
Tyler slipped onto the patio on one knee and looked up at her. “You’re everything to me, Amelia. And I want you to marry me.”
“We’re already married, Tyler.”
“I know,” he said with a wicked smile that curled his lips. “But my wife once told me that if I loved her and wanted to stay married, I’d have to propose again—properly—so we could have the big romantic church wedding with our family and friends.”
Tyler reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the same black velvet jewelry box he’d offered to her the night they eloped. He opened the box to display the eight-carat diamond they’d used at their first wedding ceremony. Once they’d moved into the house, she’d given it back to him. At the time, she either didn’t think they would make it, or if they did, he wouldn’t want her to have such a large, expensive piece. She was wrong on both counts.
“I gave that back to you,” Amelia frowned. “That was never intended to be my ring. You were supposed to sell that to a dealer in LA so it could become one of the Kardashians’ engagement rings.”
“Whether or not that’s what I intended when I bought it, a fact is a fact. This is my wife’s ring, so it belongs to you. Even if I went shopping for a new one, I wouldn’t be able to beat it. I’ve come across larger stones, flashier stones, well-known stones, but this one is the most perfect specimens of diamond I’ve ever had in my possession. It’s flawless and colorless. The cut is perfect, allowing the diamond to truly shine. It’s a classic beauty, just like you, and it belongs on your finger. No one else’s.”
Tyler felt an unexpected nervousness in his stomach. He’d already proposed to Amelia once. They were already married, as she’d pointed out. But this was different. The last time was a joke that went too far, an adventure they’d never expected. This time was for real. He loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He swallowed the anxiety rising in his throat and looked up into her eyes. “Amelia, will you marry me?”
* * *
Amelia didn’t know what to say. She was stunned. Well and truly stunned. This was not at all how she’d expected this day, or even this conversation, to go. When she’d heard Tyler’s voice in the hallway, there had been a moment of elation, followed by panic, with caution bringing up the rear. Her conversation with her grandmother had given her a lot to think about. She had been on the verge of pouring a glass of wine to gather her courage to call Tyler. To tell him that she’d lied and she did love him.
Then, suddenly, he was standing in their kitchen and she didn’t know what to think. He probably hadn’t come all this way to fight. Or to get his things. The movers could do that. She figured he wanted to talk in person, without the emotions of the hospital and the miscarriage fueling the discussion. At best, she’d been hopeful they could stay friends. She’d never dared or dreamed for more.
But a marriage proposal?
“I don’t know what to say,” she said with a stunned shake of her head.
Tyler frowned. “I’ll give you a hint. The key word is yes, quickly followed by I love you, Tyler. We’ll try this again. Amelia, will you marry me? Okay, now it’s your turn.”
Amelia smiled. He was right. She felt it. She wanted this. All she had to do was say it. “Yes, Tyler, I will marry you.”