Her shared passion with Gavin was their love of books. They both enjoyed reading. With Billy, it was their love of action movies. It didn’t matter the story. If there were explosions and big guns, she loved it.
Then there was Pops. She made her way upstairs toward the main bedroom. With him, she shared a love of life, a love of the future, and the hope of a family. Opening the door, she found him sitting on the bed, holding a small bear.
She paused.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey yourself.” Nerves hit her.
“Joe called me. He said you needed to talk.”
She was going to kill her best friend. First, she was going to maim him. “I got upset at work, and I admitted some things to him. He thinks I should just tell you about them.”
“You don’t want to?” he asked.
“I don’t know what to do.” She pointed to the bear. “What’s that for?” Was it a goodbye present? Did he want her to leave?
“I saw it today, and I thought of you.” He held it out to her.
“Pops, if you want me to leave, just say so.”
He frowned, turning toward her. “You think I want you to leave?”
“Don’t you? Isn’t that why you’ve been distant? You’ve realized that I’m not the girl you want, and now you’re looking to find a reason to let me down gently.” She had hoped to keep the tears in, to not look like she was going crazy.
“No, that’s not it at all.” He stood up, moving toward her. “I don’t want you to leave.”
“Then what is it? What’s wrong? What have I done?” She had to know. As much as it killed her to know the truth, she needed to hear it from him.
“You’ve done nothing. It’s me.”
She snorted. “Right.”
“Being with you was the best thing that ever happened to me, Rosie. One night was the best of all of my forty-five years. The past couple of weeks have made my whole life pale in comparison. Being with you, loving you, I can’t risk losing you, babe.”
“What?”
“I’ve been … scared. Yeah, probably not the most manly thing I could have said, but it’s the truth. I’ve been scared because you have the power to make all my dreams come true or to tear them apart.”
“I would never do that to you. Not ever.” She took his hand, which was still holding the bear. “I love you, Pops. I love you, and I love, Billy, and Marshall, and Gavin, and Ethan. I love you all, and yeah, I’m scared. There’s only one of me, and yet I love all five of you. What if you decide I’m not good enough, I’m not woman enough?”
“That would never happen,” Marshall said, drawing her attention to the doorway where all of her men stood, watching. “We all love you.”
“Then why?” she asked, looking at Pops.
“I want you to marry me, Rosie.”
She didn’t expect that.