lyrics talk about how much he loves falling for the girl he loves, and it rattles my soul seeing my boyfriend, I mean fiancé, sing so beautifully. Just for me.
The whole pub has fallen silent again, and everyone is in total shock. As am I. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone hold up their phone but Fiona takes it away, shaking her head. She really is so amazing. I meet Declan’s gaze again and can see that he is nervous, but my God, he has no reason to be. He is beyond amazing. Squeezing his hand as his voice fills the pub, I am flabbergasted.
As the song ends, I stand up, wrapping my arms around his neck as I kiss his lips while everyone claps and hollers out for him. Love explodes in my heart for him, sending tingles through my body as we share a long kiss. His fingers are tight at my waist, and I can feel his heart beating against my chest, almost in time with mine. Parting, we share a smile, but when I go to say something, he shakes his head before falling down to one knee.
Holding my hand in his, he looks up at me and my heart kicks into hyperspeed. I know what he is doing, but seeing him down there just makes it extremely real.
“I would have never done that before,” he says softly. “Sing for ya like that.”
“Sure the hell wouldn’t,” I hear Kane call out, and I hadn’t realized he was here, but he is, wrapped around Fiona like a glove.
Smiling, I look back down at Declan and cup his jaw. “It was beautiful. Thank you.”
“Anything for ya, Amberlyn. Really. Anything and everything you want, you’ll have because I honestly can’t live this life without you. I can’t believe I found ya, across a lake, looking so gorgeous. You stunned me. First glance, I was a goner. When I first talked to you and you poked me in the middle of my forehead, I knew I was going to love you my whole damn life. You’ve taken over my thoughts, my heart, and brought me out of the shell I’ve lived in for so long. I became alive when I met you.”
Tears burn my eyes as I hold his gaze. “Oh, Declan,” I say softly, and he smiles.
“Nothing feels like you. Nothing can add up to what you give me. I want to say I chose ya first, but I didn’t. My heart did, and by the time my brain and the rest of my body caught up, I was gone with ya. I never want to let ya go. So,” he says, pausing. I glance over to where he is looking as Fiona hands him a book. Meeting my gaze again, he says, “I want you to have this.”
When he places it in my lap, I look up at him in shock. It’s his Pride and Prejudice first edition.
“No, this is your great-times-ten-grandma’s,” I say, running my fingers down the front of it. I love this book and would love to say it was mine, but it isn’t, and I can’t allow him to give it to me. No matter how much I want it.
“Yeah, it was and so is what is inside.”
Intrigued, I open the book but don’t see anything. “Huh?”
He pulls on the little string bookmark, and at the bottom of the fabric is a ring tied to it. Blinking in complete shock, I pick it up and gawk at the gorgeousness of this ring. A huge oval diamond sits on a gold band that is encrusted with smaller diamonds. It is stunning and beautiful, very vintage. So completely me. I meet Declan’s gaze, and he smiles as he takes the ring from my fingers and unties it. Holding it out, he looks deep into my eyes, and I can see the tears welling up in his own eyes. He is so beautiful, his ice-blue eyes burning with love for me. I can see every single one of his emotions, and I can’t believe that, so quickly, I can read him like this. He is nervous but completely in love with me, just the way I want him.
“My grandma who wore this ring and bought this book was married for forty-six years to my grandda. They were mad for each other, and she loved this ring and this book, but I want you to have them.”
A tear escapes my eye, and I try to hold in the others, but it doesn’t work well. He smiles as his fingers thread
Jan (ILT) J. C.; Gerardi Greenburg