Page 110 of Broken Butterfly
Tatiána: I was hungry. I think I will be as round as a whale when the baby finally comes. I’ve been craving peanut butter and fried plantains.
Me: That actually sounds pretty good. Let me know what you think.
Tatiána: How is my brother doing? I’m glad you had him stay with you for Christmas.
Me: He’s good. He and Ryder bought my old childhood home for me and fixed it up. We are planning to use it to house a family we met at the women’s shelter in New York City. Fallon is offering jobs down here to all the women we met at the shelter. I’m so proud of him.
Tatiána: I told you that you were good for him. Thank you for opening his heart.
Me: He helped mend mine. I owe him.
Tatiána: You can never put a price on love, Elizabeth.
Me: Speaking of love…Ryder and I are engaged!
I take a selfie of me and Ryder while raising my ring hand to catch the firelight glinting off the facets of the diamond. Ryder quirks his brow up at me. I kiss his stubbled jaw and continue texting.
Tatiána: Oh my! Tan hermosa! So beautiful! I hope Eduardo and I are invited to the wedding?
Me: We haven’t decided on a date yet, but yes, I would love for you both to be here. Hopefully with a little one with you.
Tatiána: Only five more months to go. Te amo, Elizabeth.
Me: Love you too. Go eat and get back to bed. Merry Xmas!
“Fallon, you may want to order some fried plantains for your sister and have them delivered.”
“I thought it was fried pickles.”
Brea and Jamie both make gagging noises and Brea declares, “I will never get pregnant if that’s what I’m going to be craving. Gross.”
“Fried pickles were last week. Apparently, this week is fried plantains with peanut butter,” I share with Fallon.
Brea gags again and everyone laughs.
“Got it,” Fallon notes, typing away on his phone.
“Now fried pickles dipped in peanut butter is more my thing,” a voice pipes up from the side of the yard.
I turn to see who it is. “What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised but happy.
Meredith pops her hand on her hip and angles her head back to where Trevor is coming around the corner. “Your boy summoned us. Surprise!”
“It’s a wonderful surprise, but I don’t understand.” I get out of Ryder’s lap to hug Mer and kiss Trevor’s cheek.
He returns it with a hello, then he turns me around. “I think your guy has something else up his sleeve.”
Somehow, Ryder is now standing along with everyone else in front of the firepit, a guitar strapped over his shoulder and a pick in his hand.
“Ryder Cutton, what is going on?”
My handsome, devilish man winks at me and starts to strum the guitar. I recognize the notes of Taylor Swift’s “Love Song.” Freda, Randy, Brea, Jamie, Fallon, and Jack take out sparklers and light them. Ryder looks like a country-rock god with his dark hair disheveled and sticking up where the wind and my fingers have run through it today. His copper eyes sparkle with mischief, and his biceps bulge as he grips the guitar. He is the sexiest man I have ever seen. If we were at a concert and he was up on stage, I’d be throwing my panties at him. But it’s the baritone of his voice that slays me. I grab on to Meredith’s hand in a death grip when Ryder starts singing.
I mouth the lyrics with him as he sings but my words falter when I find they are different from the ones I know. Ryder has changed the words to the song. His new lyrics chronicle our life together from when we were kids to today. It chroniclesourlove story. I’m trembling so hard, Trevor has to hold on to me lest I collapse to the grass. My man’s words turn my legs almost liquid and cause my heart to pound so hard, I feel light-headed.
As Ryder sings, he and I slowly inch our way toward one another; that invisible gravitational force that has always existed between us bringing us together. As he gets to the ending lyrics of the song, he swings the guitar behind his back and takes a knee. I drop down on my own knees in front of him, clasping one hand over my mouth to catch the sob that tries to escape. He pulls out a diamond eternity band that matches my yellow engagement ring, takes my hand, and sings the last words of the rewritten song.
“On bended knee, I pulled out a ring,
