Page 144 of Heartsick & Lipsticks
Ri grabbed the phone and pressed the screen. “Callie?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” Callie’s voice came over loud and clear.
I stared at Skye and took a breath. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a baggy shirt and sweats. She looked so fucking beautiful.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Talking was my job, and I wasn’t sure I had the words for one of the most important conversations of my life. “I just wanted to come over and tell you that it’s not too late. I love you, and I know that you don’t want to date, so…” I pulled the ring out of my pocket and lowered myself to one knee.
Skye clasped her hand over her mouth, and Ri gasped audibly.
“What?!” Callie screamed through the speaker. “What’s going on?”
“He has a ring!” Ri filled her in. “He’s down on one knee!”
“FaceTime me!” Callie screamed.
“Hold on!” Ri told me or Callie, or maybe both.
I looked back at Skye and saw that tears were falling down her cheeks as her body began to shake. My chest tightened with alarm until she lowered her hand to her stomach, and I saw she was laughing; that’s why she was shaking. I didn’t mind if she was crying as long as they were happy tears.
Skye sniffed as the audio call rang twice before Callie answered it. “I’m here.”
Ri turned the phone around, and I saw Callie’s face on the screen. She was beaming as she said, “Okay, sorry, go, go, go!”
I grinned, looked back at Skye, and took a deep breath. Just as I was about to speak, the door opened behind me. I turned and looked over my shoulder. Lola was standing in the doorway wearing a wide-brim hat and holding a large tote bag with the blanket she and my mom had knitted together. A warmth filled my chest, and I knew that Naomi was here too.
“What’s going…” Lola’s eyes darted between Ri and Skye before landing on me, on one knee with a ring in my hand. “Oh my god!” she cried out as she ran in and shut the door, waving her hands up and down in excitement.
I smiled and turned my attention back to Skye. “I was just going to say that I know you don’t want to date, and I respect that. So, I’m not asking you to be my girlfriend. I’m asking you to be my wife. Skye Elizabeth Taylor: Will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?”
Skye stared down at me. She was still laughing and crying, but she wasn’t answering.
After what felt like an eternity, Callie shouted, “Mom, say yes! Say yes!”
Skye’s head started nodding up and down. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Relief and happiness washed over me as I stood and pulled her into my arms. Ri, Lola, Callie, and I believed that my mom erupted in cheers around us. I’d never thought about this moment happening because I’d never imagined that I would ever pop the question. As I held Skye in my arms, I realized that my proposal wasn’t as elaborate or romantic as it would have been if I had thought about it or planned it, but somehow it was perfect.
“I love you,” I said as I buried my head in her neck.
“I love you,” she said as she cried and held me tightly.
Hearing her say those words clicked the final puzzle piece into my soul. In her love and in her arms, I was complete. I was finally home.
