Back to the Drawing Board (35 page)

“I know he does,” Liane said. “He’s his father. Even though he didn’t grow up with him, there are so many things Carter does that remind me of Blake. Now that he’s spent a lot of the last five years with him for guidance, I see it even more. He’s going to make a great husband and father, Julia. You saw him with the kids.”

I wasn’t sure what the feeling was that came over me. Did Carter want to be my husband? Did I want to be his wife? I knew that answer—- absolutely. I wasn’t sure if Carter was quite there yet. After all, we’d only been dating a few months. “Yes. He’s amazing with Gretchen and the boys.”

“Gretchen and Jackson love their brother like he’s an extension of their daddy. Don’t tell him this, but when he’s gone, they cry for him every night. Logan is so little he doesn’t know him yet, but he will.”

“I was thinking about asking Carter if he wanted to come back here to live,” I said. “What do you think about that?”

“I know everything that happened with your family, and I’m very sorry. I hope it all works out. I know Carter was excited to get out of Florida and live in Colorado, but Blake and I would love for the two of you to live here. Talk to him about it, sweetie. You’re both trying to find your places now that things kind of got shaken up for you. For the record, I’m proud of both of you.”

“You are?” For some reason, the approval of what I was doing from Carter’s mom made me feel a million times better.

“Yes. Standing up for what you know is right will always be the best in the long run. Both of you will find your places. Carter said you love interior design?”

“Yes. I volunteer with Colorado Cares and get to do a lot of that with them.”

“Carter told us about that. He’s been doing it with you, right? He told me about that family he met with the little boy.”

“Garrett. He
really
got to Carter. He told him he didn’t have a dad for a while because he was a bad man, but now he had a new dad who loved him even though he wasn’t his real son. I think Carter needed to hear that, even though his situation isn’t the same.”

Liane nodded. “People are put in our lives for a reason. I have no doubt little Garrett was put in Carter’s to teach him to let go and accept love again.”

Blake and Carter dropped their boards in the sand in front of us, both dripping water and still laughing.

“I’m not as young as I once was,” Blake laughed, leaning over and kissing Liane. Despite him dripping water all over her, she only smiled. “This kid kicks my tail.”

Carter grinned, leaning over to kiss me. The cool water felt good on my skin. “Want to go in the water with me?” He wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I shook my head at his innuendo. He nodded his head, reaching around and lifting me up.

“Carter! Stop! Put me down!” I giggled as he carried me to the water like I was nothing. He slid me down his body, and I gasped. “That is
cold
!”

He put his lips against my ear. “Let’s go out further in the water and I’ll show you how warm it can get. This bathing suit alone is enough to warm up anything.”

I looked over at his parents, who were lost in their own moment. I followed Carter out farther into the cool water, not sure I could turn down what he was offering any more.

I tapped my toes at the music playing on the beach. The sun had set long ago and it was nearing midnight. We’d had a great day. I’d gotten to meet a lot of great people that were Blake and Li’s friends, including Mia, or Dr. Mia as Carter called her. She was hilarious and quite a spitfire. I’d liked her instantly. She’d had some ‘flavor of the month’ with her (as she called it).

We’d eaten until we thought we’d burst, talked, danced, and now Carter and I were sitting on the beach. The party was still going, but he’d brought two chairs down by the water for us to have some time together.

“This has been the best week,” I said, squeezing his fingers. I loved how he always wanted to touch me. “I’m sad we’re going home tomorrow.”

“It’s been the best week,” Carter agreed. “Time to get back to reality, I guess. We have to figure out what we’re going to do for work and get your stuff moved into my place.”

“I had an idea,” I said, my stomach fluttering with nerves.

“What’s that, baby?” Carter leaned over and kissed me softly, almost making me lose my train of thought as his tongue slid against mine. “Today, in the water? That was on a short list of the hottest times. So far.” My face flamed. I still couldn’t believe he’d convinced me to have sex in the water with his parents not far away. They’d been busy and hadn’t even been looking at us, but still. He made me crazy.

“You make me lose my mind, and all sense of rationale,” I teased. “I can’t believe I let you do that.”

“You liked it. Scratch that. You
loved
it. Hmm, I want you again. Maybe we should take a night swim.”

“No way. There are creepy things in that water during the day. At night? Not a chance.”

“What was your idea?”

I’d already forgotten that I was trying to tell him my idea. He made me lose my mind. “What would you think about looking for jobs here?”

“Here? Florida?”

I nodded. “I love your family, Carter. You miss them, and they’re such an important part of who you are. I know you wanted to live somewhere else, and that’s fine too. I just thought I’d throw that out there as an option.”

“You’d move to Florida? For me?”

“Carter.” I got up and settled myself in his lap. “I love you. I’d go anywhere for you. Honestly, there’s nothing in Denver for me anymore. Yes, I have friends there, but they’ll still be my friends no matter where I live. If you want to stay there, though, I’m fine with that, too.”

“Julia, there are so many times when I wonder what in the world I did to deserve you. This is one of those times. I want to do what’s best for
both
of us, not just me, though.”

“I can get a job anywhere. You look for what’s best for you to finish your internship and get a job. We can stay in Colorado through the rest of this year until your lease is up and let you get an internship somewhere. Maybe it will work out with Colorado Cares, and we can both stay there for the rest of this year. After that, we can see what’s best.”

Carter nodded. “Sounds good. We’ll see what happens once we get back. Come on, let’s walk. It’s almost midnight.” He took my hand as we walked down the beach, the moonlight lighting our path. The sounds of the party died off as we walked farther.

He looked at his watch. “One minute. I wanted it to be just us on our first New Years together.” He turned and wrapped his arms around me, brushing his lips with mine.

“You aren’t supposed to kiss me yet.”

He kissed me again. “Try to stop me.”

“Nope. I won’t.”

We could hear cheers down the beach. “Happy New Year, Julia. I love you.”

“Happy New Year, Carter. I love you, too.”

He lifted me, and we kissed, our mouths hungry to express our feelings for each other. I stroked his face as we made love with our mouths. Kissing Carter was intoxicating and consuming; I could never get enough. Much too soon, he pulled back and put me down.

“Hey, I was enjoying that,” I teased.

“Me too. But I want to show you something.”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s play a game. Turn around.”

I listened, turning around and looking at the water. The waves rippled, the only sound the water lapping onto the shore. The full moon shone on the water, giving us a night light. “What am I looking at? It’s beautiful out here, but I’d much rather be looking at you. What’s the game?” I heard the start of a song, which he must be playing on his phone. I didn’t know the song, but the ballad immediately got my attention.

“You can turn around now, but keep your eyes closed, and you’ll see soon what the game is.”

Confused, I turned around, squeezing my eyes closed just as the lyrics to the song started. My hands flew to my mouth as I heard the beginning words. “Carter.” Tears sprung to my eyes.

“Open your eyes.”

When I saw him kneeled on the sand, I dropped to my knees in front of him.

“That’s not how this is supposed to go,” he joked, his voice wavering. “You’re supposed to be standing up.”

“I want to be right here, with you. I always want to be wherever you are. What is this song?”

He grasped my hands with his, and I could feel him shaking. “This song is Marry Me by Train. Julia Aylen Gibbons, I’m so in love with you. You’ve changed my life, and I can’t imagine anything better than spending my life being your husband. Will you marry me?”

Carter pulled a ring out of his pocket, and the tears escaped down my cheeks. It was a gorgeous solitaire that went with my earrings. My hands shook as he took my left hand, looking at me for an answer.

I flung myself into his arms, knocking both of us backwards onto the sand, me on top of him. The song continued to play from his phone, the lyrics surrounding us. “Yes. One thousand percent yes, Carter. Oh, my . . . I had no idea. I wasn’t sure . . .”

Carter closed his lips over mine, silencing both of us. We were engaged. Carter McIntyre wanted to marry me.

JULIA LAID ON TOP OF
me, her body pressed to mine, and our mouths fused together, both of us pouring our elation at what had just happened into each other. She said yes. I’d been a complete wreck the entire day and ended up telling my parents what I had planned. I couldn’t wait to take Julia back up to my family and tell them the good news. They were getting their first daughter-in-law. I was going to get married. Who knew? Five months ago, I’d flown to Denver with the hopes of my life changing with the best job in the world. Instead, what I got was my life changed by the best
woman
in the world, and she was going to be mine. Forever. Julia Gibbons would become Julia McIntyre. I’d only had that name myself for a few years, and now I was going to start my own family with it. I’d come full circle.

It wasn’t like I thought she’d say no, but I’d decided the day after we left her parents standing open-mouthed in their office that she was it for me, and I wanted to make it official. I’d bought the ring that day and had been carrying it around since, just waiting for the right time. Once we’d made the plan to be here at the beach for New Years, I knew it was perfect. Not only was it a new start, a new year, but I could propose to her on the same beach that was instrumental in my parents’ love story. I couldn’t wait to tell Hayden that now
both
of us were settling down and getting married.

Julia’s hands were on my face, which was her favorite thing to do while we kissed. She stroked the hair there, then through my hair and back again, running her fingers along my ears and neck before pulling away. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but I knew she wasn’t sad.

I still had the ring on the tip of my finger, so I sat us up, Julia straddling me as I lifted her hand again and slid the ring on the correct finger. It fit perfectly. The diamond shone in the moonlight.

“I’ll never forget this moment, right here,” she whispered. “I can’t believe it. We’re engaged.”

“You’re mine. For good now.”

Julia nodded. “I can’t wait to be yours forever, Carter. I love you.”

I kissed her finger, the one that now symbolized our dedication to each other. “I love you, Julia. I can’t wait, either. I never knew what I was missing before you. Now I know I couldn’t live without it.”