Darkness (37 page)

I pulled my phone out to text him and Zoey covered my hands with hers. “Laney, I’m dead serious. Oliver cannot know I showed you these or that I saved them. I’ll get in a lot of trouble.”

“But he should know why Kiera’s so mad at us.”

“I agree, but don’t say anything to him over the phone. I can’t stress that enough.”

I sat quietly for a moment after she removed her hands from mine. During my silence I swore to myself I’d never drink again, ever. Then a thought occurred to me. “Why did you save the pictures?”

She shrugged. “I thought you might want to see them…you know, to understand why both Oliver and Kiera are so upset.” I just stared at her for a short time. Why would I want to see them? She continued as if she had heard my thoughts. “Would you believe anyone if they’d told you?” My eyes met hers and she smiled sympathetically. She was right. I wouldn’t have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes.

I was still trying not to have a mini panic attack when I texted Carter and asked where he was. He responded by telling me that he was at the apartment and that Kiera had agreed to come by to listen to what he had to say. I wanted to warn him before he went in blind as I had. I told Zoey thanks for everything and we’d do lunch another day, and then I said goodbye to her and her grandmother.

Chapter 52 - The Biggest Surprise of All

I raced back to the apartment and flew up the steps, hoping I could get to him and warn him before Kiera flipped out on him too. With my hand on the knob of his and Oliver’s apartment I listened. I heard level voices and turned the knob slowly. As I opened the door just enough to see in and not be noticed, a very unexpected scene unfolded before my eyes: Kiera’s arms were folded across her chest and she had a frustrated pout on her face but it didn’t last as Carter dropped to one knee in front of her. Her arms dropped to her sides and surprise washed over her. He took her left hand in his and in a rather shaky voice he said, “Kiera, I love you and I know I made a huge mistake and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and take me back.” Her head tilted to the side and tears welled up in her eyes. A small smile spread across her lips and she nodded. He sighed and relaxed, but only a tiny bit. “I have one more thing I want to ask you,” he said, and her eyebrows knitted together, questioning him. He took a deep breath and produced a small gold circle with a shiny diamond from his hand and said, “Kiera, will you marry me?”
What the hell?
She covered her mouth and squealed as tears began to fall. My stomach dropped the moment he said those words and I thought I was going to throw up but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. “Is that a yes?” Carter asked with a nervous smile. She held her left hand back out to him and she nodded profusely as she smiled down at him. He slipped the little gold band onto her ring finger and then she threw herself at him, their lips colliding in a very passionate kiss as they tumbled to the floor. I heard muttered I love yous as I quietly closed the door. I was sure I knew where this was going and I already felt sick that I’d spied the entire special moment. I also felt a little hurt that he didn’t tell me he was going to propose…

Oliver was behind me when I turned to go and for some reason it didn’t scare me like it should have. Who knew how long he’d been standing there behind me but it was almost like I expected him to be there when I turned around. Like I knew he was behind me while I watched Kiera and Carter’s private moment. He took a step closer and tipped my chin up so my eyes would meet his. He looked deep into them like he was searching for something. “You okay?” he asked. I didn’t know if I was. Something felt off. I forced a smile and nodded. He smiled back at me and I could see in that smile that he knew I was lying. He pulled me into his arms and I relaxed as I breathed in his comforting scent. I was feeling way too much and I wanted it to stop. I was tired of feeling just about every emotion at once. That’s when I realized how Oliver must feel all the time, and they’re not even his emotions; most of the time they were mine, and I knew he was feeling what I was feeling just then. And that was mostly a big huge heaping ball of confusion. I wrapped my arms around his chest and tried to let everything go. Kiera was happy and had the love of her life back, for good even, so I shouldn’t worry about her. Even though she still wasn’t speaking to me–I wondered if I’d dropped to one knee and asked forgiveness if it would’ve worked. And then I started giggling at the mental image of it. Oliver was curious about my emotional turnaround and I explained. He got a good laugh out of it too and we decided it was best if we took a walk while the lovebirds in the apartment rekindled their romance. And we did too; we walked and talked for what seemed like hours. We stopped by the store on our walk and got items for a picnic, then we went to the college and enjoyed our late picnic lunch under the tree where it all started and it all felt right. I had that bubbly feeling again and I never wanted it to leave. Sitting there under that huge maple tree, leaning against Oliver, listening to him talk about nothing important while playing with a strand of my hair was perfection and I never wanted to let that moment go. He was my happiness, my light away from the darkness.

Now I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if the other disordered aspects of my life fall back into place…