Finaly My Heart's Desire (Meant for Me Book 2) (17 page)

He smiled as he nodded.

"I think that was a first."

He nodded again.

"I'm afraid I didn't hear you," I said, cupping a hand to my ear.

"I love you, Em. I can't believe I haven't said it sooner, but I do. I really do."

Epilogue

Approximately one year later

It was a cold evening in early February, and I was bundled up to go to Shane's favorite restaurant. Last year, for his birthday, he and I went to a quiet dinner by ourselves, but this year, his mom had other plans. She set up a surprise birthday dinner for him at his favorite Italian restaurant, and as far as I knew, there'd be quite a few people there. My whole family was invited along with some of Shane's extended family, some of his coworkers, and some of our friends.

Everyone was supposed to be at the restaurant by 6:45, and Shane and I had plans to get there at 7. He thought we would be having a quiet dinner like we'd done the year before, but I got a text from Carly on the way that said there were almost forty people there, and a whole back area of the restaurant had been set aside for us. I responded with a random emoji because I was too nervous to type anything back.

It was really hard being the one trying to keep the secret. I was stressed about every little thing that could possibly give it away. I wondered as we pulled up how in the world I would keep him from noticing the familiar cars in the parking lot, but it was freezing, and he seemed preoccupied with getting inside in a hurry and huddling up with me to keep me warm.

He told the host we had reservations for two under Rollins, and the gentleman began walking us to the back. My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour as we rounded the corner to the back area of the restaurant.

There was a brief second of silence before everyone yelled, "Surprise!" I was giggling as I turned to face Shane. He was wearing an easy smile and shaking his head as he scanned the faces of his friends and family.

"Happy birthdayyy!" Thomas yelled with his arms in the air. Shane had his right arm linked with mine, but he tossed his left arm into the air and yelled, "Thank you!" making everyone laugh.

My adrenaline was pumping, so I didn't remember much about making our way over to the table, but somehow we did. There was lots of murmuring, and I didn't understand much of it besides the obvious birthday wishes.

The restaurant had one long table set up in the center of the narrow room. Shane was positioned at the head of it, and my spot was on his right. Deb ushered us to our places, and we took a seat.

"I can't believe this!" Shane said after he sat down.

I watched as he scanned faces of his friends and family, down one side of the table, and up the other. I wanted to look at them myself, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him. His smile was so warm and handsome, that I just couldn't look away.

"Actually, I can believe it," he said. He glanced at me with an apologetic grin, and I responded with a questioning expression. "I knew they were here," he said.

Everyone was listening to him. Had it not been for the restaurant noise in the next room, you could have heard a pin drop. Shane was usually the type to go with the flow, and I wondered why he was admitting that he knew about the surprise in front of everyone. He just looked at me as if waiting to hear how I'd respond.

"Did you see someone's car outside?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.

He shook his head. "I mean, I
did
see their cars, but I knew they were coming long before that."

I wondered why in the world he wasn't just acting like he was surprised.
Didn't he get the memo that that's what you're supposed to do in this situation?
I smiled as I glanced around nervously, hoping it wasn't awkward for everyone.

Shane reached out and touched the back of my arm. "Emily, I knew they were coming because I told them to come," he said.

My heart was about to beat out of my chest. I had no idea what was going on, but something was fishy.

"Shane's gonna marry my sister, and then he's gonna be my brotherrr!" Thomas yelled from three seats down.

My head whipped around to see that Thomas was amped up, leaning back in his chair, making it go up on two legs. His arms were obviously extended upward the way they always were when he was excited. My mom, who was sitting next to him, did her best to shush him and return the attention back to Shane, but everyone murmured for a few seconds about how awesome Thomas was and things like that.

"Thank you, Thomas," Shane said, cutting over the noise. It was a sincere thank you, and he smiled at Thomas and gave him a thumbs up, which Thomas returned with one of his own and a wink.

Tears were already stinging my eyes as the reality of what was going on sank in. Everyone was silent as they regarded Shane, who was looking at me.

"I'm hoping Thomas was right when he said I would marry you and become his brother," Shane said. "That's actually why we're all here." He shrugged, wearing that confident smile. "It's sort of selfish, really. I was trying to think of what I wanted for my birthday, and all I wanted was you."

I wiped at the tears, which were now dropping onto my cheeks. Someone let out a catcall at Shane's statement, which made me giggle through the rush of emotion.

"I don't deserve you, but I'm trying to snatch you up anyway if you'll have me."

I giggled, still wiping tears as he got out of his chair to stoop down on one knee. I tried to pull him up, but he resisted, and went through the motions.

He pulled a ring out of his pocket and handed it to me. "I'm counting on you saying yes since everyone's here staring at us," he mumbled as if trying not to let them hear, causing those close to us to laugh.

"Emily Bennett," he said a little louder, "will you please marry me?" He handed me the ring, and I barely even took it from him before reaching out to hug him.

"Yes," I whispered in his ear. "Of course I will."

"What'd she say?" someone yelled out.

Shane responded by putting his fist in the air triumphantly, which made them all laugh and clap.

I couldn't believe it.

It was actually true.

I was going to marry Shane Rollins, the man of my dreams. My name would be Emily Rollins just like I'd hoped. I had already become a pro at signing it when I was in middle school, and now, I'd be signing it for real.

It was unbelievable to me that there had been a time when I was reluctant to leave a loveless relationship because it came with a life of riches. I was a walking testimony to the fact that money was not the key to happiness. For in this moment, I was the happiest girl in the world.

The End

(till book 3)