Knight in Shining Suit (67 page)

He laughed. “I wanted this
to be a surprise… and a little bit more dramatic.”

I looked at the dinner
table, then at the roses and the candles. “What is this all about
anyway?”

“
You didn’t think I would
forget what today is, did you?”

My heart instantly melted.
“You remembered!” I said hugging him again.

“
Of course I did,” he
said. He stared back at me and said. “A month ago, you gave me
another chance to make your ‘ever after’ come true. So it’s sort of
like another date we need to celebrate every month and every
year.”

He leaned forward and gave
me a thorough kiss on the lips. I couldn’t help it, but I was
crying again. I was only planning a simple dinner. Ryder prepared
something even more romantic… something surreal.

After the kiss, I pulled
away from him and approached the dinner table. I looked at the
elegant china and crystal wine glasses on it.

“
Candlelight dinner, under
the Manhattan moon, with the perfect New York city view, surrounded
by red roses?” I stared back at him. “You couldn’t be more
romantic, could you?”

He didn’t
answer.

I turned to look at the
setup again. It was absolutely enchanting… like something you tear
out of a romance novel. And this was not even a hotel.

“
Perfect location too,” I
said. “Whose place is this anyway?”

“
Ours.” He whispered
behind me.

My heart pounded in my
chest. I turned around to face him again. The expression on his
face was serious… and wistful.

“
You told me once that the
other apartment is an ultimate bachelor’s pad. I guess it’s time to
give it up now that I’m not one anymore,” he said. He turned
towards the house. “This one has four bedrooms, a huge living room,
a huge kitchen, a library, a game room, and a nursery. I think you
would find this more suitable for us.”

“
Ryder… I’m not asking for
this much. I can live anywhere with you.”

“
But I want us to live in
a house we can build our future in… where you can comfortably spend
your ‘ever after’ in.”

My heart warmed. Tears
welled up in my eyes. Every time I hear Ryder say the words ‘ever
after’, I believe in it more and more.

“
When did you buy
this?”

He took a deep breath and
said, “You know… that day I got into an accident, I met up with my
real estate agent. I was looking for a house for us.” He took a
step closer and looked at me deeply. “I’m sorry, this got delayed,
love. I would have brought you here sooner.”

Tears rolled down my
cheeks. I shook my head. “There’s nothing to say sorry for, Ryder.
You’re here now and that’s all that matters.” I lunged forward and
gave him a tight hug. I cannot believe this is happening to me.
Somehow, I still can’t believe that Ryder Van Woodsen is happening
to me now, when before, I was even scared to dream about a guy like
him.

When I stared up at Ryder,
I saw that his eyes were teary, too. He gave me a kiss on the
forehead. “Do you think you can live here with me?” he asked,
smiling.

I laughed. “I will live
anywhere with you, Mr. Van Woodsen.”

He brushed his lips to
mine again. Then he looked deeply into my eyes, a sober expression
was on his face now, that it actually made me quite nervous. “One
more thing, Ash.” He whispered. “You told me once that I should
find a reason that is good enough, and you would finally accept
your ring.”

I nodded, because now, I
have completely lost my voice.

“
I think I found one.” He
whispered. And then slowly, he pulled away from me and came down on
one knee. He held a box in front of me and opened it. My Harry
Winston ring sparkled before my eyes.

“
Astrid Jacobson, I will
forever thank God that I walked into that jewelry shop that day…
that your friends stood you up that night we met at the bar. Little
did I know that those days would change my life. That I was about
to be rescued by you. I didn’t believe that a woman could want me
and love me if I wasn’t who I am. But you wanted me, needed me, and
loved me for everything I was inside. Even when I hurt you over and
over… you still kept your faith in me.

“
And I want to spend the
rest of our lives proving to you that I am worthy of that faith. I
will spend the rest of my days making you happy. I love you very,
very much, Ash, and if you will allow me… I will make the rest of
your ‘ever after’ come true… but not as Astrid Jacobson. But as
Astrid Van Woodsen.” He paused, looking at me wistfully. His eyes
were welling up with tears. Then he asked, “Would you please be my
wife?”

I bit my lip. Rivers of
tears were streaming down my cheeks now. “Ryder…” I started. “I
don’t know what to say.”

Ryder smiled nervously. “I
would like you to say ‘yes’ actually.”

I giggled, in spite of my
tears. “I… love you.” I said in between sobs. “If… you are the
prize at the end of the road, I would… go through a hundred more
breakups and a hundred more pains. Before I met you, I was asking
the heavens why I had to experience that much betrayal and pain…
but now, I know. Everything… had fallen into place. You are my
knight in shining armor, my rock, my guardian angel. You are my
real ‘ever after’.” I giggled in spite of my tears. “Yes, Ryder. It
will be an honor for me to be your wife. I will marry
you.”

He smiled. He took my hand
and placed my ring on my finger. Then he brought it to his lips and
kissed it. He stood up on his feet. I smiled and threw myself in
his arms. He caught me and spun me around. When he settled me on my
feet, he took my hand so he could look at the ring on my
finger.

“
I told you… if I found a
reason that was good enough, you wouldn’t have to take this off
your finger ever.” He smiled.

I laughed. “I never
thought I would be wearing this ring for real.” I looked at the
ring again and noticed something was different about it. The center
diamond looks a lot bigger, like about twice bigger, but everything
else looks the same. “Ryder… did you change this?”

He laughed. “It’s the same
ring. But I thought the future Mrs. Ryder Van Woodsen deserved a
bigger rock at the center. That was the only thing I changed, I
promise.”

“
You didn’t have to, you
know.” I said, looking up at him.

He leaned forward and
kissed me. “I know. But I wanted to, okay?”

I hugged him. “I love you,
Ryder,”

He kissed me on the
forehead. “I love you more,” he said. Then he leaned forward to
kiss me on the lips again. “See? I told you, you didn’t have to
tell your family that our engagement was just a sham. Because it
was going to be real soon enough.”

“
Except your family knows
and our stories do not match now.”

“
It’s only Paris, my
parents, Janis and Jake,” he said. “They can easily go along with
the old story in front of your family. They find our love story
quite amusing.”

“
I find it amazing,” I
said. “After all that we’ve been through… I couldn’t believe we
survived all that… and we’re here, happier than ever.”

Ryder stared at me. “It’s
surreal.”

I stared back at him.
“Surreal? Even for you?”

He smiled and said,
“Especially for me!” Then he bent down to give me a thorough kiss
on the lips. When he pulled back, he stared at me for a while,
tears almost brimming his eyes. “Thank you for saying
yes.”

I smiled back. “Thank you
for asking.”

“
So, now it’s time to
celebrate… our real engagement.”

We ate the food that Ryder
prepared. Then we toured the house. It was screaming luxury and
good taste. The floors were made of marble. The furniture was made
of the highest quality materials. Everything was a perfect
combination of beauty and class.

I was very happy. I loved
the house. And I loved the fact that Ryder thought about buying
this as soon as we officially got together a couple of months
ago.

We stood on the balcony,
staring at the view of Manhattan. I leaned my head on Ryder’s
shoulder. I felt him wrap an arm around my waist to pull me closer
to him.

“
How did you know I was
going to pick up your note?” I asked him.

He chuckled. “I know you
more than you give me credit for, love,” he said. “And I know you
would rush here if you couldn’t contact me.”

“
What would you have done
if I didn’t come?” I asked.

“
Then I would come and get
you.” He laughed. “Honestly, did you really think I was gonna have
a rendezvous with another woman?”

I felt ashamed of this. I
really did. I know I should trust Ryder more. He wasn’t Bryan. Just
like Ryder, Bryan is one of a kind, too.

I sighed and tiptoed so I
could give him a kiss on the lips. “I’m sorry,” I said. “But I did
promise myself to listen to you first before… I made any judgment,
you know.”

He gathered me to him
again and gave me a hug. “I’m done breaking your heart, Ash.” He
whispered. “I’ve done that plenty of times when I forgot about you.
I promised I wouldn’t do that again.”

I rested my head on his
chest and breathed in the sweet masculine scent of him. “Can you
stay like this forever?” I asked him.

He hugged me tighter. “You
once told me that I have everything I want. I told you then that… I
don’t have everything yet. But now, I do. Because I have you. You
were the only thing missing. And I promise, love, I will do my best
to stay like this forever. As long as you promise that you will
always trust me, have faith in me.”

I nodded.
“Always.”

Ryder smiled and then he
leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the lips before bending to
pick me up on my feet, carrying me towards the glass doors that led
back to the apartment.

“
Now, how soon do you
think you can plan that dream wedding of yours?”

I laughed. “So soon, Van
Woodsen?”

“
Yes. Your father is under
the impression he’ll be walking you down the aisle this year,” he
replied.

“
What was that all about
anyway? What did you talk to my father about?” I asked, remembering
the day we went to my parents’ party and Ryder seemed to have had a
man-to-man conversation with my father behind my back.

He smiled mischievously,
“He made me promise not to make you cry. And if possible, marry you
this year. Well… my amnesia got in the way, but hey! I still have a
couple of months to work on it, right?”

My eyes widened. “How
could you promise my father that? We were not even together for
real during that time.”

“
I know,” he said. “But he
didn’t know that. And I wanted it to happen so badly, I couldn’t
say no. I was sort of wishing out loud when he spoke to me. I know
that I would do everything in my power to make it happen. The rest
would be up to you… up to fate.”

“
And you want me to plan
our wedding now?”

“
Yes. I’m your first
customer in New York. I want the best wedding for my bride. And I
want it done as soon as possible. The sooner you become Astrid Van
Woodsen, the better.”

I bit my lip to keep
myself from screaming. I felt so blessed and so lucky. I’ve read
plenty of fairy tale romances when I was a kid. But I never knew
they would happen to me for real. That someday, my knight in
shining armor would come and rescue me from the pains of my broken
heart, change my stubborn beliefs about love, regain my faith in
myself, and make me trust in love again.

And even though he came in
a shiny package, it didn’t really matter. Because he made me
believe that I… was absolutely worth it!

38.

THE
VENUE:

The place where the whole
wedding will take place. Considerations in choosing a venue could
be because the place holds special memories for the couple or it
could be sentimental to one of the couple’s parents or
grandparents. But more than anything, the venue chosen must
accommodate the theme of the wedding.

I
t was the most hectic following months of my life. I was
setting up Ever After Manhattan, meeting up with potential
suppliers, and hiring and training people. On top of all that, I
was planning my own wedding. I had to actually get Nicole to stay
in New York once in a while to help me. Leilani, my assistant in
Malibu, was left in charge of the branch and Nicole and I would
just fly in if there were important matters that needed our
attention.

The first major problem
that I had was the location of my wedding. I could easily have that
in a hotel, but it wasn’t good enough for Ryder. He wanted my best
idea, my top dream wedding on the table. He wasn’t settling for
anything less.

“
Really? Apart from the
wedding you planned for Bryan, there could have been something else
that you wanted… something you only thought was possible in
dreams,” Ryder said to me one night when I was showing him my
notes.