Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) (14 page)

"I'm pretty sure I can get Maggie away if I
try hard at it," Eric said, thoughtfully.

Anna and Julia laughed, while he blushed.

"That didn't come out exactly the way I--oh,
forget it."

"Do you plan on staying in Sully Point,
Eric?" Anna asked as she placed a piece with a bird's wing on the puzzle.

He continued looking for edge pieces.
"Originally, I'd thought I would stay here for a month or two, check out
MIT, mainly goof off. The past few years have been very intense for me. Now,
though, with Maggie and all, it's going to depend on her. If she'll have me,
I'll stay around forever."

He glanced up to see Anna and Julia exchanging a
look. Then he thought about what he'd just said.

"Wow, did I just say what I think I
said?"

Anna and Julia nodded vigorously.

"That just came out of my mouth. No
warning."

Anna smiled at him and patted his hand.
"Sometimes what we feel creeps up on us and we don't even know what our
unconscious mind has been thinking until we spit it out. It's obvious how you
two feel about each other."

"Yeah, but, that's a big commitment."

Julia set a piece into the puzzle, and then looked
at him, dark blue eyes staring into him. "Sounds like somewhere inside of
you, you've already made that commitment."

"But is it too soon? How do you know when
it's right? When it's for real? When it's forever?"

 "That's a tricky question," Anna
replied. "I think it varies from person to person. For me, it took Sam's
ex-girlfriend shooting him in front of me to make it all very clear. Other
people don't seem to need such a drastic awakening."

Julia looked across the room at her husband. The
poker table had just erupted in laughter again. "Sometimes all it takes is
one day seeing that person's face and knowing you can't do without them. That
you want them at your side for everything to come, good or bad. Of course, you
might also have that love tested, as I found out."

"As much as we love each other, Maggie and I
have some major differences. We aren't alike in a lot of ways. Our thought
processes vary widely from each other. She's constantly surprising me. But I
like that. I can see us at seventy, and see her still startling me."

"That's so sweet," Julia said.

Eric sat up straight in his chair and looked from
one to the other. "What is it with you two? I haven't babbled on without
thinking of what I'm saying since--ever. Do you make everyone spill their guts
or is it just me?"

They both smiled, rather smug smiles he thought,
but didn't say anything. Joshua came up to the table and said, "Mama.
Jenny sick."

Julia jumped up from the table to check on her
daughter. Anna got up too. "Come on, Josh. Let's see if she needs any
help."

Eric remained sitting at the puzzle table, staring
out the window. Snow was falling again, big fat flakes. There was a hush to the
world outside, while they were warm and happy in the house. He wondered at his
thoughts. He'd never really thought about being with someone forever, about
marriage. He'd been such a strange, quirky, nerdy teenager, and even as an
adult, had had to work hard to break out of that mold.

Dating had been excruciating at times. Some women
had frankly been too stupid. He needed a woman who could challenge him or
surprise him. If he dated women in his field, he'd discovered they were either
too much like him, or too one-dimensional. To have found Maggie felt like some
kind of miracle.

He glanced over at the poker table and saw her
throw back her head and laugh. She was so full of life! She would never be focused
on just one thing in life. Not like he'd been with computers. No, she embraced
all of life, as much as she could get her hands on. Definitely a
multi-dimensional woman. She turned her head suddenly, as if she felt his gaze.
Her eyes danced and she gave him a big smile. He found his lips turning up and
he just...knew. She was the forever woman.

As he held her gaze, he felt that surety slide
over him, and watched a curious look cross her face. She set her cards on the
table and dashed over to him.

"What is it? You look, well, I don't know.
Something. Is everything okay?"

"Everything is exactly right. Will you marry
me?"

"Good. I was wondering...what did you
say?" Her eyes opened wide.

"Will you marry me, Maggie?"

She sank down in the chair next to him, looking
very pale.

"Are you okay?"

"I--I'm just--marry? You said that? For
real?"

"Yes, I did. I realized it, just a minute
ago. I figured there was no way I could keep that a secret. And I don't want
to. I want our forever to start right this minute."

Tears filled her eyes. "Forever?"

"Forever." He took her hand in his.
"So will you? Will you promise to be with me forever?"

She looked deeply into his eyes, and smiled. Just
a small smile at first, that grew, and grew.

"Yes! Yes, I'll marry you. Yes, I want forever.
Yes to the promise. Yes, yes, yes."

He stood up and pulled her from her chair, lifting
her up in his arms, kissing her softly, wonderingly. Happiness blazed within
him.

The kiss ended when they heard applause around
them. They were surrounded by the entire family, and he saw Anna and Julia
crying, Holly looking surprised, and Sam nodding his head.

"Did you all hear?" Eric asked.

"Didn't you notice how quiet it had
gotten?" Cody asked with a grin.

"All I noticed was Maggie's face, Maggie's
eyes, Maggie's smile." He looked down at her and saw that she was
blushing.

"Aw, man, slow down. You're setting the bar
for romance pretty high here," Cody said.

Laughter filled the room, and then everyone was
congratulating them. Hugs and kisses and tears abounded. At last Holly and
Jason left and came back in the room with glasses and a bottle of champagne.

"I know it's early in the day for this at not
quite noon, but I think a sip won't harm any of us. We have to celebrate this
occasion," Holly said.

Jason opened the bottle with a pop, and soon they
all had a glass.

Sam held up his glass. "To Eric and Maggie.
May love's promise fill your lives with happiness."

After taking a sip of champagne, Maggie gave Sam a
hug. Eric heard him say, "That's going to be some phone call with Mom and
Dad!"

Eric soon had Maggie tucked back under his arm,
his hand squeezing her shoulder. "Will your parents be upset?"

She shrugged. "They'll just have even more
reason to come for Christmas to get to know you. Don't worry, they'll love
you."

Eric wondered about that. He supposed there was
time enough until Christmas to get nervous about meeting them. He heard Holly
asking Maggie when the big event would be happening.

"I have no idea. This hit me out of the
blue," she said, with a grin up at him.

"Well, it can't happen until after the first
of February because my parents won't be back until then. Man, are they going to
be surprised."

"Maybe a spring wedding then, Maggie. That
could be lovely," Holly said.

"We have time to talk about that later,"
Maggie replied. "Let me get used to the fact that I'm engaged."

Holly smiled at her and gave her another hug.
"I'm so happy for you."

Jason said, "You know, Marla is going to be
bent out of shape over this. She had big plans for people to introduce you to
in the city."

Julia came up and explained to Eric. "Marla
is Jason's assistant. She's dating my father, and she's also a matchmaker. She
worked on getting Holly and Jason together and still takes credit for it. She
had been planning on finding someone for Maggie. She's going to be completely
surprised."

Maggie said, "I hope she won't be too upset.
But I've found my man!"

Jason and Julia both laughed.

Nobody went back to the puzzle or the poker game.
Instead, they sat around and talked about how each couple there had gotten
together, the ups and downs along the way to their current happiness. Eric was
surprised to hear that everything had not always gone smoothly. Then he thought
of the buying-a-building fiasco and could see how easy it would be for things
to get off track. But nothing else would mess them up.

Holly gathered up her sister and brother to help
her in the kitchen and before long lunch was on the table. Eric thought he'd
never tasted a ham quite so delicious, or a better macaroni and cheese. As he
listened to the conversation spiced with laughter around the table, as he felt
Maggie grasp his hand, it hit him that he'd never felt so comfortable, so
complete. It was as if he was the puzzle that had been missing a vital piece,
which was now in place.

He turned to Maggie and said, "I love
you." Then he lifted her hand in his and kissed the top of it.

Maggie got tears in her eyes again. "I love
you, too."

He sighed with a feeling of contentment.

* * * *

Maggie splashed water on her face in the bathroom.
She guessed that it should be a pretty emotional thing to get engaged, but she
was getting a bit tired of being so teary-eyed. As she walked back into the
bedroom, she spied Eric's guitar. That's what the party needed!

She carried the guitar back downstairs and saw
Holly's face light up when she saw it.

"Music! I knew I was forgetting something.
Eric, will you play for us?"

He nodded. "But only if you all sing along to
some Christmas songs."

"That's perfect," Holly said.

Everyone sat around the fireplace and Eric started
off with 'Let it Snow' which made them laugh. Pretty soon the group was singing
along with him, and Maggie was surprised to hear that they weren't that bad.
Frank had a nice bass voice that seemed to anchor each song, and they had a
good time singing the classic holiday tunes.

Maggie watched Eric as he interacted with his new
family and felt a bit of wonder at him. Here was a guy who'd been completely
out of touch socially, yet now he was comfortable leading this song fest. She
was a bit intimidated at the idea of meeting his parents as his fiancee,
considering that they knew nothing about her yet. He'd told her he was going to
get word to them on the cruise so they'd have some warning of the news.

She was still in a daze, really, at what had
happened. True, she had let herself imagine a future with Eric, but when he
asked her to marry him, it was a complete shock. In the moment before she'd
said yes, she'd had a million thoughts run through her mind. But in the end, it
came down to that one simple question. Did she want to be with him forever? And
that answer was very clearly 'yes.'

Eric had finished a song and now said, "This
is a song I've been working on for Maggie. You guys will be the first to hear
it."

She sat up straighter on the couch, unsure what to
think. He'd written her a song? Then he started playing, a beautiful melody
picked out on the strings of the guitar. He began to sing, and the quiet was a
palpable force that the song's words dropped into. As Maggie listened to the
words, the promises of love, the future opening out before them, she felt the
tears once again streaming down her face. But she didn't mind them this time.
He was singing to her from his heart, singing his love to her, and it was the
most precious moment she'd ever experienced.

When the song was over, everyone looked at her.
She got up off the sofa and walked to him. She set his guitar aside and put her
hands on either side of his face. Leaning close she kissed him, gently and
softly but with a passion underneath. She put all that she felt into that kiss.

Eric looked into her eyes as she pulled away.
"I'm thinking you liked the song," he said quietly, his green eyes
dark with love and desire.

"That was the best Christmas present,
ever."

They turned as they heard sniffles. Holly was
passing out tissues to Julia, Anna, Betsy, and yes, even Frank.

"You've got talent," Sam said. "You
should do something with that song."

"Nope," Eric said, shaking his head.
"That song is only for my Maggie."

"Okay, you gotta stop," Cody said.
"The romantic gestures are killing me."

A wave of laughter spread around the rest of them.

"Come on, guys. Time to move the rest of the
firewood. Let's bundle up," Jason said. "I think it has gotten colder
out there."

Holly promised to have hot chocolate waiting for
them when they were done. She and Maggie headed for the kitchen.

"I am so tired," Maggie said. "We
were up late last night and I think I could sleep for the rest of the
day."

"Do you want to go lie down?"

"No, because then I'll be up all night. I've
heard rumors about your hot chocolate. It's supposed to be magical."

Holly smiled. "Maybe not magical, but really
very good." She started showing how to make real homemade hot chocolate to
Maggie.

Anna walked into the kitchen. "Thank goodness
for grandmothers. Betsy is reading to Joshua. I'm hoping he'll fall
asleep."

"He did well during our sing-along,"
Holly commented.

"He loves music," Anna replied.
"Anyway, Maggie. Betsy just told me that Frank told her that Eric was
thinking of buying you a building. Did you know about this? Because I told her
that I think you deserve some warning of something like that. Most people don't
go around buying buildings for their girlfriends."

"Don't worry, Anna. He already sprung it on
me. He had a whole plan for my new business--an arts and crafts shop. Believe
me, he now has a new plan for that building. We had quite a--a fight I guess.
At the least, a disagreement, about it."

"Okay. So you guys were able to work it
out."

"Yeah. He now knows he was an idiot."

Anna and Holly laughed.

"Where's Julia?"