Settling Ashes: A New Adult/College Romance (The Ashes Series Book 2) (20 page)

Epilogue-Six Months Later

Clay

“Where are you taking me?” asked Paige, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

It was warm again, finally. I thought that particular winter would never end. It was bittersweet. It was the first winter Paige and I had spent together; meaning the first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first New Year’s celebration we had rung in as a couple. But we had been through so much this year. Most days I wished it had all been easier.

But then, Paige and I wouldn’t be the couple we were. And the couple we were was completely unbreakable.

“Don’t be so nosy,” I told her. “Shit. Attempting to surprise you is damn near impossible, woman.”

She leaned over the console and nipped at my ear, and the steering wheel lurched slightly to the left.

“Hey,” I said softly. “One car accident is enough for one lifetime, okay? Take it easy. You’re going to want to do that later, anyway.”

She leaned back into her seat, smiling. “Oh really? Confident, are we?”

I laughed at the fake pout she was sporting, turning the wheel to maneuver the Land Rover smoothly into the parking lot of the campus bookstore.

“Really, Clay?” she asked doubtfully. “You’re supposed to be taking me to this surprise dinner, and we’re stopping at the campus bookstore?”

I grinned at her. She was so oblivious, and I relished it. She had no idea the night I had planned for her. She deserved everything she was going to get tonight, and so much more.

Paige had been my rock this year. After the holidays, we returned to school from spending the break in Ohio with my family. She was nervous and thrilled about staying in the governor’s mansion, and she and my sisters had bonded in a way that almost brought me to tears. She was amazing and everyone knew it. Even my mother had begun to go easier on her, after a serious sit-down chat with me.

When we returned to Rutherford, I had to buckle down and focus so that I could graduate with honors. She’d been by my side, helping me study, editing my papers, whatever I needed. She was the stability my life had been lacking before I met her, and the fact that she stood by me when I needed her most told me everything I ever needed to know.

Paige Hill was it for me.

I parked the car and leaned into her. “I’m ready for that kiss now.”

“Yeah?” she said, leaning in close.

Then she reached out a hand and put a finger to my lips.

“Well, I’m ready to see what you have up your sleeve,” she said playfully.

“Ah!” I said, laughing. “Damn. Alright, then.”

I climbed out and walked around to her side of the car. I loved how she waited for me to open her door. She let me be the gentleman I never knew I was until I had a reason.

I held out my hand for her to grasp, which she did with a tentative smile, and we walked together inside the bookstore.

“They’re closing, babe,” she whispered as she watched the cashier count out money on the counter.

“I know,” I said back in a stage whisper. “But we’re not here to buy books.”

I led her to the elevator. The bookstore was the tallest building on campus. The bottom two floors were occupied by the actual bookstore, and the remaining thirteen floors were occupied by a faculty housing department. We were headed for the roof.

The numbers ticked by on the lighted digital display in the elevator. I rubbed my hands on my jeans. Anxiety was beginning to build in my gut, and I glanced at Paige. She was watching me apprehensively, biting her bottom lip. When she caught me staring, she broke into a sunny smile that I couldn’t help but return. Everything about her was still contagious. Would that ever change between us?

No. I knew, without a doubt, that it wouldn’t.

“Clay,” she said. “I’ve never been this high up in this building before. What’s up here?”

“Faculty housing,” I answered as the elevator dinged.

I smiled down at her, taking her hand. I licked my lips when I noted the patch of skin peeking out from below the top she was wearing. I’d opted to tell her to dress casually, so she wouldn’t be too suspicious. Casual for Paige meant a short denim skirt and a flowing blouse that hitched up in the front, exposing the smooth skin of her stomach.

Damn it, I hoped I could get through tonight without tackling her.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door at the end of the hallway on the fifteenth floor. I held my breath as I held the door open so she could step through it.

Paige

I walked onto the roof in Rutherford and came out on the other side in Wonderland.

My breath hitched in my throat as I glanced around me in wonder. Clay told me this place was where some of the faculty lived, and it was evident on this roof deck that this was a place people loved to lounge and relax.  There was greenery galore; plants overflowing from large clay pots and a few hanging from planters on tall iron poles around the space.

The entire place was adorned with tiny white twinkling lights; small round bulbs of romantic aura that set the stage for a night I would never forget. The brick walls were covered with framed photos of Clay and I. Some of them were pictures of the two of us; some were pictures of us with our friends on various nights during this past year. I walked around the place like a gallery, marveling at the shots that had been captured. Some of them I recognized, but some photos were taken when I hadn’t even realized there was a camera present. When I arrived at a cluster of photos on the outskirts of the third wall, I froze.

Encased in those frames were pictures of my family. The smiling faces of my mother, my father, and my brother stared out at me, and a sob escaped my throat as I stared back. Then my eyes slid right and found the picture of Beau and I at a junior dance from high school, and another one of he and I and Gillian laughing merrily on the playground when we were ten. I covered my mouth with both hands.

Clay’s arms encircled me from behind, and I felt his warm breath tickle my ear as he spoke.

“Don’t cry, baby. I hope this is okay. I wanted them to be with us tonight.”

I leaned into him, taking a halting breath as I used his solid body for support.

“I’m not crying because I’m sad,” I gasped. “This is amazing. How did you…?”

“Gillian helped me,” he whispered. “Are you okay?”

I turned in his arms and smiled at him. “I’m perfect. You really have made this a special night. You’re…I don’t know how to thank you for getting these and framing them all. We have enough to cover the walls of an entire house!”

“That’s the idea,” he muttered. “Close your eyes.”

I quirked a quizzical brow, but did as he asked. He grabbed my shoulders and walked me toward where I knew the roof edge lay behind a waist-high wall. We walked a few feet, and when we stopped he moved his hands down to circle my waist, a spot I knew he loved to rest them.

“Open them,” he ordered.

We were staring at the most beautiful view I’d ever seen. I gasped, unable to help myself. The entire campus was laid out before us, close enough to pick out what everything was, but not so far that everything was blurry and distant. The mountains in the distance were black shadows on top of an even inkier sky. The expanse was dotted with bright shining stars.

“Oh. My. God,” I said breathlessly. “Gorgeous. You’ve been up here before?”

“A couple of times,” he admitted. “Never with anyone else, though. This is my first time bringing someone up here.”

“I’m glad I could be your first,” I said with a smile.

“Paige,” he began as we looked out at the mountains in the distance. “Before you, I was a walking zombie. I went to class. I went to parties. I saw plenty of girls. But I was a dead man. You walked into my life at this very bookstore one day last August, and my entire world came to life. With one shy look, with one touch of your hand, with one word uttered from your mouth, I was changed forever. And my destiny finally came to fruition.”

The butterflies I hadn’t known were gathering in my stomach took furious flight at his words. This man had gone to so much trouble to create this kind of magical night for me, and now he was telling me how special I was to him on top of it.

I would never get enough.

His arms tightened around me, and he glanced down to meet my eyes.

“I love you, Paige, with my entire body, with my complete soul. I gave you my heart the night you opened yours up to me for the first time, and I will be forever grateful to you for taking it so willingly. I would do absolutely anything to be the man who deserves you, and to make you happy for the rest of your life.”

My vision went a little blurry then. I brushed the tears away, staring into those clear blue eyes I adored so much.

His eyes shifted to glance behind us, and he pulled my hand to turn me around to face the back of the roof where we’d entered.

Standing there in a line were our friends. Rob, Drew, Gillian, and Tima all stood there smiling gleefully at me. Confused, I cocked my head to the side.

Rob held up a plain white sign, with big, black, bold letters laid out on the front.

WILL

I couldn’t imagine what my face must have looked like, but confused would have been a total understatement. I glanced at Clay, but he was stoic, watching them.

I turned back and Drew was holding up a sign, too. He was next in line and his grin was probably the widest.

YOU

Now my uncertainty was bordering on helplessness. I was missing something huge here, and everyone was in on the joke but me. When I looked at Clay again, he was still staring at our friends. His expression was so somber, panic began to set in deep my veins.

Looking back at the line of people in front of us, Gillian was standing next to Drew holding his hand tightly. In her other hand, however, she now held up a sign as high as her tiny frame could manage.

MARRY

My hands flew to my lips to hold in the gasp that threatened to overload both me and my senses, and as I watched, a smiling Tima held up the last white sign.

ME?

Tears streaming down my face, I stared at them with wide eyes and my hands still firmly covering my mouth. I felt a tug on my hand, and when I looked down, Clay was kneeling before me.

“Paige?” he said, his face still so serious. “I love you, baby. With everything I have, I love you. Marry me.”

My eyes were locked with his. I couldn’t look away even if I’d tried. He had just proposed to me. I wasn’t expecting it. I knew I was going to spend my life with this man; that much had been certain. But I was not expecting him to propose to me right now, today, or anytime in the near future. He had managed to catch me completely by surprise. And I loved him even more for it.

I dropped to my knees beside him. He was still holding my left hand in his, and he squeezed it tightly as I took a deep breath.

“Nothing in this whole damn world would make me happier,” I exhaled the words in a rush of pure joy.

Finally, the smile I’d been missing broke out on his face and he rolled his eyes skyward, sending up a silent prayer.

“Thank God,” he whispered.

Then he loosened his group on my hand long enough to slide a ring onto my finger. The most perfectly beautiful ring I’d ever seen.

“Oh, my God,” I said for the second time tonight. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

And then I was being tugged out of Clay’s hold by a tearful Gillian.

“You’re engaged!” she said happily. “I can’t believe I kept this secret.”

“You only had to keep it for two days,” Drew said wryly. “Clay wouldn’t trust you with it for longer than that.”

“Shut up,” she growled at him without breaking my gaze. “Congratulations, chick. You deserve this. You guys are going to be so crazy happy.”

I believed her. I knew that Clay and I would be deliriously happy. It didn’t matter where we lived, what we were doing, or when the actual wedding took place. He was mine. I was his.

And I had the happily ever after I never dreamed existed.

THE END

About the Author

I’m a mom before I’m anything else. When I finally felt brave enough to quit working and stay at home with my oldest daughter, the idea of becoming an author was born. So now I’m a mom, a wife, AND an author. And I love being all of those things. I live in South Carolina now with my family, but I’m a Southeastern Virginia girl at heart. I love books, steak, and television, and I hate working out. My two kids are Carrington, age 4, and Raleigh, age 1. We also have a four-legged family member of the doggie variety, whose name is Landis.

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