Treading Water: Coming Home Part 46

As everyone suited up and rushed out the door, Kate went up on tiptoes to kiss Reid. "Thank you."

"I thought it would be fun."

"Hey, Dad," Ashton said. "Can I reserve one of the sleighs after everyone else has had a ride?"

"Sure. We have them until midnight."

"Great, thanks."

"Any specific reason?" Reid asked his son in a teasing tone.

"None of your business," Ashton said with a good-natured smile. "Kate, could I borrow you for just a minute?"

"Um, sure."

"Don't keep her too long, son."

"I won't."

Kate followed Ashton into the kitchen, wondering what he might have to say to her. They'd gone out of their way to be polite to each other in the weeks since she and Reid had been home, but they hadn't spoken one-on-one.

"I wanted you to know that I'm going to ask Jill to marry me tonight."

"Oh! That's amazing! Do you think she knows?"

"No, I'm quite certain it'll be a total surprise to her."

"Wow, I'd love to see that. It's really hard to surprise her. She's always one step ahead of everyone."

"Don't I know it. The thing is... I can almost guess exactly what she's going to say when I ask. That we can't upstage you when you're getting married tomorrow."

"Oh please! Tell her there's no one in the world I'd rather share the stage with than her. She knows that."

"I had a feeling you might say that. I'll tell her."

"Good luck. For what it's worth, I hope she says yes."

"You do? Really?"

"Yes, really," Kate said with a laugh. "She lights up when you're around. I've never seen her look at any guy the way she looks at you."

"That's good to hear. I'm a little nervous that she might say no."

Kate took pity on him and squeezed his arm. "She won't."

"Um, listen, Kate... I told Jill this, but I should tell you, too. I'm sorry about what happened way back when. I have a lot of regrets about that time, what I said to you that day in the parking lot and the role I played in breaking up you and my dad. He's so happy since you guys have been back together. Seeing him happy makes me happy, too. I wanted you to know that."

"And I'd like you to know that other than the b.u.mps at the end of our friends.h.i.+p, I always thought you were a great guy and a good friend. I'm thrilled that you might also be my brother-in-law."

"Sounds a lot better than stepson, huh?"

Kate tossed her head back and laughed, and then she hugged him. "Much, much better. Thank you for apologizing. I'm so sorry we lied to you. That never should've happened either."

"It's all in the past now. Let's leave it there."

"Deal."

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure."

"I sort of thought my dad might ask me to stand up for him tomorrow, but he didn't."

"You've been pretty cool about us being back together. He didn't want to push his luck with you."

"Huh," Ashton said, rubbing at the stubble on his jaw. "I didn't think of it that way."

"You were his first choice, though. You have to know that."

"He should really have his first choice on such an important occasion, don't you think?"

Kate smiled at him. "I couldn't agree more."

"I'll take care of it." He leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Enjoy every minute tomorrow. You're getting the very best man I've ever known."

Touched, Kate said, "Thank you."

They returned to the living room, and Ashton joined Jill on the sofa.

"So he told you his big news?" Reid asked.

Kate looked up at him. "How long have you known?"

"A couple of days. He asked me not to tell anyone, but I was dying to tell you. I'm glad he did."

"It was nice just now with him. Felt like old times. I love them together.

"So do I." Reid glanced at his son and Jill, their heads bent close as they whispered to each other. "He hasn't left her side all weekend."

"Except to sleep. Maggie told me he hasn't been staying at Jill's while she's been there."

"No, he wouldn't. That doesn't surprise me."

"You Matthews men are extremely old-fas.h.i.+oned in your beliefs."

"Did you just call me old, darlin'? The night before our wedding?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He leaned in to press his lips to her ear, making her s.h.i.+ver. "The other sleigh is ours after everyone else is done."

Kate snuggled into his embrace, delighted by him, his surprise and the possibility of her sister's engagement. This was shaping up to be the very best Christmas ever.

"Are you warm enough?" Ashton asked Jill as he tucked a second blanket around her.

"Yep. Are you going to join me, or am I going alone?"

His heart raced with nerves and excitement. What if she said no? What would he do then? He pushed those negative thoughts out of his mind and settled in next to her. The full moon cast a bright glow over the snow, making it glisten like thousands of tiny crystals.

Jill raised the blankets to invite him in, and Ashton slid closer, putting an arm around her.

"There," she said. "Now, it's perfect."

"Yes, it is." He turned to her, loving how cute she looked with a knit hat pulled down over her ears and her nose pink from the cold. As the sleigh jarred forward, sliding silently through the snow, Ashton kissed her. He'd intended it to be a quick kiss, but after three nights without her in his bed, he was aching for much more.

"I've missed you," he said many pa.s.sionate minutes later.

"I've missed you, too. I've gotten used to sleeping with you."

"Please don't break the habit."

"I won't. Maggie is going home the day after tomorrow, and then I'm all yours again."

"I like the sound of that. All mine."

She put her arm around him and rested her head on his chest. "Mmm."

"I want you to be all mine forever, Jill." The words were out of his mouth before he had time to consider the carefully worded proposal he'd been practicing for days.

She raised her head and met his gaze. "You do?"

He nodded. To h.e.l.l with carefully worded. "I love you so much. These last few weeks, when we've finally gotten to be together, have been the best of my whole life. I never want what we have to end. Will you make me the happiest guy in the world and marry me, Jill?"

Her face was a study in dismay, which was not at all what he was hoping for. "You can't ask me tonight when my sister is getting married tomorrow!"

"I knew you'd say that, so I talked to Kate about it."

"Wait-you talked to Kate?"

"Yes, and I told her you'd be worried about us getting engaged the night before her wedding, and she said-I'm quoting here-'Tell her there's no one in the world I'd rather share the stage with.' She also said-and this is me being extremely self-serving-that she hoped you said yes. I suspect that was mostly because she'd rather I be her brother-in-law than her stepson, but that's another story."

Jill laughed through her tears.

"And your dad gave me his blessing, too."

"He did? You asked him?"

"Of course I did," he said, indignant that she would even ask. "I'm a Southern gentleman, darlin', and there're rules for these things." He tugged off his glove with his teeth, retrieved the jeweler's box from his coat pocket and opened it so she could see the two-carat diamond ring he'd picked out for her. He'd suspected that anything bigger would've been too much for her. "What do you say? Should we spend the rest of our lives together?"

Jill looked at the ring and then at him.

Ashton thought he would die as he waited for her to say something-anything.

"Yes. Yes, we should."

Somehow he managed to hide his overwhelming relief from her, but his hands trembled as he pulled off the glove on her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. "Let me see." He held up her hand to use the moonlight to gauge how the ring looked on her. "Perfect," he said, kissing her hand and then her lips.

"I love you, too," she said, making his heart dance with joy.

He hugged her tightly and kissed her again, lingering this time. "That's the best gift anyone has ever given me."

"This reminds me of the night we took Thunder for a ride in the snow," Kate said as she and Reid skimmed over the snow in the other sleigh. The cold air had reinvigorated her after the long day, and she was thrilled to be coc.o.o.ned with Reid under the blankets.

"I know you would've preferred to take Thunder tonight, but I really don't want you riding while you're pregnant."

"How will I go nine months without riding?"

"You can do it, darlin'. For the baby."

"Yes, I can, but it's not going to be easy. And I'll get fat as a house without the exercise."

"I won't let you get fat. I'll take you for long walks on the beach in St. Kitts and more long walks through the woods when we're here."

"What if I do get fat?" she asked playfully. "Will you still love me then?"

"I'll love you no matter how fat you get, no matter how many wrinkles line your sweet face, no matter how gray your hair gets or how many warts pop up on your nose."

Kate laughed at the visual he created. "So you're picturing a fat, wrinkled, gray-haired witch of a wife?"

"I'm picturing you, round with our child, glowing with excitement and love and antic.i.p.ation. I can't wait to see that. I can't wait to watch our baby be born and watch you feed him or her." He rested a hand on her still-flat belly. "I can't wait for every minute of it."

She was deeply moved to hear him speak with such excitement about their child. "I can't believe that this time tomorrow we'll be married. What a long and winding road it's been to end up exactly where we belong."

"Thank you, darlin', for choosing me when you truly could've had anyone you wanted."

"I chose the only one I've ever wanted."

He captured her lips in a sweet, soft kiss that had her clinging to him, wanting so much more.

"Tomorrow," he said. "Tomorrow, we'll have everything." He kissed her again. "I'm going to take you home now and tuck you into bed, and then the next time I see you, you'll be coming toward me as my bride, and I'll be the luckiest, happiest guy in the entire world at that moment."

"I don't get why you can't stay with me tonight."

"Because it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, and I'm not doing anything to tempt fate when she was kind enough to bring you back to me."

"I don't want to sleep alone."

"I'll ask Maggie to come sleep with you."