Taking the half a mile walk to the diner in her ankle high boots had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now she was freezing. She had to get away from the brothers.
She took a menu from the hostess who seated her. Why did her life have to be so hard? Here was a man who was ready to shout to the top of his lungs that he loved her. Before she left New York, she supposed that's what it could have led to. Love. But now he wanted marriage. The thought was terrifying. If he was serious, then she had been wrong about Nia.
Marnie snatched a wad of napkins from the metal box on her table and pressed the thin sheets to her eyes. She looked at her reflection in the metal box. Marriage? Somehow that just didn't seem fair to Brian. She hadn't been looking for marriage, just affection. Intimacy. But Brian had been the one to walk away. In the end it had been a good thing. Yet his warning was ominous. “I don't want that to happen to you.”
She smiled. Brian had it all wrong. Danny wasn't bad luck, she was. But he'd found her. Poured out his heart to her. Could she really leave and break it again?
Across from her, a group of girls pointed to the door, looks of adoration pooling in their eyes. She followed their gaze. Thick black hair and smoky gray eyes greeted her.
Could she leave him a second time? True love meant doing the right thing. Right?
Danny scanned the booths until he saw a familiar redhead. So this was it, she was going to end it all here. He walked up to her table. She was speaking to a waitress who stepped aside to let him scoot into the booth. Their server promised to bring a set of waters and walked away.
“Hey.” Danny slid into the bench across from her.
The waitress reappeared to take their order, and he tried to ask for a glass of orange juice and sourdough toast, but Marnie interrupted. “He'll have the Meat Lover and I'll have the glass of orange juice and the sourdough toast.”
The waitress gave them a wink, and then she left to submit their order. Marnie turned her attention to Danny.
“You're probably wondering why I asked you to come to Gary's. When you proposed, you said you wanted to start over. I think we should start from the very beginning.” Tears streamed down her face.
He hated to see her in pain. Danny's stomach began to turn as he realized she wanted to pretend like it never happened. She wanted to erase him from her life.
“Marnie, can you at least let me explain? Emily and I were so young and stupid. I didn't fully comprehend what I was getting into when we ran away to Lima.”
He leaned back as the waitress set the steaming plate of food on the table.
“Danny, there's nothing you can say to change my decision. All I've ever wanted was a do over. But we can't start over. I can't undo the past. Believe me; no one wants a clean slate more than I. But it's never going to happen. I can't outrun the past.”
His face fell and he grabbed a fork, but stopped mid‐stab. Strips of bacon laid across his omelet spelling out Y‐E‐S. Danny slowly looked up at Marnie. Was she saying yes to his proposal?
“I only have one question before this,” she pointed to the omelet, “becomes official. Are you going to let me have a bite of your Meat Lover?”
Danny scooped up the plate and slid into the booth on Marnie's side. “You can have it all.”
He took his fork and started to scoop up the omelet, but stopped when Marnie placed a hand on his arm. “Are you sure? Really sure this is what you want to do?”
“I know it's been rough between us, but I promise, I'm going to make you happy.”
“You know that's a tall order.”
Danny picked the fork back up and slid the omelet onto the small saucer that held her sourdough toast. He set down the utensils and grabbed her shoulders.
“I've been searching for you my whole life. Now that you're here, I'm more than ready for the challenge. Now say it.”
“Yes—.” He claimed her lips in a passionate kiss, branding her as his before she had the chance to say, “I'll marry you”.
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