I made sure to book dinner at the same restaurant we went to before. Afterall, last time went wonderfully and I know it impressed my Madelyn. Only this time my friends have reserved a larger table.
We have more two guests this time.
I flew in Maddie’s aunt and cousin, and they stood in the airport lobby and hugged her and cried for almost ten minutes straight. It was the most touching thing I’ve ever seen, although incredibly uncomfortable to be surrounded by three crying women.
It was the least I could do given everything I’ve been told.
It’s easy to see the family resemblance in all their faces. Some of that resemblance is down to relief, I think. From what Maddie explained, they’ve been going through a hard time for years.
It makes my chest ache to see them sitting at the table, eyes bright and smiling, because I never got to do this for my parents. Paying it forward to Maddie’s family is the next best thing. There’s no point in everything I’ve worked for and everything I’ve built if there’s no one to share it with. It’s all I can think as they chat away, sharing stories and telling me all about Madelyn as a little girl. The drive is easy, and I imagine the weekend is going to go exactly as I planned.
“We couldn’t get you to bring a date ever and then you bring one and now three,” Brian jokes as we walk in. Hugs are given all around and the four of us sit at the far end of the table.
After introductions, appetizers, and small talk, the conversation turns to us. To Madelyn and me.
Kenzie asks, her eyes shining as she looks at her cousin. “Did you know he was going to fall in love with you when you first kissed him?”
Maddie hesitates, her nose wrinkling with an adorable grin. I know she’s going to say no. She couldn’t have known anything. And that first kiss, that first night…it was a one-time reckless thing that could have ruined everything.
“You know what?” The table has fallen silent, and all my friends—my family—are waiting for her answer. “I think I might have felt that. But that was the first time I saw him, not when we…” She lets the sentence remain unfinished.
“What?” Julie says, truly curious. “The first time you saw him? When was that?”
“In an elevator.” Maddie leans farther into my arm with a little shake of her head. “I was coming home from a dinner with my...well, with my ex-fiancé. He had proposed, and it was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life.”
Scott looks at me with wide eyes from his side of the table.
I mouth shut up at him.
“And I was happy.” Maddie sounds thoughtful, like it was decades ago that I first saw her in that elevator. “I was excited, but...something was off about it. I was trying to convince myself that both of us were tired from the evening, and that’s why he…I don’t know. I just knew something wasn’t right.”
“He was such a fucking dick,” Kenzie says quietly and her mother scolds her, smacking her gently with the cloth napkin.
“He wasn’t the best,” Maddie agrees. “So we were going up to the eighth floor, and the elevator stopped and then the doors opened, and Graham got on.”
“Oooh,” Julie says, then covers her mouth with her hands. “This is getting scandalous.” I clear my throat and ignore her innocence.
“I just...” Maddie wriggles her shoulders a little. “I felt it. I felt something, looking at him, and I was barely even looking. I was mostly looking at him in the reflection on the doors. It probably seems crazy, but when his elbow touched mine, I—”
“Fell head over heels for him?” Scott asks.
“Yeah sure, something like that,” Maddie says shrugging it off, and everybody at the table laughs.
“That’s a fairy tale,” Julie says, her fingers linked under her chin. “That’s true love at first sight.”
Maddie’s eyes shine. “Yeah, I think it might have been.”
I thought about Maddie for six long months after that single elevator ride. I’m not the kind of man who puts a lot of stock in fate and destiny, but when she opened the door to her apartment—when it was her and not some random woman I’d never seen before—I knew that was my chance. You don’t get many second chances in life.
I couldn’t admit it to myself at the time, but I’d have gone for her, fiancé or not. I might have tried to put it off and deny what I felt, but it wouldn’t have lasted. There was something in that moment, trapped in that elevator with her, that changed me. Some piece of her fit perfectly with some piece of me, and I would have forever felt I was missing something if I hadn’t found her again.
Dinner is served and the conversation at the table moves on to Kenzie’s new classes. I set her up with an academic counselor in Chicago who was able to piece together her unfinished degrees and come up with a plan to finish both of them in two semesters. She talks about her projects and the inspiration she feels when she attends classes and how she’s already made strong connections with several professors, which will come in handy when she goes job hunting. Just listening to her talk about all of her plans and how optimistic she is and how ready to take on the world she is…I know every penny was worth it.
Her aunt is doing very well, too. The medical bills had been a crushing weight on her, making it hard to recover from her treatments. Now that they’re gone, Maddie says she’s doing better than ever. She gets teary whenever she gets good news from her aunt.
And, just to make sure there are no more nasty surprises when it comes to hospitals, I’ve gone behind the scenes and made sure Maddie’s aunt will never be turned away from any specialist she needs. She’s not to see a single bill.
It’s almost hard to imagine this table without Maddie. Her cousin fits here. Her aunt fits here. It’s like they’ve always belonged here. I just didn’t know anyone was missing.
It’s tempting to bask in it for the rest of the evening. It wouldn’t be so bad if we all just enjoyed ourselves without a big surprise event.
But what’s the fun in that, if you have the most important question of your life to ask?
The conversation flows easily, with lots of laughter and inside jokes and explanations so that nobody’s left out.
“Graham,” Julie asks. “I was going to ask you. Did you close on that property?”
“Of course I closed on the property.” I flash a smile across the table at her. “Did you think I gave up?”
“I heard things got a little dicey at the end.”
“Harlan just needed some...strong encouragement.”
He’d signed the contract to sell me the property while I was taking care of Kenzie’s medical bills. The signed document showed up in my email, and he’s been a delight to work with ever since.
I tell them, already looking forward to the new penthouse my little temptress is helping design, “Renovations on the building start next week, and it’s going to be incredible when it’s done.” Turns out she has a passion for interior design and spending my money. Both of which are suiting her well and I’m enjoying it just as much as she is.
It’s only when the night is coming to a close that I feel the nerves pick up. The waiters come in to take the dinner dishes away in preparation for coffee and dessert, and the conversation naturally lulls as they lean in, stacking plates and silverware and whisking it all away.
When they straighten up again, I pick up my drink and stand.
With a steadying breath, then another, I take in my friends who exchange meaningful looks with each other. I want to tell them all to cool it, to relax, but I can’t say anything. Maddie looks up at me, her doe eyes bright with anticipation. She glances over at my friends with raised eyebrows, like they might give her some clue about what’s going to happen, but they just look back at her with equally excited expressions.
“Madelyn,” I start and stare into her eyes even as her mouth drops open. “From the first moment I saw you, I couldn’t get you out of my head.” Both of her hands cover her mouth and her eyes turn glassy.
Kenzie squeals, and Madelyn’s aunt shushes her. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see them gripping each other’s hands.
“I thought about you every day for six months after I got out of that elevator. The second I stepped out, I regretted doing it. I wanted to know more about you, and somewhere deep down, I knew there was something there I needed in my life.”
Maddie’s eyes shine with tears.
“I have to be completely honest with you. I’ve never been happier that someone couldn’t pay the rent.”
Affectionate laughter goes up around the table.
“I’ve told you this before, and I’ll tell the entire world. There has never been anyone who made me feel what I feel for you. I wanted to be near you anyway I could. I still want to be with you in any way that I can.”
Maddie keeps her eyes on me, and I want to remember her like this forever. She’s pleased and content and in love, and I can’t believe it took me so much of my life to look for this.
Then again, maybe it took me so long because she had to be in the right place at the right time.
Fine. Maybe I am the kind of man who believes in fate and destiny. I’ll believe in anything that brought Maddie to me. My only wish is that my parents were here to see that I found someone like her. Someone to share my life with. Someone to help me through the dark times. Someone I can help through the dark times. I think somewhere, somehow, they know.
“I love you,” I say and bend down on one knee, pulling the ring out of my pocket and presenting the diamond to her. “I want to spend the rest of our lives together so I can take care of you, make you happy, and be your husband. Will you marry me?”
She stands up out of her seat, tears running down her cheeks, throws her arms around my neck, and kisses me.
We’re instantly surrounded by cheers. Her lips on mine is everything I need.
“Is that a yes, then?” Kenzie shouts and only then does she pull back from the kiss and looks me in the eyes.
Technically, she hasn’t said yes yet. Not with her words. Technically, these are the last moments she’ll spend as my girlfriend instead of my fiancée.
They’re absolutely beautiful.
And what’s to come is going to be stunning. I can’t wait for all of it. Marrying her. Loving her forever. Being by her side for as long as I can.
I couldn’t have earned a better deal than that if I worked every single minute for the rest of my life. I can only accept her for the gift that she is.
My Madelyn leans in, her lips close to mine, gives me a light kiss that feels like a promise, and whispers. “Yes.”