Key of Knowledge
Page 77

“Okay.”
“I know it’s not quite finished. There’s still the counters and the backsplash and, oh, a few more things, but I don’t want to wait anymore. I’ll move in tomorrow, and we can start, officially, living together.”
“I don’t want to live together.”
Her face went blank.
“What?”
“Sorry, Mal.” He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “I don’t want to live together.”
“But . . . but you asked me to move in with you weeks ago. You’ve asked me half a dozen times.”
“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “I changed my mind.”
“You—you changed your mind?”
“That’s right.” Casually, he opened the new refrigerator. “Wow. Look at all this room. And it is shiny.”
She couldn’t do anything but stare at him. Her stomach had dropped to her feet, and those feet no longer felt like dancing. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you could just change your mind about something like this, from one minute to the next.”
“Me either. Actually, I don’t think I really changed it, I think I just realized it wasn’t what I wanted.”
“You just realized you don’t want me.” There was too much shock, too much anger for the pain to fight through. So she rode on the shock and the anger and stepped forward to give him a hard shove. “Well, that’s just fine.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want you. I said I didn’t want to live together.”
“You can take your new kitchen and stuff it. If you can’t handle a committed, adult relationship then you can’t handle me.”
“There you go, we’re right on the same page. Committed, adult relationship.” He pulled the box from his pocket, opened it. “This adult enough for you?”
Her mouth dropped open, and he thought she’d never looked more beautiful as she stared down, dumbstruck, at the diamond ring.
“Let’s be really grown-up, Malory. Let’s get married.”
“You want to marry me?”
“I do. Look, I already know my lines.” He grinned at her. “You look a little pale. I’m going to take that as a good sign. The jeweler said this was a classic, and Brad gave it a thumbs-up.” Flynn removed the ring from the box. “Brilliant-cut solitaire, blah-blah, whatever. You go for the classic look, right?”
A latch kept trying to slam shut in her throat, but she forced it open. “Yes, I do.”
“There, you know your lines, too.” He took her limp hand, slipped the ring on before she could say another word. “It fits. I didn’t think it would, you’ve got such delicate fingers, but it looks like we won’t have to have it sized after all.”
She felt the snap of heat, the spread of warmth from the gold circling her skin. Yes, it fit, she thought dreamily. It looked as if it had been made for her finger. “It’s beautiful. It’s absolutely beautiful.”
“You could say yes now.”
She looked up from the ring, into his eyes. “Life’s going to be a roller coaster with you. I used to be afraid of roller coasters because you just never know what they’re going to do next. They don’t scare me anymore.”
“Say yes. I’ll get rid of the lamps.”
On something between a sob and a laugh, she leaped into his arms. “Yes. You know it’s yes, even with the ugly lamps.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” With her cheek pressed to his, she held up her ring hand and watched the diamond glitter. “How could the same man who bought this gorgeous ring have bought those hideous lamps?”
“The many sides of Flynn Hennessy.”
“Lucky for me.” She heard the front door open and moved nearly as fast as Moe. “Oh, they’re coming. I have to show it off.” She pushed away from Flynn, then nipped back to kiss him again. “I have to show somebody.”
She hurried toward the front of the house, even as Dana hurried toward the back with Zoe at her heels.
“What is it?” Zoe demanded.
“Have to show you both at once. Boy, have I got news for you,” Dana said when Malory rushed toward her.
“Whatever it is, it can’t top mine. I’ve got news for you.”
Zoe pushed between them. “Jeez, somebody tell somebody something before I explode.”
“Me first,” Dana and Malory said in unison, then both held out their left hands.
There were screams, followed by a burst of unintelligible words. At least they were unintelligible to the three men and a boy who looked on.
Simon watched his mother and her two friends jump and squeal like the girls did on the playground at school. Wrinkling his brow, he looked up at Brad.
“How come they do that?”
“It’s just one of the many mysteries of life, kid.”
“Girls are dopey.” He clapped for the dog, who was blindly joining in the female ecstasy, and hunkered down for some wrestling.
Flynn looked past the women to Jordan. “Beer?” he asked.
“Beer,” Jordan agreed, and skirted the madness to seek the relative sanity of the kitchen.
“I can’t believe it!” Zoe gripped both Malory’s and Dana’s hands and bounced on her toes. “Engaged! You’re both engaged. At the same time. It’s like magic. The rings. They’re so beautiful. Oh, boy.” She dug into her pocket for a tissue.
“Sheesh. Mom, get a grip.”
Zoe sent her son a glare. “I’ll give you a grip.”
He snorted, rolled with a delighted Moe. “Are we getting pizza, or what?”
“Why don’t you go back in the kitchen and ask Flynn? Politely,” she added as he scrambled up.
“I’ve got to show you the kitchen,” Malory remembered. “But first.” She grabbed Dana’s hand again to admire the ruby. “It’s gorgeous. So perfect for you.”
“So’s he. Wait until I tell you how he asked me.”
“I can top it,” Malory claimed.
“Were you naked?”
“No.”
Dana licked a finger, swiped it down an imaginary scoreboard. “I win.”
“Mom!” Simon shouted from the kitchen door. “The guys say if you all want pizza you have to say what kind, or else you have to take what you get.”