Part 24 (1/2)
”In gale-force winds. While Lexi was hurt.”
”Well,” Clare said, ”since you insist...”
Adam eased off the cork, working it upward with his thumbs. It flew out into the water, making a splash. He brought out two flutes and poured the bubbling liquid into them.
”Real gla.s.ses, not plastic? Wow. I'm impressed.” Clare took her gla.s.s and for a moment just stared at the bubbles popping and floating upward toward the foamy top.
”Toast,” she said to Adam.
”Toast,” he agreed. ”To life.”
”To life!”
They sipped.
”Oh, man, this is so good!” Clare stretched out her arms expansively. ”What could be better than this day and this champagne?”
”Also,” Adam said quietly, ”I have an ulterior motive.”
”Oh, yeah?” Clare slid down, belly up, resting on her arms, letting her head fall back, exposing her neck to the sun. The warmth was so sweet. She glanced over at Adam, so large and male and real and solid. ”You going to seduce me? I've never had s.e.x on Moon Sh.e.l.l Beach.”
”Seduction? Maybe later. Proposal first.”
Clare blinked. She turned to sit, cross-legged, looking at Adam. ”Huh?”
Adam wore an almost bashful expression. ”Look, Clare. I've done a lot of thinking since you went into the harbor like that. I know you and I haven't been together very long, and I know I might be just the rebound guy after Jesse-”
”You aren't,” she told him.
”I believe you. I believe that. And I know how I feel about you. I love you.”
Clare's heart jumped. ”Oh, Adam!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him. ”Ooops. Sorry, I didn't mean to slosh champagne down your back.”
”It'll wash off.” He took her arms and pushed her back a bit, so he could look her steadily in the eye. ”I want to marry you, Clare. I want to marry you and fill a house with children. I don't want to be sensible and wait a year until we're good and sure we want to be together-”
”But we are sure!” Clare laughed with delight. ”I mean, I'm sure. And obviously you are, too, since you're proposing to me! Oh, Adam, I love you, I do! Oh, Adam, I want you to kiss me like crazy, but where can I put this champagne?”
He looked very s.e.xy, with a big confident grin on his face as he took her gla.s.s and set both inside the cooler, anchoring them firmly in the ice. ”So,” he said, ”are you saying yes?”
”Absolutely,” Clare exclaimed. ”Yes!”
”In that case...” He unb.u.t.toned the small pocket on his swim trunks and brought out a diamond ring. He held it out to her.
”Oh, Adam.” She gazed down at the diamond, which was a considerable rock.
”It's not a family heirloom. It's not my mother's. I don't want the kind of marriage they had. I want our own kind of marriage. And I want you to have a real sparkler.”
”It certainly sparkles. Wow, Adam.” She lifted her eyes to his. ”Will you put it on my finger?”
She held out her left hand, and he slid the ring on.
She was astonished. ”It fits perfectly!”
”I borrowed your jade ring to take to the jeweler to be sure I got the right size.”
Clare tilted her hand left and right, watching the rainbows flying from the stone. ”It's huge! Oh, Adam, I'm going to cry!” She held out her hand in a stop signal and stared at the diamond. ”Oh, wait till the Barbie Dolls get a load of this!” She clapped her hands over her mouth. ”I can't believe I just said that! How petty of me! But Adam...I can't wait to show it to everyone! Oh, my gosh, we're going to have so much fun, telling everyone we're getting married! And we'll have a wedding, and wedding showers, and lots of parties!”
He settled back on the sand, arms around his knees, listening to her babble, amused by her excitement.
”And we'll live in a house together!” She felt her eyes go wide at the thought.
”That's usually what married people do.”
”And we'll have children! Oh, Adam!” She launched herself at him so hard and fast she knocked him over backward, and she wrestled around on top of him, kissing his mouth, his face, his neck, his arms and chest and belly. ”Oh, I love you! Oh, I'm so happy! I've never been so happy in my life!” Suddenly she rolled off him and sat up and held out her hand. ”I don't know what I want to do more, kiss you or look at my ring!”
”Kiss me,” Adam told her.
And she did.
FIFTY.
Lexi lay in her old twin bed, the one she'd slept in as a teenager. She'd slept well, and the morning had pa.s.sed quickly with Clare and Adam around. When they went off, she returned to her bedroom to rest. The doctors had insisted she rest. She wished she could fall back asleep. Her energy was returning, and her various aches and pains were subsiding, but her heart was heavy.
She heard her mother coming down the hall. She closed her eyes tight, playing possum as she had so many times as a child. She just didn't want to deal with her mother, or anyone right now. She didn't even want to deal with herself.
The bedroom door opened a crack. She heard her mother's breathing. The door closed. Lexi snuggled down into her pillow and tried to relax her body, to return to the comfort of sleep.
But no, it wasn't going to work. She couldn't will herself back to sleep. She couldn't even conjure up a fantasy to entertain her while she rested. For the first time, she wished she had a television in her bedroom. It would be a relief to let some show-Seinfeld, Scrubs, even La.s.sie-flicker before her, taking her from her own thoughts.
Beyond her door, her mother's dogs went into barking fits. Voices broke the silence-laughter and shouts. Doors slammed. People clattered down the hall, and all at once her bedroom door opened again. Lexi opened her eyes.
”Wake up!” It was Clare, Clare smelling like suns.h.i.+ne in her red bikini and sarong and jeweled flip-flops and sunburned nose. She was glowing. ”You have to wake up!”
Lexi s.h.i.+fted around in bed. ”What's going on?”
Over Clare's shoulder, Adam appeared, and behind him their mother and father, and the Jack Russells Buddah and Pest yelping all around everyone.
”I'm engaged to your brother!” Clare bounced on the bed. ”Sit up. Here, let me put another pillow behind you. Lean forward. Now look!”
Lexi looked. ”Oh, wow, Clare!” She glanced at her brother. He was grinning as if he'd just invented laughing gas. ”What a big fat diamond! Adam, you're the man!”
”Yup,” Adam agreed.
”They're going to get married!” Myrna was practically levitating.
”That's usually what getting engaged means,” Lexi said drily. She looked at Clare. ”Congratulations. I'm so so glad for you. For both of you. For all of us.”