That Forever: A Small Town, Friends-to-Lovers Romance (That Boy® (Chase & Devaney) Book 3)

It’s been eight days since the proposal that’s not a proposal, as she called it. And three days since Valentine’s Day when Dani told me she didn’t want to wait too long to get married.

She has class right now, so I go to the condo, knowing I’ll be alone, and make the call I’ve been thinking about since then.

“This might seem out of the blue, but explain to me how you proposed to Mom. All I really know is that it was a surprise,” I say to my dad when he answers my video chat.

“You thinking about getting engaged?” he teases. And I can tell he’s teasing both by the tone of his voice and the smirk on his face.

“Ah, well, you know how it is with sorority girls and those candle-passing things,” I lie. “And there was one on Valentine’s Day to boot. When we went out with a couple of her sisters and their boyfriends, it was all they talked about. And it just got me thinking that I really don’t know much about how you proposed. I remember hearing it was a surprise and you hadn’t been dating too long. But that’s about it.”

“We’d been dating officially for about a week,” Dad says.

“A week?” I say, shocked, but then I laugh. “I suppose that is something you’d want to keep from your kids.”

“Well,” Dad says with a chuckle, “there were extenuating circumstances.”

“Was Mom pregnant?” My eyes about bug out of my head. Because was she? After all the safe-sex lectures they have given me over the years. Of course, I suppose if they had an unplanned pregnancy, it would make sense.

“No, she was not. We were engaged on September 9th, married on January 13th, and you were born four weeks early on September 7th. But it did all happen fast.”

“Okay, so give me the story,” I say.

“We obviously had a long history of being best friends, but we hadn’t crossed any lines, you know what I mean?” Dad says, his voice lowering like he’s telling me a big secret.

“Are you referring to sex?” I question, realizing maybe I should have never started this conversation because … gross.

“We hadn’t done anything other than kiss some,” my dad says. “And they were more sweet, friendly kisses.”

“Got it. Then what?” I say, grateful he didn’t go into more detail than that.

“Danny bought a ring.”

“Wait. What? For Mom?” I ask, not following.

Dad lets out a little huff and rolls his eyes at me. “No. He asked me and your mother to help him pick out a ring for Lori. When we were at the jewelers, your mom sketched out what she thought Lori would like. And while the jeweler went to get stones and settings, I asked her what her dream ring would look like. She drew it. I kept the little piece of paper. Had the ring made.”

“And you weren’t even dating yet?” Am I that dense? Because I’m still not following.

“That’s correct. The night Danny proposed, Jadyn kissed me. She said it was just because she was all pumped up and excited, but it mattered. The kiss was different than before, and we both felt it. The next night, when I got home late from a frat meeting, she was sitting on the couch, a few beers in front of her, and she asked me if I wanted to play Spin the Bottle with her.”

“Just like in the eighth grade,” I tease.

“Actually, for us, it was the seventh grade. But then, when I told her I didn’t need to play the game, that I’d kiss her anyway, she—I don’t know—got scared, I guess.”

“I bet that was frustrating,” I say because I know from experience that it is. The jump from friends to lovers is a difficult process. Actually though, for Dani and me, it wasn’t. It was after the lovers part when things got complicated. “So, then what happened?”

“The next morning, I took her coffee in bed. And I asked her if she would go out with me for real. Like on a date. I even suggested a trial run at Danny and Lori’s upcoming wedding weekend in Cancun. Told her if it didn’t work out, we’d come home and pretend like it never happened.”

“Why did you think it wouldn’t work? You’d known each other your whole lives.”

“Because your mom was scared of losing me. I was her rock when her parents died, and she said she couldn’t risk dating me. In case it didn’t work out.”

“And so things went well at the wedding?”

“Actually, nope. Cancun was a disaster. That was in May. But I did what I’d promised. I came back and pretended like nothing had happened.”

“But it did. Is that when you finally, um, like, slept together?” I want to know, yet I don’t want to know, but I need to know to understand their story.

“We did not. She got drunk, danced with other guys, cried on the beach. I carried her to her room, put her to bed, and left.”

“Wow. Mom sounds like a lot of drama.”

“Says the boy who is finally dating his best friend.”

I can’t help but let out a chuckle and think about all Dani and I have been through. And how much I want to marry her. Soon. “True. Keep going.”

“I gave up, sort of. I told her that I was done trying. To let me know when or if she wanted something to happen between us. Fast-forward to September. It was the first game of the season. We were throwing our annual kickoff party. She was sort of seeing someone. I was sort of seeing someone. I pulled my car into the garage at my parents’ house. She jumped in, sat on my lap, told me she was done trying. That she was doing.”

“And then you finally had sex.”

“You are missing the point, son,” Dad says sternly. Which means I’m right.

“And what is the point?”

“We were both ready to be together. After a few days of staying at her place, I asked her out on a real date that following weekend.”

“And that’s when you proposed?” I ask.

“Yep.”

“Tell me more about the actual proposal.”

My dad is quiet for a moment. “Why the sudden interest?”

I don’t like lying to my dad, but I also don’t want a lecture right now. “Like I said, the candle passing. Girl stuff.”

“They do get excited over it. All the planning and ideas they have been dreaming about since they were little.”

“Exactly.”

“So, it sounds crazy. And probably was. But I felt like I had waited forever, and I was done waiting.”

“Makes sense.” I encourage him.

“The morning of the date, I had a huge bouquet of flowers delivered to her, and then my sister surprised her by showing up and taking her to the spa to get all primed, primped, and ready for what I knew was a much bigger night than just a first date. I also sent my sister with champagne and a few gifts for her to open after the spa. One was a gorgeous dress to wear, the other was a bracelet with a rose charm. Once she was dressed and ready to go, a limo came and picked her up.”

“Wait, where were you?”

“Waiting for her at the restaurant. She got taken on a little trip down memory lane. Almost a scavenger hunt.” Dad pauses. “Is it bad that I can still remember each place she was taken?”

“You love Mom,” I tell him. “Have for a long time. And that’s something special.”

“I know it is. Anyway, she got in the limo, was given champagne, and was taken to the elementary school we had gone to, where we’d shared our first kiss on the swings.”

“She has a swing charm. The bracelet Mom wears, like, every day. That’s the one you gave her then?”

“It is.”

“That’s really cool, Dad. Where did she go next?”

“To my parents’ house. They gave her the Nebraska charm there. After that, she got the cross charm at the spot we had stopped right before we heard about her parents’ accident. She was then dropped off at the hotel and whisked to the restaurant, where I was waiting.”

“Were you freaking out?”

“Honestly, a little. But mostly, it was due to the time constraints. And your mother can be … stubborn, persistent. When she got there, I gave her the crown charm.”

“I hear you call her princess sometimes.”

“I’ve called her that in private since we were kids. Anyway, she was ready to eat. I was ready to propose. We had some appetizers, toasted each other, and then I set the ring box on the table. After she opened all the charms, I think she just thought it was another one. I took her hands in mine.”

I want to ask why he wasn’t down on one knee, why he would just set the box on the table after all he just planned, but I can tell he’s sort of in a haze of memories, so I let him keep going.

“I took her hands in mine. Told her I was seriously in love with her. That I’d loved her for as long as I could remember. I slid out of the booth, got down on one knee, and said those magic words that changed our lives. Will you marry me? Of course, she was shocked. She was shocked again when I showed her the ring, and she realized that it was the one she had sketched. Then she said no.”

“Oh shit,” I say, my eyes getting big.

“That’s what I thought. But I also know how she thinks, her need to talk things through out loud, so I didn’t take it as her final answer, but I might have been panicking a bit. Especially since in a few minutes, we were supposed to go downstairs to our engagement party with, like, a hundred of our closest friends.”

“You what?”

“Remember how I told you about the night of Danny’s proposal to Lori?”

“Yeah.”

“Danny did it up big. Surprised her at her sorority house during a candle passing, where he asked her to marry him in front of all her sisters.”

“Holy crap.”

“Oh, there’s more. If you are in a frat, your brothers will come serenade your girl after she passes her candle. Danny wasn’t in a frat, so he did something else.”

“Like hired a band or something?” I ask.

“Or something. And not just any band. The college marching band. They paraded down the street, and the whole thing turned into one big party.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool.”

“It was actually. When we were walking home, I asked your mom if she’d ever want to be surprised in front of a whole bunch of people.”

I can’t help but smile. “I take it she said yes.”

“Yeah.” He clasps both his hands together and covers his heart. “Because she thought it would be really cool to know a guy had planned all of it for her.” He does a freakishly good imitation of Mom’s voice.

And I realize that Dani would like that, too.

“Wait, back to dinner. She said no.”

“She talked her way through it. Said yes. I lied and told her we needed to go downstairs and share the good news with my parents, who were”—he makes quote marks in the air with his fingers—“at a fundraiser downstairs.”

“And so she was iffy with the yes, and then you sprang the surprise party on her?”

Dad smiles and then starts laughing. Like, I don’t know why he’s laughing. Or what’s so funny. But it’s like a full belly laugh. “I most certainly did.”

“Mom’s not big on surprises.”

“No, she’s not. Especially when just a few minutes earlier, I told her we didn’t need to tell anyone but family about our engagement right away. Needless to say, she freaked out. Called me an arrogant son of a, uh, biscuit and slammed the ring into my hand.”

“She gave you the ring back?” I say, feeling crushed for my dad. If Dani did that to me, I would die inside.

Dad’s head is down, but I can see the hurt in his eyes.

“I will admit, at this point, I thought I had ruined everything. Especially when she marched up onstage and told everyone that I asked her to marry me and she said no.”

My eyes about bug out of my head. “What did you do?”

“Mentally kicked myself for too much, too soon, but as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I knew in my heart, it didn’t matter. A no now didn’t mean a no forever. I had been in love with her all my life. I wasn’t going to stop. It’s funny now because I always planned on proposing at the swings, where we’d shared our first kiss. Something private.”

“But then Danny and Lori got engaged,” I say in understanding. “What happened next?”

“She went through this whole thing about how it was crazy. It was too fast. What would people think? But then she repeated something I had reminded her of after she said no.”

I smile at him in anticipation. It’s like I’m reading a good book and I can’t stop flipping the pages. “Which was?”

“That we shared our first kiss on the swings in the fourth grade. And after I kissed her, I ran off, but then I turned back around and asked if she’d marry me someday.” And I swear, my dad looks misty now. “And she yelled back yes. So, that meant we’d secretly been engaged for the past twelve years.”

I start to feel emotional and find myself blurting out, “I’d like to do something like that.”

“So, you are thinking of proposing?”

“I’m thinking that we’ve been married since we were in the first grade.”

My dad laughs, but then the smile fades. “Chase, you’re eighteen.”

“I know, Dad. And that’s old enough,” I say seriously. “Would you have married Mom at my age?”

He lets out a little chuckle but doesn’t hesitate. “Absolutely, but you and Dani just finally started dating.”

“Yeah, and it’s been, let’s see, like, seven weeks longer than you and Mom did.”

“You’re right. You’re a grown man now, son. If or when you decide to propose, you’ll have my full support and any help you need.” Which makes me happy. But then he has to add, “I’m just maybe hoping it won’t be too soon.”

And I’m thinking just the opposite. It can’t be soon enough.

Knowing I need to both clear my head and work things out in my mind, I decide to go back to the stadium, where I put in my earbuds and run on a treadmill. Nothing too strenuous, just the music and the movement.

And somehow, I come up with a crazy idea. A place. A plan. A dream scenario.

I let it play out in my head. Think of all the things that could go wrong. Come up with a few options if it goes right. I mean, Dani doesn’t like being told what to do. She hates when things are sprung on her and she doesn’t have time to think them through.

She’ll need options—a plan A, plan B, and plan C.

And I know my dad will always support me, but if I’m going to pull this off, I’m going to need someone who’s completely in on it with me.

And I can’t believe I’m about to do this, but … she’s the only person who can help me.

I get off the treadmill.

Think about it some more.

Go to a private study room and make the call.

“Hey, it’s Chase,” I say when she answers.

“Chase, is everything okay?” Dani’s mom asks.

“Yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to you privately sometime. I could use your advice and, depending on what you say, hopefully, maybe your help.”

“Hmm, I’m intrigued,” she says. “I’m at the hair salon. Can I call you when I get home? Say, an hour?”

“Yes, that will work. I’ll still be at the stadium.”

“Meaning Dani won’t be with you?” she astutely asks.

“Oh, yeah. It’s a surprise thing. For her.”

“All right. Talk to you soon,” she says pleasantly.

I hang up the phone and wonder, Am I crazy?

The hour feels like a literal lifetime, not the sixty-seven minutes it ends up being before my phone vibrates in my hand.

Okay, this is it.

I tell her everything.

I talk for nearly half an hour.

And she listens.

Really listens.

And then she says, “Have you talked to her father about this yet?”

“No. I mean, I know before I propose, I officially need to ask him for her hand and all, but—”

“It will be a little scary, but something you might not know about Danny Diamond is, he’s actually quite the romantic. You were too young to notice when we were married, but look at how he treats Jennifer. He’ll be on board. Plus, he’d do anything to make Devaney happy. And you, Chase, have always made our daughter happy. I’m sorry if in the past, I ever made you feel like you weren’t enough. But you are.”

“That means a lot to me. Really, it does.”

“The logistics of this are going to be … hmm, I’m going to have to enlist Van’s help. And definitely his brother, Tripp. You okay with that?”

“You think we can keep it a surprise from everyone else?”

“I think most everyone else, yes. But what about your parents?”

“Um …”

“Tell you what. Let me mull this over. But don’t worry. If this is what you want and what will make Devaney happy, I will move mountains to make it happen.”

I let out a breath of air, suddenly feeling both relieved and revitalized. “Thank you, Mrs.—”

“I’ve officially taken a new last name.”

“Mrs. Archibald it is then.”