Beth went home to her parent's house around noon for a shower and change of clothes, promising to return before dinner so they could go back to the hospital.
"How's Tom doing?" her dad asked when she walked downstairs after her shower.
"He's ok. The doctor said he will recover but it will take awhile. New medications, a bit of rehab. But, it looks like he should be able to go home soon."
"Good, I'm glad."
"Me too." William noticed her far away look as she sipped her coffee.
"Happy birthday, Beth."
"Thanks, Dad."
"I'm glad you went to the hospital to be with Jack. I'm sure that meant a lot."
"He would do the same if something happened…" Her voice trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.
"Oh, honey. Come here." She felt so very safe in his arms.
"It was so scary and I couldn't help thinking about if it had been you. I don't know what I would do."
"You would rely on your sisters and your mom and Jack. You're not ever alone."
"Yeah." Her phone buzzed on the counter. She picked it up. "Its Jack." She pulled up the picture he sent. "He sent me a picture of a white rose."
"Those are your favorite."
"Yeah. Why did he send me a picture of that?"
"I don't know."
Her phone buzzed again. "Another picture….more roses. It says to meet him at the lookout. I thought we were headed to the hospital."
William smiled, figuring out what his future son-in-law was up to. "You better meet him."
"Yeah." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "See you later."
"Say hi to Tom and Charlotte for us."
"I will."
Beth arrived at the lookout about fifteen minutes later. "Jack?" He sat on the edge looking out at the lake. She walked over and joined him. "Hey."
"Hey yourself," he said with a grin. He handed her a rose and turned so he was facing her.
"Its beautiful, thank you. Are we going to the hospital?"
"Yeah. I just want to talk to you first."
"Ok."
He gently took her hand and kissed her forehead, hoping she wouldn't notice how nervous he was. He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, saying a quick prayer. "I'll never be able to tell you how much it meant to me that you came all the way from LA to be with me at the hospital."
"You would have done the same. I love you and I love your family. I needed to be with you all."
"We love you too." He reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a small ring box. Then he looked into her eyes. "You belong with us, in our family. You belong there as much as I do." He paused and smiled again. "I feel like I've loved you forever and I promise you, I will always love you, no matter what." He opened the ring box toward her, showing her his great-grandmother's ring. "Will you marry me?"
Instead of answering with words, she put her hands on his face and kissed him slowly, passionately, showing him her feelings.
"Is that a yes?" he asked a moment later.
She nodded and whispered, "Yes." He took the ring out and slipped it on her left ring finger. "It's so beautiful."
…
Charlotte's phone buzzed. She touched the screen and smiled. "Tom, look." She showed him the picture Jack had just sent of him and Beth holding her hand up to the camera.
"He didn't wait," Tom said groggily. "He listened."
"Yes he did."
"Good."
Jack and Beth showed up at the hospital an hour later.
"Tell Jack he better bring her in here too. I want to see my future daughter."
Tom's eyes lit up, more than they had in quite a few hours.
They heard a knock on the door. "Come in."
They walked in, huge smiles on their faces, holding hands. "Hi, bud," Tom said to Jack. "You two look pretty happy. Remind you of us, Char?"
"Yes, actually."
Beth walked over and gently hugged Tom, not wanting to jostle anything. "Beth, no tears now, honey. I'm just fine."
"You scared me. Please don't do that again."
"I'll try my hardest. Now let me see how that ring looks on your hand." Beth smiled and held out her hand. "Yep, just as I thought. That's right where it belongs."
"I think so too," Jack said, slipping his arm around her waist.
"So now that you two are gonna get married, we need to make adjustments to our "no girls" rule."
"Tom, we can talk about it later," Charlotte told him.
"No, I'll say my peace and then sleep some more. Jack, Beth, you are both old enough that a "no girls in the basement" rule is kinda out dated. So, I guess what I'll say is, I trust you both to know what boundaries you'll set for yourselves. The only rule I'll stick to is that you can't sleep overnight in the same bedroom in our house. Otherwise, you choose."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Nah! No thanks necessary. Now I'm going to shut my eyes."
….
Beth got back to her townhouse on Monday afternoon.
Faith was studying in her room, glasses on, coffee hot next to her.
"Hey," Beth said, popping her head in Faith's doorway.
"Hey." She shut her laptop and looked up at Beth. "How's Jack's dad?"
Beth sat down on the bed next to her friend. "He came home this morning. He's got a long road ahead but he's strong."
"How are you?"
"I'm good," she said, unable to contain her happiness. "Really good actually," she said, flashing her hand in front of Faith.
Faith squealed and grabbed her hand. "I wondered if he would still do it."
"What do you mean?"
"He didn't tell you?"
"Tell what?"
"Jack was going to surprise you for your birthday. He was going to drive up here and everything. He planned on proposing."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"That sounds like him." She stood up to leave but turned back. "Faith? Will you be one of my bridesmaids?"
"Of course. Nothing could stop me."
"Great!"
….
Thanksgiving…
Jack drove up to LA a few days before Thanksgiving to bring Beth home. He knocked on the door and waited. And waited. So he knocked again.
He was positive she wasn't working or in class. Where could she be?
She opened the door, wrapped in a towel. "Oh! Jack. Um, come in and I'll get changed."
He stepped inside and smirked. "What's the hurry, babe?"
"I'm in a towel."
"You're more covered up than if you had your bikini on. Besides," he told her, stepping close, "you're pretty hot in a towel."
He leaned down and kissed her neck, something he'd never done before. It made her heart beat faster and gave her goosebumps and made her not want him to stop. "Um, I'll be right back."
He watched her walk away. Her long tan legs and bare feet tantalizing him…"Wow," he whispered.
She walked out a few minutes later in white capris, flip flops, and a t-shirt that looked suspiciously familiar. "Is that my 3 Doors Down t-shirt?"
"Maybe."
"I've been missing that for years! You knew I was looking for it." She shrugged.
"I think it looks good on me." She rolled her suitcase to the door and went to make a travel mug of coffee.
"Well, yeah, but that's beside the point."
"I'm pretty sure with all the weight training you've been doing, it would be too tight on you now."
He had started going to the gym, building muscle mass to prepare himself for the Academy the next summer.
"What other shirts do you have that are mine?"
"Just Train."
"Seriously? Elizabeth Grace."
"We should hit the road," she said with a giggle. "Jack Thomas."
They opened the sunroof in his parents SUV and rolled the windows down, letting the warm fall air flow into the car. Beth put her feet on the dash and held out her hand for him to hold. He weaved his fingers between hers and smiled.
"You're so beautiful."
"You're not so bad yourself."
"So do you think we should talk about our wedding?" he wondered.
"Yeah. I can make a list on my phone. Where to start, though. So many details."
"Well, how about when?"
"Good question."
"I should graduate from the Academy about thirteen months from now. So anytime after that is good for me."
"If we plan it for during my winter break and before you have to start a new job, we will have time for a nice honeymoon."
"Good idea. I think we should go somewhere far away."
"And cold. I want to go skiing."
"Ok. How about Vermont?"
"Perfect."
A few more details were decided such as where they would get married and how many people they wanted to invite. Pretty much, they just enjoyed being alone together, making decisions about their life. It was important. It was exciting.
About halfway between LA and Hope Valley, they stopped for dinner at a diner.
"Beth?"
Beth and Jack both turned at the sound of a familiar voice. "Charles. Good to see you," Beth said, trying to sound genuine.
"What are you doing here?"
"Having dinner. Charles, you remember my fiancé, Jack?"
"Fiancé? That's a new development."
"It happened back in October," she told him. "What are you doing here?"
"Same as you, I suppose."
That response begged the question, why was he eating dinner at a diner in the middle of nowhere? He had never wanted to eat anywhere but at fancy restaurants or at home.
"Charlie, order up!"
Charles' face turned red. "Congratulations." Jack and Beth watched him go pick up a tray full of food and deliver it to a table by the window.
They were seated in a booth on the opposite side of the diner than where he was working. "He works here? That's very odd," Beth whispered.
"A bit, yeah."
"No, I mean, his life goal was to work at the firm with our fathers."
"Things change, I suppose. I mean, look at us."
"What about us?" She reached for his hand across the table.
"We were best friends for years and now we're engaged."
"You're still my best friend," she told him, squeezing his hand. "I'm so grateful for that."
"Me too."
About three hours later, Jack dropped her off at the estate and headed home, knowing her family would want time with her.
….
"Its so good to have you home, Beth," Grace said. They were sitting in the living room drinking hot chocolate and chatting.
"Its good to be here."
"Have you and Jack set a wedding date yet?"
"Next December during winter break, that way we will have time to go on a honeymoon."
"Good idea. We should call Fredericka tomorrow. She needs as much time as possible to do a wedding in 13 months."
"Sure, but we want small, Mom. And we want to get married on the beach at the lake by his parent's house."
"But sweetheart, your father's partners and families, not to mention your aunts, uncles, and cousins should be invited. The beach in December? It's going to be cold. You should get married indoors. Why not have it here?"
"Mom, Jack and I are the ones getting married. We want to be married on the beach because it means a lot to us. And, we are only inviting immediate family and very close friends. Twenty five at the most."
"Twenty five! Sweetheart.."
William put his hand on her knee to stop her. "Dear, this is her wedding. She should be able to choose, don't you think?"
Grace nodded and stood to leave. "Of course. I'm sorry." She left the room and headed upstairs to bed.
"Dad, I didn't mean to upset her."
"She'll be okay but you need to remember, Viola's elopement really hurt her. She has been so excited about helping you plan your wedding, she hasn't been sleeping. She's made lists and…maybe ask her what she's come up with and see if you can make any concessions."
"Ok. I'm going out for a bit. I'll see you in the morning."
Beth asked Jack to meet her at the lookout as soon as she left her house so by the time she walked up there, he was waiting with a couple blankets and hot chocolate.
"Hey," he said offering his hand to help her sit down.
"Hi."
"What's wrong?"
"Can we just elope?"
He laughed and kissed her temple. "I suppose but not for another year."
"If we plan it, that defeats the purpose of eloping. Its supposed to be unplanned, babe."
He smirked at her. "You called me babe. That's the first time."
"You like it? If not, I could call you, sugar pie."
"Uh no."
"Honey bun?"
"Nope."
"My little sweet roll?"
He laughed loud, his voice echoing across the water. "Babe is good." He tucked her hair behind her ears and gazed at her beautiful face.
"My mom wants to help plan our wedding."
"Well, that might be a good idea." She looked at him like he had sprouted a third eyeball. He laughed again. "What? Think about it. You're going to be in LA at school. She will have time."
"If I let her do it, we will be getting married at the Four Seasons with three hundred people in attendance in the middle of summer. None of which is what we want."
"True. Maybe there's a way to compromise."
"Maybe." She snuggled up against his neck and sighed. She didn't think so though.