Accidental Shield (Marriage Mistake #6)(114)

String of Pearls (Flint)





Living.

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing since the day Cash brought Val to my house several months ago. I didn’t have a clue I was about to get whacked upside the head in the best damn way.

She’s already given me and Bryce ten times what we give her back, but I want more.

I want forever.

Just like I told her that night our glad-we-didn’t-die monkey sex pulled it out of me.

Val wants it, too.

I sincerely hope she does, judging by the fact that she’s never taken off the ring I gave her while we played pretend. But I’m old enough to know there’s only one way to get an answer out of a woman.

Ask.

For the first time in my life, I have butterflies—fucking butterflies—in my stomach.

Yeah, that’s a hell of a thing for a former SEAL to admit.

Good thing I’ve fessed up and made peace with plenty of other things since Val.

Truth is, honesty feels just as good.

“Everything’s loaded up in the truck, Dad!” Bryce says, closing the garage door. “Where’s Valerie?”

“Putting on her swimsuit.” I grab my keys off the counter. “Did you pack sunscreen?”

“Sure, but you know Grandma. She’ll be handing it out by the gallon.” He grins and walks over to the kitchen, glances down the hall, then turns back to me and whispers, “Don’t worry. She’s gonna say yes. I just know it!”

I lean down, giving his shoulder a manly squeeze. We had the heart-to-heart talk last week, when I told him my intentions. My boy not only gave me his stamp of approval, he gave me an idea for how to pop the question.

“Thanks, kiddo,” I whisper. “I think so, too. We’ll find out soon enough.”

“What are you two whispering about?”

We both look down the hall. Val stands there in a bright-yellow sleeveless dress pulled over her swimsuit and a floppy white hat, her hands on her hips.

Her tanned legs instantly hound me to get this show moving.

The sooner it’s done, the faster they’re wrapped around my very lucky ass forever.

“Oh, just guy stuff.” Bryce nudges me with an elbow. “Right, Dad?”

“Right. All set?”

“You know I am,” she says, striding forward with a luscious toss of her hair. “We’d better head out; your mom will be waiting.”

I wave them both toward the garage door.

This is all Bryce’s idea. I’d thought about taking Val to a nice restaurant, just the two of us, but because this impacts his life, too, he was full of ideas. And when he mentioned the beach...

Hell, I’d be hard-pressed to think of a more perfect place.

“You’re going to love this beach, Valerie,” Bryce says as we’re backing out of the garage. “It might be your favorite one in all of Hawaii after today.”

“Oh, why’s that?”

“Just ’cause,” he says, giggling into his hand, giving me a knowing wink in the mirror.

“Right, Bud,” I answer, and wink at Valerie.

She laughs and asks Bryce questions about the beach as we drive over to my ma’s house and pick her up. Thankfully, she doesn’t know what I’ve got planned, at least not yet.

I’m sure Bryce will fill her in the second he gets a chance.

“I’m so glad you’re coming with me today,” Ma says. “Alice Gomez said she found a gold ring and ten bucks in change when she brought her metal detector to this beach last week.”

“Got my detector in the back!” Bryce says.

“Have you ever gone treasure hunting, Valerie?” Ma asks.

“No, I haven’t, but it sounds like fun.”

“Oh, it’ll be fun all right,” Bryce says, his grin growing wider when he catches my eyes in the mirror.





*



By the time we get to the beach, it’s obvious my ma knows something’s up.

She’s practically bouncing on her heels and hugs Val as soon she steps out of the truck. Then she leans close to me and says, “Pick a nice spot.”

Bryce grabs Valerie’s hand. “Look, there’s a sea turtle!”

She looks at me and I laugh.

Turtles, turtles, everywhere we go.

Maybe I never appreciated their huge, bulky bodies flopped down in the sun much before, but I do now. They saved our lives and brought me closer to this perfection.

She grabs her beach bag out of the truck and crosses the parking lot toward the beach with Bryce, while Mother joins me at the back of the truck.

“So you’re going to do it, Flint?” she asks. “Tell me I’m not going senile...”

“I’m thinking about it, Ma.” I shake my head, then reconsider why I’m bothering to hold my cards so close. “Yeah. I’m asking her.”

“Oh, Flint!” she chirps, throwing her arms around my neck. “I knew she was the one for you. The sweetness you deserve.”

I’m not sure how to respond. A small part of me thinks she might’ve said that about any girl I’d have chosen.

“I mean it,” she says, reading my mind. “Valerie’s special. She’s a new chapter in the Big Book of Flint. She found you right when you were ready to let go of the past. It’s fate, son. She needed you as much as you needed her, and now that all this nasty business is behind you both, you can focus on the future.”