Never Far Away (32 page)

Dear Ella,

  
There are so many ways I could tell you that I love you, but it seemed like it was my turn to write you a letter.  You’ll have to cut me a break though because, although I seem to do fine with words in general when I’m talking, there’s more at stake when writing a letter like this – more on the line.

 
 
Every time you’ve written a letter to me, you’ve either been leaving me, or anticipating the fact that you were leaving me and preemptively trying to talk me into going after you.  Well, although I will always love the letters you have written to me, both of them were entirely pointless and a waste of time and trees.

 
 
Not once did you leave me. It’s impossible to be without someone who is so entirely engrained in your heart that you carry them with you wherever you go.  So even though for weeks at a time you were across the state, you were never far away.  Never.  As I suspect I was never far from you either.  The point being, there will be no more letters about going away or chasing after you, because as far as I’m concerned, you’re mine, forever.  The only thing left for us to do to cement the fact that I want you tied to me forever is for you to marry me.  I should be down on one knee. I should be holding up a little velvet box with a ring in it for you, but that’s not my style, Baby.  I want to give you picnics on the beach (and anywhere else I can lay a blanket down), fireworks in the sand, waterfalls, kisses and many, many nights of us together.

 
 
I want to give you a house, fill it with babies, and I want to start now.  Our life together starts now, Ella.  Say you’ll marry me.  Give yourself to me and let me spend every day with the one person who makes me feel like I have every good thing I never thought I’d find.

Marry Me.

I love you even more than you love me, obviously,

Porter

When Ella looked back up at him it was with tears in her eyes.
  She had her delicate fingers placed over her mouth, but he could see she was biting her lip, probably to keep herself from crying.  He moved closer to her and brought his hand up to cup the side of her face.  She leaned into his hand and brought her eyes up to meet his.  He held out a velvet box to her.

 
  “I thought you said you didn’t have a velvet box,” she asked confused.

 
  “Oh, this box?”  He said motioning towards the very box in his hands.  She rolled her eyes at him.

 
  “Yes, that’s the one I’m referring to.”

 
  “Oh, this isn’t for you. It’s for me,” he said, as if it should be obvious.

 
 “You bought yourself an engagement ring?”

 
  “Months ago,” he said as she opened the box.  Inside the box was a silver ring, and when Ella saw it he watched as her nervousness and apprehension melted away.  The ring was the same one they had seen at the jewelry vendor at the Saturday Market when they had gone together before she got her memory back.  This ring was the male version of hers, which sat nicely on her ring finger at the moment.

 
  “This ring was made as a companion to yours,” he said as he took the ring out and slipped it on his finger.  “The artist uses the woman’s ring as a mold for the man’s and so you’ll see, all around my ring is the indention of where your ring would wrap around it.”  He said holding his ring up to show her.  “Your ring, as you so eloquently stated when you saw it, represents you finding your direction, making your own way. Well, to me, my ring represents that whichever way you’re pointed, which ever direction you’re going, you will always be headed towards me.”  He watched as she took in what he was saying, and how her eyes kept darting back and forth between the rings and his eyes.

 
  “Well?”  He said with a smile. He was rewarded with her laughter.

 
  “You want to marry me?”  She asked with a squeaky voice, trying not to cry.

 
  “Did you even read the letter?”  He joked.  She laughed again.  “Well?”  He asked again.

 
  “I’ll marry you on two conditions,” she said, smiling and crying at the same time.

 
  “I wasn’t expecting to barter.”  He said with a straight face.  “But I’m willing to hear your offer.”

 
  “At our wedding, I want your mom to make her cheesecake for our wedding cake,” she said, also trying to keep a straight face.

 
  “Hmm… interesting.  What else?”  Trying not to let on that he thought it was the best idea he’d heard all night.

 
  “I would need for us to start making babies, like, immediately.”  She said, this time bringing her thumb nail to her mouth, worrying the nail in her mouth.

 
“Done,” he said immediately.  “You’re not a very good negotiator.”  He said as he kissed her, laying her down on the blanket, covering her body with his, loving the feeling of her underneath him.

 
  “Hmm… says the man who gave me everything I asked for without even one counteroffer.” 

 
  He pulled back from her neck where he was placing small kisses.

 
  “I don’t need a counteroffer.  If you agree to marry me, I’ll give you anything you ask for.”  His face became very serious and he brushed her hair back from her eyes.

 
  “Marry me, Ella.”  He said quietly, looking directly into her eyes.

 
  “Forever?” She smiled.

 
  “And ever.  Never a day apart again.”

 
  “You’re mine?”  She smiled some more, obviously enjoying making him squirm.

 
  “I’m yours if you’re mine,” he said.

 
  “Then yes, I’ll marry you,” she said, placing a smiling kiss against his lips.

The End

Acknowledgments

There are so many people who have helped me through the process of writing this second book. It is the least I can do to offer up my thanks in the form of words on the page, which is why we are all reading this to begin with.

To my husband, Demian, I love you. So much. Thank you for everything you've given in sacrifice to help me see this whole crazy writing thing through. And thank you in advance for everything you will continue to sacrifice for me. You are the most selfless and caring man I've ever met and I'm so lucky that I'm the one who was smart enough to hold on to you. And thanks for your input on the word “boobs”. Your knowledge on the subject matter was impressive and vast.

To Brook, you are the best “bestie reader” around. Your constant support and enthusiasm surrounding the books only serve to motivate me. Your feedback and love of Ella and Porter (mainly Porter) helps me in more ways than you can probably imagine. To Matt, thanks for always offering the important male perspective and for your eternal hatred for Kyle. I was so happy that you and your lovely wife made it into the book. If anyone deserves a cameo, it's you guys. And thanks for always making me laugh. This is stressful stuff, but you are always able to help me put aside the stress and just relax. I appreciate that.

To my mom, thank you for being the support system that you have always been. You always listen to me, help me weigh my options, and offer unwavering and unconditional love. That's all I'm going to write because I'm in a coffee shop and I don't want to cry in front of strangers.

To Krysta, where to being? Both of my books would be a complete disaster without your help. I am, without a doubt, the luckiest writer because I know that I've got an editor and a best friend wrapped up all together. One might think the combination might be worrisome, but I love it. You make my books one thousand percent better. I couldn't ask for a better editor and I wouldn't want to. You're my favorite. I appreciate and admire the time, effort, and professionalism you put into everything I task you with. Maybe one day when I'm filthy rich, we can arrange some sort of payment for every comma you have to cross out.

To Michelle of Once Upon A Crush Book Blog, your support of both books has been unreal. I didn't really know what to expect in the Indie Author world, but I never would have imagined there would be people like you who seem to take such joy in helping others. I will always be grateful to you and everything you've done for the books. I look forward to continuing to share all my work with you and helping you, in any capacity, any way I can.

To my awesome Beta Readers!!! I love you all dearly. Truly, I do. Rhiannon, Heather and Holly – you guys are the best. I so appreciate you three reading the book in fragments and giving me the encouragement I needed to get it done and do it right. To the betas who read the book in it's whole form – you guys helped me more than I can really put into words. You can't imagine how nerve wracking it is to write something and then put it out into the world for judgment and criticism. Hearing how you all love the book gave me a little more confidence and made everything brighter. Thank you.

To the readers and fans of Ella and Porter and The Never Series, I have no words. Absolutely no word can sum up how I feel about all of you. Every time you write me a message on facebook, an email expressing your love for the books, or leave a review, it makes my day. I can honestly say that Never Far Away might not have even happened if it hadn't been for the readers. Your support means so much to me and you are the reason I get to do this wonderful job that I never dreamed I would be lucky enough to do. I will always,
always
, be a reader friendly author. I promise. I will always make time for you and continue to be friends with you because I consider you all to be friends of mine. I hope you'll make the journey with me to other books and other characters as I am looking forward to you all meeting the other people who are in my head all the time.

Finally, to Ella and Porter, is it weird for me to write a thank you to fictional characters? I don't really care. To Ella and Porter, the two of you have brought me on such a wild, crazy, and wonderful ride over the last nine months. Thank you, Ella, for being the first character strong enough to make me listen to you and sit down at a computer and write. Thank you, Porter, for not taking a backseat to Ella and making me, along with many other women, swoon over your
words
. I'm not sure I can top the two of you, but I'm going to try. I will always have a special place in my author heart for the two of you, and I am so glad that you found your HEA. I am so lucky that I will forever get to know how your story continues because I will always be thinking about you both, wondering what you're up to, how you're doing, and watching your lives unfold. Hopefully, I will get to write about you again, but if not, I feel content.

Thank you ~
Anie