Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) (28 page)

Ariana smiled. “Yeah, I think he is.”

“Oh, crap! Get a move on. We’ve only got fifteen minutes to get ready.”

The girls rushed to get dressed, touched up their make-up and hair. Ariana had just finished applying her lip gloss when there was a knock at the door.

Ariana checked the clock, nine o’clock on the dot.

“Man, he is punctual, isn’t he?” she said as she opened the door to find Lidia standing on the other side of it. “Oh, Lidia, hi. Come in.” Ariana opened the door wide, waving her in. “I was expecting Abe and Jonah. They said they would be here at nine but I guess the business they had to attend to lasted a little longer than expected. How have you been?”

“I went to the Shaman for my first appointment and I just, well… I guess I needed a friend to talk to.” Lidia lowered her gaze.

“What’s the matter? Is the baby okay?”

“Um, yeah, about that. It seems to be a little more complicated. I’m having twins.” Lidia met Ariana’s shocked eyes.

She quickly turned her shock to amazement. “That’s great, Lidia! But, how did I miss that the other night?”

“I don’t know. Don’t worry, I did, too. I only sense one heartbeat, but I guess they are in sync with each other because I saw them on the monitor and the Shaman said they were both healthy. Look, he gave me a picture, a boy and a girl. I’m due about the middle of September, but I might not go full term, because I’m having twins.”

Becky walked out of the bathroom and looked around. “I thought Abe and Jonah were here. Did I just hear you say you’re having twins, Lidia?”

Lidia’s eyes brightened as she nodded. Becky’s phone rang and as she answered it. Ariana caught a sharp stab of anxiety in Lidia’s thoughts.
“Why is Jonah coming here? Oh, no! He can’t be with her, he just can’t.”

Becky put the phone on speaker and Jonah’s voice boomed out of it. “Hey, good-lookin’, we’re on our way to your room. Give us about two minutes. This elevator is slow. I wanted to take the stairs – I would have been able to get to you faster – but Abe insisted on taking the elevator.”

They could hear Abe in the background mouthing Jonah and they all laughed.

“That’s fine. Hey, Lidia’s here. She’s having twins, ain’t that great?”

Jonah was excited as he said. “Really? That is good news! We will see you in a minute, babe.”

There was a knock at the door, followed by Jonah letting himself in and running straight for Lidia, grabbing her in a big hug and spinning her around. Lidia laughed and squealed.

Becky’s eyes opened wide with jealousy. “Nice to see you, too,” she said sarcastically. “Come on, Ariana. You ready to go?” She grabbed her purse and stomped out the door, passing Abe on the way out.

Jonah set Lidia down and they both stared at the door Becky had walked through.

“Uh…” Jonah looked at Lidia.

Lidia smiled shyly. “Looks like Max wasn’t the only one who got the wrong idea about us. Go to her, you big idiot. I can tell you care about her, so don’t mess it up. Go!”

Lidia smiled, but couldn’t hide the hurt in her eyes or the thoughts in her head from Ariana. She wished so much that Jonah didn’t think of her as a little sister, and she wanted so bad to have the courage to let him know how she felt, but she wouldn’t do it now for anything in the world. He was with Becky, obviously, and if she couldn’t have him, then she wanted him to be happy, no matter how much it hurt her.

Jonah smiled and Lidia tore her gaze from Ariana to smile back at him. He gave her a quick hug. “I’ll come see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t bother, I have a ton of unfinished paperwork. Ariana, may I have a word with you before you leave?”

Ariana knew what was coming and nodded. Abe locked eyes with her briefly as Jonah rushed out the door. “I’ll wait for you out in the hall,” he said closing the door behind him.

Lidia sighed. “I know you heard my thoughts; I couldn’t help them. I’ve loved him since I was thirteen, but he was never going to settle down, so I chose Max when he asked me. I trust you to keep my secret from Becky. I don’t want her to hate me. I’m happy for them both and I’m very happy you are giving Abe a chance. He loves you so much, you know?”

Ariana nodded and hugged Lidia. “I won’t tell her, but Abe is going to want to know what you wanted to talk about, and I won’t start out our relationship lying to him.”

Lidia smiled as she opened the door. “He already knows.” She walked out the door, nodded to Abe and turned toward her room.

C
HAPTER 40

Ariana watched as Lidia walked away, then looked back at Abe. “We need to talk, but it can wait till we get in the car.”

Abe smiled and offered her the crook of his arm before escorting her to the elevator.

Once inside the surprisingly roomy elevator, Ariana took a moment to assess Abe’s attire. He was dressed in a black tuxedo which fitted him handsomely. A black onyx button showed at the top of his white button down collarless shirt. The tux definitely wasn’t a rental, but it looked as though it had never been worn, and Abe wore it well.

Ariana opened her mind briefly to his; this mind-reading was getting more and more controllable. What she heard almost made her laugh out loud; he was singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, his voice just as beautiful when singing a small child’s song as it was when he’d sung her to sleep the night before. She was so entranced by it, she only just caught herself before she started singing along with him.

“Can I drive your car?” Abe asked as they stepped out of the elevator, into the garage. “I didn’t get to try it earlier; the sun was out. I had it delivered here.”

“I expected you to drive, anyway. I don’t know where we’re going.”

Ariana took her keys out of her purse stared at them for a moment, before flicking them through the air at Abe. She hadn’t noticed before. Next to the Porsche badge hung a gold keychain engraved with ‘I LOVE YOU’.

Abe walked to her side of the car and opened the door for her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, beautiful.”

He got behind the wheel. “You know, I sent you to the spa to relax, not to have them make you look prettier. I didn’t think that would be possible. But you look stunning in that dress.”

“Thank you. You don’t look that bad yourself.”

He smiled and laced his fingers through hers. “Now, if I may ask, what’s on
your
mind? You said you had something to talk to me about.”

Abe acted calm, but Ariana thought he was driving slower than expected, considering his only limitation, usually, was the vehicle’s top speed. Maybe Mr. Cool wasn’t all that cool deep down, or maybe today’s events brought her immortality to the forefront of his mind and he was being extra careful; nothing he could really do about a blowout going 200mph.

“A few things. Um, first of all, why haven’t you told Jonah how Lidia feels about him?”

“That one’s easy. Jonah isn’t ever going to settle down, and I don’t want Lidia to get her heart broken. She deserves better than what he will give her. He’s just scared of commitment. That answer that one?”

“Yeah, I guess I understand. But you’ve done a complete turnaround when you met me, so what makes you think he won’t?”

“I experienced love at first sight, and I’ve never been in love before. Jonah has come close to love numerous times, but he runs away if he thinks he’s in danger of falling in love. He breaks their hearts before they can break his. He doesn’t love anyone but himself. He doesn’t trust anyone enough to love completely.”

“So… you think he will break Becky’s heart?”

Abe looked her in the eyes. “I’m sure of it.”

“Oh.” Ariana was faced with mixed emotions. She didn’t want to watch Becky get her heart broken and she really felt bad for Lidia that hers already was.

“What would you like to converse about now?” Abe smiled.

Ariana sighed. “This one is a little harder for me to ask.”

“You can ask me anything, you know that.”

“What are your big plans for tonight? I know something is going on and I just don’t want you to do something in front of a bunch of people that would make me freak out.”

Abe’s face turned from relaxed to sudden terror. “It may have been hard for you to ask, but it’s even harder for me to answer. Ahhh… I can’t answer that question, Ariana. Please don’t ask me to spoil the surprise.”

Ariana’s temper flared up instantly. “If it’s what I think it is, would you rather tell me now and watch me spaz out in this little car, or later, in front of God knows how many people? I think you need to reanalyze your plans. For both our sakes.”

Abe gave her a pained look. “You really think I would embarrass you?”

Ariana didn’t change her expression. “What are your plans, Abe?”

“Fine. I have invited the whole island to Code Red. I was going to formally introduce you as my girlfriend.”

“Is that all?” There was still a hint of suspicion in her eyes.

“Well, I… ah…” he sighed.

“Tell me, Abe!”

“I bought you a ring… and I was going to ask you to be my wife,” Abe said sheepishly. “I guess I can see why you would be upset, but I hoped you would also be elated by the gesture. Typically, vampires don’t get married, but I want you to be my wife, and I want you to have our baby, if you want one. I want you to be happy, and I just thought it would make you happy to know that I meant everything I said. I love you, Ariana. Non-negotiably. Forever.”

Ariana was shocked, surprised that she’d managed to get it out of him, and irritated by his total inability to understand her need to slow things down, but the way he said it was so sweet, she was warming to the idea already.

“You told me early this morning that you were happy to take it slow. How is this slow?”

“I was just going to propose, Ariana. The wedding can wait until next week. I was hoping you would agree to have it next Saturday, but I can wait another week or two, if you need time. I’ll wait years, if that’s seriously what you want. I just want to promise myself to you in front of the whole kingdom, so everyone would know I am a complete fool for you.”

“Next Saturday?” she shouted. “Have you completely lost your mind? We can’t get married in a week!”

“Why not? What are you waiting for? It’s the logical thing to do. You told me that you wouldn’t have said you loved me if you didn’t, and… well… typically, what do two people do when they fall in love? They get married and live happily ever after, that’s what they do. So what are you waiting for? Fall, dammit, and I will catch you! I’m not going to break your heart and I’m not going to die, so what’s the problem, Ariana?”

Ariana stared at him for a moment. He was so passionate, it actually made her feel bad for bringing it up. She understood where he was coming from, but why only a week?

“You said that if I wanted to have your baby, I could. But I can’t have a baby if I’m a vampire and you insist that I be turned. Aren’t you contradicting yourself a little?”

“No, you will be turned after you have the baby.” Abe finally smiled, happy that she was finally seeing things through his eyes. “I really, really want to have a baby with you, Ariana, but if it’s not what you want, then we won’t. All I care about is your happiness.”

Ariana’s heart melted. “Well, I’m glad you told me. It wouldn’t have gone that smoothly if you hadn’t. I do want to marry you and have your baby, Abe. I just don’t do well with surprises, especially ones this big.”

Abe’s eyes brightened. “So I can propose to you in front of everyone?”

Ariana put her hand on her stomach and said queasily, “Yes.”

“Yes!” He looked at her, concerned. “Are you okay, baby?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ariana took another deep breath. “I just don’t like being the center of attention. If you hadn’t told me what was going to happen tonight, I would have probably fainted in front of everyone when you popped the question. Like I said, it’s good to give me a heads-up on big surprises. I thought I was going to pass out when I saw this car and you called and told me it was mine. If you don’t want to be responsible for me getting a concussion, let me know of any future surprises you have planned for me, okay?”

Abe chuckled. “Okay, it’s a deal. In the future, I will tell you of all big surprises I have planned for you, excluding gifts I buy for you. Now…” Abe pulled the car over by the park.

They’ve been driving all this time and they were only at the park? What? Did he drive around in circles? Or was he so worried about her reaction to his planned surprises that he drove at a snail’s pace? Men could be so funny when it came to talking!

“What are you doing?” Ariana asked as he got out of the car and came around to open her door. He held his hand out to her. “Abe, what are we doing?”

He grinned and led her under the biggest palm tree in the park. The moon bathed the two of them and everything around them in a soft bluish glow.

Abe faced her and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. He held her gaze as he got down on one knee. “Ariana Bryn Barker-Lochalan, I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you and I would be most honored if you’d agree to be my wife for all eternity and make me the happiest being alive. Will you marry me?”

She knew this was going to happen sometime tonight, but Ariana still couldn’t contain her emotions. Big tears welled up in her eyes. The setting was perfect and he was perfect. She put both hands to her open mouth and knew her eyes had to be as big as the moon itself as he opened the box to reveal the ring inside, a three carat brilliant cut diamond solitaire surrounded by black diamond baguettes, each topped with a smaller diamond. Ariana nodded, speechless.

But that wasn’t enough for Abe. “Ariana, I will keep asking you until you give me an answer.”

She let her hands fall to her sides as tears flowed down her cheeks. “Yes, Abe, I would love to be your wife.”

He stood up, grabbed her in his arms and spun her around. He stopped before she could get dizzy, opened the box again and took out the ring. He lifted her left hand and slid the ring into place on her ring finger. “Thank you, Ariana. Please don’t hate me, it was Rainey’s idea.” He brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them softly.