[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter 113

After all of the drama of Nick’s visit back in October, once he was gone Claire’s life had slipped easily back into its old routine. She worked most weekdays and spent most of her nights with Jamie. They’d enjoyed the holidays together, going to Claire’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, spending Christmas morning with Jamie’s older brother and mother, who had flown down from Iowa to visit.

Their relationship was as steady and comfortable as it had ever been, and sometimes it felt like they’d never spent those eight years apart. It was easy to fall under the assumption that she and Jamie were meant to be all along.

After the crappy Valentine’s Day she’d had the year before, Claire was looking forward to the holiday when February 14th rolled around that year. Jamie had been mysterious about their plans for the night; all he’d told her was to dress nicely and save her appetite. There really wasn’t much mystery in that, though; she was anticipating a romantic dinner out at a fancy restaurant – the typical, traditional thing for a couple to do on Valentine’s Day.

And so, at 6:30 that evening, she sat in her apartment, dressed and ready. After racking her closet for something to wear earlier in the week, she had splurged on a new dress for the occasion, figuring she should celebrate the fact that she had a man other than her one-year-old nephew to spend the lovers’ holiday with this year. It was a 50’s-style cocktail dress, made of dusty rose taffeta with trimming of ivory lace, and it made her feel elegant and charming.

When Jamie knocked on the door, she opened it to find him looking incredibly handsome and charming himself, in an expensive-looking black suit and crisp, white collared shirt with a rose-colored silk necktie. “Oh, good,” he said when he saw her, fingering his tie. “I thought you said you were wearing pink, so I put on a pink tie… but then I wasn’t sure, so I have a red one sitting in the car just in case.”

Claire laughed at his random greeting. “Good thinking,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he whispered against her lips as he kissed them sweetly. And when she pulled back, she found herself being presented with a bouquet of a dozen long-stemmed roses, in a mixture of pinks and dark reds.

“Aww, thank you!” she exclaimed as she took the large bouquet, leaning over to inhale its sweet scent. “They’re beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful too,” Jamie echoed instantly, taking her hand and planting a soft kiss on it.

Claire cocked her head at him, unable to keep her lips from smiling. “Well, aren’t you the gentleman tonight,” she mused, winking at him. Jamie just smirked, dimples appearing in his cheeks. She had no idea.

Her first surprise of the night was the gleaming white limo she found parked in front of her apartment building when Jamie walked her outside. “Oh my God!” she gasped, when Jamie walked ahead to open the door for her. “Jamie!”

He just smiled, ushering her into the back. She had been in enough limousines with Nick that they were not such a novelty to her anymore, but still, she was touched by the obvious money and planning Jamie had put into making their night special.

There was a large, heart-shaped box of chocolates waiting in the limo for her, and as the driver chauffeured them through the city, Jamie pulled out a bottle of chilled champagne and poured them each a glass. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” Claire toasted him, as they clinked their glasses together. They sipped champagne and sampled a few of the chocolates, and before she knew it, the limo had come to a stop.

The driver came around and opened the door for her, and as she stepped out, she found herself standing in front of Les Tambours, one of Tampa’s classiest restaurants. Immediately, her stomach clenched. She had only been here once… but the memory stood out vividly. It had been the night before she started the second phase of her bone marrow transplant, and she’d eaten there with her family… and Nick. She remembered being sore from the procedures they’d done in readying her for the transplant and nervous about what would happen next. But even more than that, she remembered pouring her heart out to Nick outside the restaurant, admitting that she was falling for him.

Involuntarily, her eyes drifted to the right, and she saw it – the sculpted stone bench in the midst of the landscaping at one corner of the lot’s perimeter. That was where she had sat, leaning against Nick’s warm, broad chest, and confessed her feelings for him. A lump rose in her throat as she stared at it.

Jamie appeared by her side and slipped his hand around hers. “Ready?” he asked, looking over at her.

Claire blinked, forcing herself out of her nostalgia. “Me, ready to eat? Of course,” she smiled back at him, and hand in hand, they walked up the sidewalk and into the restaurant.

They were seated at an elegantly-set table for two in a front corner of the restaurant. Claire smiled again as Jamie pulled out her chair for her. “Thank you,” she said, looking around as she sat down. The lights were low, and candles flickered on their table. Overhead, strings and strings of little white lights twinkled like stars. “It’s beautiful in here tonight.”

“It is Valentine’s Day,” replied Jamie. “Look – all couples.”

She surveyed the tables around them and saw that, indeed, every one seemed to seat a couple, from nervous-looking pairs of teenagers to sweet old men and women who looked at each other with decades of love in their eyes. Claire smiled at the elderly couple sitting a few feet away with them, thinking how wonderful it would be to have such a long-lasting marriage, to be able to grow old with the one you loved.

Jamie ordered a bottle of wine for them to share as they waited for their meals, and as they sat sipping on it, he reached across the table and took her hand. She looked up, smiling at the gesture. He smiled back. “Well, Clairie… did you ever think we’d get back together after all these years?” he asked, playing with her fingers as he wove his in and out of them.

“Honestly… no,” she laughed, grinning sheepishly. “I thought I was so over you, Jamie Turner.” She winked.

“Well, I’m glad you were wrong. ‘Cause I never got over you,” said Jamie, his expression sincere. “I thought I was going to… I thought I needed to… but it never happened. That’s why I’m so glad it ended up working out between us.”

She nodded, her heart fluttering with emotion for him. He wasn’t the kind of guy who usually expressed freely how he felt… so when he did open up his heart to her like this, she ate it up. She always had.

She remembered going out with him for Valentine’s Day like this during their senior year of high school. Back then, they wouldn’t have thought it at all hard to imagine themselves doing the exact same thing here and now, ten years later. But now as an adult, having been through all that she had, Claire realized how remarkable it truly was. He had broken up with her, moved away, and come back. She had moved on, gotten engaged to another man, and then ended things with him before their wedding plans could truly get underway. And now here they both were, back together again and nearly eleven months into their second go at a relationship. They were older now, wiser and less idealistic, which, in a way, made their relationship more serious than it ever had been in high school.

“I love you,” Jamie said, running his thumb lightly over the back of her hand.

“I love you too,” Claire murmured back, and in her heart, she really believed it was true.

They lingered over their dinner when it came, eating leisurely, talking freely. A string quartet played in the back of the restaurant, serenading them as they ate, and gradually, couples who had finished their meals migrated to the open area in front of the band and danced slowly in each other’s arms to the classical songs. Claire could not see them well from where she was sitting, but she found herself turning in her seat every now and then to watch, especially when the elderly couple she had observed earlier went back and waltzed with an ease that had to have come from years and years of experience.

Jamie had apparently noticed her watching because once they were finished with their main courses, he asked, “Would you like to dance?”

She grinned and nodded eagerly. His dimples returned as he smiled widely and pushed back his chair. He came around to her side of the table and offered her his hand, just like a true gentleman. She didn’t see the little nod he gave to the violinist as he led her onto the dance floor, but once they got there, the string quartet launched into a new song, this one slow, melodic, and dreamy. The music sounded vaguely familiar to Claire, but she didn’t give it much thought as Jamie brought his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him, and took her free hand in his.

They danced slowly, until Jamie suddenly sent her spinning outwards, then pulled her back in. Dizzy from the sudden change in pace, she threw back her head and giggled. He just grinned mischievously down at her and then did it again a few bars later.

“Do you know what this song is called?” he asked, as they rotated slowly on the spot.

She shook her head no. “I know I’ve heard it before, but-”

“‘Clair de Lune’,” he answered. “That’s what it’s called.”

She smiled, tipping her chin. “It has my name in it.”

“I know,” he smiled back. It was a calculating smile, the kind that suggested he was privy to something she wasn’t.

“How did you know to ask me to dance now, when they were going to play this song?” she asked slowly, deliberately, suspiciously.

“Other way around,” he smirked. “I asked them to play this song when I asked you to dance.”

As she started to realize he had set up more than just the limo and the dinner reservations, a smiled spread slowly across Claire’s face. “You did, did you?” she asked teasingly.

Jamie nodded. “I wanted it to be special…”

“‘It’?” she asked.

“…So I made sure some special people would be here with us tonight.”

Claire started, caught off-guard. “What??”

He let go of her hand and gently took hold of her chin instead, slowly guiding her head as he turned her around. She saw them instantly, at a table off to one side of the dance floor. Her mother and father. And at the table right next to them, her brother and sister-in-law. They were all looking at her, big smiles on their faces; her mother had her hands clasped together tightly, looking positively giddy.

Claire felt the blood drain from her face as she looked back at Jamie, wide-eyed. “J-Jamie,” she faltered breathlessly, “What-?”

Slowly, he let go of her waist and sunk down onto one knee before her, his eyes never leaving hers. She couldn’t look away either, watching in shock as he fumbled in the pocket of his suit jacket. Her mind was racing the whole time; she knew, subconsciously, what was coming. For a few seconds, she didn’t breathe. Then a small, square box of emerald velvet materialized in the palm of his hand.

He reached out and took her left hand with his free one – it was ice cold. “Claire Aileen,” he whispered her name, and she could feel him trembling. All of a sudden, it seemed that all the other noises in the room – the click of heels against the wooden floor, the clatter of silverware, the clinking of glasses, the chatter of diners – had faded away, everything but the soft music. Or maybe that was because all of her attention was centered on one thing – the man kneeling in front of her.

“I love you so much. I’ve always loved you. And I’ve been blessed to have you back in my life. I don’t want to make the same mistake I did before; I want you to be in my life forever. That is, if that’s what you want. So I’m asking you now…” He paused just long enough to flip open the jewelry box in his hand, revealing a sparkling piece of white gold and diamonds. “Clairie,” he said, and her knees went weak, “Will you marry me?”

For a moment, it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room, though the emotion was dense enough to be cut with a knife. Though she never looked away from Jamie’s face, Claire was aware of the eyes on her – not just her own family’s; everyone in the room was watching her, waiting.

Her heart pounded against her chest, and her voice did not sound like her own when she finally managed to squeak out, “Yes!” As she did, the quartet finished playing “Clair de Lune,” the last note quivering in the air for a few seconds before it faded away, and then the entire room broke into applause. Completely stunned, all Claire could think was, This is just like a movie!

Jamie carefully plucked the ring out of its box and slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. It was a perfect fit. Claire immediately brought her hand closer to her face to get her first good look at the ring. My engagement ring, she thought with near disbelief, marveling over what had just occurred. She was so floored, so ecstatic, but at the same time, as the diamond on her ring finger caught the light and sparkled, her stomach gave a jolt. Less than two years ago, she’d worn a different ring on that finger… a ring that Nick had given her, a ring she’d deposited at his feet and never seen again. A lump rose in her throat, but she swallowed hard, trying to force it away as she fingered the piece of jewelry now resting in its place.

This ring was much different than the one she and Nick had designed together. The white gold band that wrapped around her finger was thick and smooth, and it ended in two delicate hands, which cradled the heart-shaped diamond. Above the diamond heart was a crown that contained two more smaller diamonds. Claire immediately recognized the symbolic shape of the hands clasping a crowned heart.

“It’s a Claddagh ring,” Jamie explained softly. “It’s an Irish tradition. If you wear it with the heart pointed outwards, facing away from you, it means your heart is open; you’re not committed to anyone. But if you wear it with the heart pointed inwards, towards you… it means your heart is taken.”

Claire had heard the legend of the Irish Claddagh ring before, but as she looked down at the ring, its heart pointed towards her own, she nodded and smiled, the lump returning to her throat. This time, it was there for a good reason. “It means my heart belongs to you,” she whispered and took his hands in hers, pulling him back up to his full height. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck, rose up on her toes, and kissed him deeply, her body sagging against his. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured as she eased back. “This whole thing… I can’t believe it!”

“Believe it,” Jamie said with a wide grin. “I love you, Clairie.”

“I love you too,” she echoed, smiling broadly as the giddiness began to bubble inside her. “I have to go hug my mom! Come on!” She grabbed his hand and tugged him off the dance floor, hurrying over to her family, who had been standing at their tables, waiting (rather impatiently, Claire noted by the anxious look on her mother’s face).

Her mother practically squeezed her to death as soon as she got her arms around her, and her father’s hug was even tighter. “Congratulations, baby,” his deep voice rumbled in her ear. “I always had a feeling Jamie might be the one. Now I know he is. This one’s gonna work out for you.”

Claire smiled as she pulled back. “Thanks, Daddy.” Her father had always loved Jamie, and she had no doubt he was pleased to see her engaged to him, after all of these years.

As she hugged Kyle and Amber, some of the restaurant staff came and pushed their tables together, making room for all three couples to sit together. They also brought out a lavishly-decorated cake frosted with the message, Congratulations, Jamie & Claire! As they ate it, other people in the restaurant – strangers they didn’t even know, but whom had witnessed the proposal – kept coming up to their table to congratulate them. Claire beamed and thanked each one politely, but she found herself wishing they would leave her family alone – all she wanted now was to celebrate with her family and her now-fiancée.

“I still can’t believe you arranged all of this!” she exclaimed to Jamie as she thought back over all the strings he must have pulled… the limo and dinner reservations would have been easy, but getting the cooperation of the restaurant and the band and making sure she hadn’t seen her family had to have been difficult. Yet he’d gone all out, pulling out all the stops to make sure his proposal was nothing short of astounding.

And indeed, the whole thing had been amazing. Yet as she finally walked out of the restaurant later that night, hand-in-hand with Jamie, she found herself casting another look towards the stone bench where she had offered her heart up to Nick Carter and remembering the simple sweetness of his spontaneous proposal to her on the night of their six-month anniversary, in the comfort and privacy of his bed.

***