Nicholas shook his head and then he pulled me to him, giving me a hug.
I pulled away and stared back at him. “Why?”
“Mom’s cooking skills didn’t improve. She just had a visit from a kitchen angel,” he whispered in my ear. I had to laugh at that. “Now you tell me you weren’t born to do this. I have at least five dishes on my plate. None of them disappointed me so far and you know I’m a very picky eater.”
“I just helped your mother.”
“I have a very good taste recognition skills and my mother never cooked like this. You didn’t just help her.”
I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Your mother wanted to make you happy today. She went through a great deal of effort. I was just at the right place at the right time. So this is still all her.”
He proceeded with eating his food and visibly enjoying it. “You know, I thought you went shopping all morning with Beatrice yesterday. How did you find time to cook with my mother?”
Uh-oh! Do I tell on Beatrice? She deserved it! But then again, I didn’t want Nick to get mad at her because of me.
“I wasn’t in the mood to go shopping,” I said. “When your mother said she needed help, I volunteered. You know me. I’d choose the kitchen over the mall any day.”
Nick stared at me for a moment and then he nodded. If he knew that Beatrice didn’t give me much of a choice when she left me behind, he didn’t make it obvious.
After lunch, we went around the tables to have a chat with the guests. Finally, we approached the table where Margot, Beatrice, Tyler, and a couple of their friends sat. It was a bit awkward especially after what happened last night. But out of appearances, we had a little chat with them.
“Did you like the food?” Nick asked Tyler.
“Amazing, man,” Tyler replied. “We were just talking about it! Which caterer did your mother hire?”
Nick smiled at him. “No caterer. Just Chef Mackenzie,” he said, giving me a squeeze.
Tyler blinked back at me. “Seriously? If this is how good you are, why haven’t you opened your own restaurant yet?”
“I agree. Why aren’t you a real chef yet?” one of the girls at the table asked.
“Because she needs to receive her magna cum laude medal for psychology first,” Nick said, pride evident in his voice.
Suddenly, somebody slammed a fork on the table and we all stopped talking. It took me a moment to realize that it was Margot. “Excuse me, I lost my appetite,” she said, then she strode away from the table.
When I looked up at Nick, he had an amused expression on his face. Then he smiled at me, leaning forward to kiss me on the forehead. It looked as if he couldn’t care less that Margot left the table.
The table was quiet; everybody except for Nick felt and looked uncomfortable and awkward.
Just then people called on Blaze to perform a song again. We all cheered, thankful for a little distraction. Then Blaze shocked me yet again when he called me to join him.
“Someday, I will kill you for always putting me on the spot!” I glared at him when I reached the stage.
“Relax, this is just for fun. No one will judge you after your performance. And we both know you can sing. So just sing a song for your boyfriend and we’ll be off the hook,” he said. “You know he doesn’t like to celebrate this day and Mom just totally by-passed his personal tradition.”
Blaze was right. If it were up to Nick, he’d be alone in his room listening to “Everglow,” giving his dad the one day or one song he wished for before he died. And suddenly, an idea struck me.
“Do you know how to play ‘Everglow’?” I asked Blaze.
“Baby girl, I can play anything,” was Blaze’s arrogant response.
“Okay, high notes on this one. That’s what I’ll sing. And go slow. We’ll make it more soulful.”
Blaze sat in front of the piano. I stared back at the audience. Many were looking back at us, anticipating our performance, including Nick, who had moved to sit with his mother and stepfather. Margot was chatting loudly at their table and I thought she was doing that on purpose to draw her friends’ attention from the stage.
“Nick,” I said on the microphone. “For birthdays and traditions.”
Blaze started hitting the first keys of the song. We were constantly looking at each other, as this was unrehearsed. I took note of his tempo and when he nodded, it was my cue to sing.
“Well, they say people come, they say people go…”
My voice was strong, controlled. There were both high notes and low notes in the song. I sang solemnly. And I was glad that Blaze was listening to me and accompanying me perfectly well.
“The light that you gave me will everglow.”
When I finished the song, the audience was quiet. They were all looking at me and Blaze. Nobody uttered a word. Maybe some of them weren’t even breathing. It was as if we stopped the world with our performance and I could only hope it was in a positive way.
Suddenly, I saw Nick walking toward me. The look on his face was serious. Then without a word, he took me in his arms and gave me a kiss on the lips. One kiss that felt it could last for an eternity. For a brief moment, we existed as if we were the only ones in the room.
Then we heard an encore, a loud applause from our audience. Nick and I were forced to pull away from each other.
I turned to the audience and gave them a small curtsy. They clapped even more.
Nick took my hand and led me down the stage. People were complimenting me along the way, telling me that I made a moving performance.
“Last night, you also brought Tyler’s place down. Remind me again if there’s a place you go to that you do not end up being a celebrity, Ken Clarke?” Nick whispered against my ear.
I couldn’t help laughing at that. And I felt proud of myself, not because people were complimenting me, but because I really felt that Nick was proud of me, proud to tell people that I’m his girl.
We stayed for about two more hours before we bid our goodbyes to the guests and to Nick’s family.
“Oh my dear, you have an amazing voice,” Nick’s mother said as she hugged me. “And the food was a hit to all the guests. They were asking me who my chef was. Of course, I told them it’s my son’s girlfriend who cooked everything.”
“You are a girl of many talents. Nick is very lucky,” Nick’s stepdad said. Then he turned to Nick. “Don’t let this one get away, son.”
Nick was quick to respond. “I do not intend to.”
Blaze extended his hand to me; I shook it. “We make perfect music together, Mackenzie. Our chemistry is undeniable.” Then he pulled my hand to his lips and gave it a kiss.
“I don’t know how many threats I need to give you before it actually gets through your thick skull,” Nick said to Blaze, his voice full of warning.
Blaze laughed. “Relax, bro. You know I won’t do anything to you that you won’t do to me.” Then he winked at Nick before leaning forward to give him a hug. “See you soon, big brother.”
Beatrice was nowhere to be found; Nick didn’t look for her. Nick gave his mother a kiss and then he led me out the door.
We stood in the porch, waiting for Nick’s car. Judging by how many cars there were in the parking lot, the driver would take some time to appear with our car. I savored the quiet moment Nick and I finally have.
He took my hand in his. “You gave my father his one song today. I’m sure he will be more than honored,” he whispered to me. “Thank you. I don’t know what I did to deserve such a wonderful, talented, amazing person like you.”
“You’re a good guy, Nick. You are a man of many talents yourself. And I know many girls would kill to be in my place right now.”
“My stepdad gave me a rather surprising advice today, while you were on stage singing.”
“What?”
He looked at me for a moment and then he looked straight ahead, refusing to say another word.
“Come on. If you weren’t going to tell me, why did you bring it up?” I asked, raising a brow at him.
Then he took a deep breath and smiled at me sheepishly. “He told me to marry you.”
I blinked back at him. “M-marry me?”
Slowly, Nick faced me, giving me a boyish smile. “I mean, this relationship is headed somewhere, right? I’m not gonna rush you but you have to know I’m the type of guy that settles down.”
My heart pounded inside my chest. Sure, I wanted Nick for the rest of my life. But right now, we just confirmed our relationship. I just met his family and I just started calling him my boyfriend. I haven’t even graduated college yet! Oh my god!
Seeing the panicked look on my face, Nick smiled and pulled me to him, giving me a tight hug.
“Calm down, kitten,” he said. “It was just Brad giving me a piece of his mind and he rarely does that because I have always been in control of my game. I know it’s too soon to think about marriage. We are way too young. Don’t worry, I’m not going to propose now.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay.”
Nick looked at me and in a more serious expression he said, “I am not going to propose now. But I should warn you. Someday, I most definitely will.”
I thought I just heard my heart drop to the floor. I stared up at him, blinking back, my face turning crimson.
Nick touched my cheek with his fingertips, feeling its warmth. I have no doubt he could hear my heart pounding wildly inside my ribcage.
“And if you don’t mind, I will tell you what I want for my birthday now.”
I gulped nervously. “Okay, what?”
He smiled at me. “When we get home, I want to go back to sleeping in the bedroom—permanently.”
Wait, what?
“It’s your house, Nick. I just wanna make it clear. You’re kicking me out of the bedroom or the house itself?”
“Mackenzie!” Nick interrupted me. “What are you talking about? Didn’t you know by now that I will not let you leave that house?”
“All right. You want your bed back so I’ll—”
He shook his head. “Nothing will change. Except for me moving back into the bedroom.”
Damn! I forgot how to breathe again. Nick was an expert at making me faint.
“Nick, that would mean…”
He smiled at me sheepishly and then he nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what I mean.”
Oh my god! The things that he said were too much to take in a space of five minutes.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t say anything. All I could do was nod.
Nick gave me a triumphant smile. Then he pulled me to him again. “I’m crazy about you, Mackenzie Belle. You have no idea just how much I love you.”
I leaned forward to kiss him on the lips. “I love you, too, Nick.”
We’re starting our new life together—officially. There was no one else in the world I trust more, no one else I love more than him. Things are going to be just fine.