Broken Souls Don't Cry

Chapter 47

Sara

Sara finally felt free.

Today was the four-year anniversary of her first rape. She had decided to keep it like any other day and pay it no mind. She had meant it when she said she wasn't going to give Kyle another minute of her life.

Her family had come out to help her move her stuff into Kai's house. Our house, she had reminded herself. There was a moment where Kai had taken Sara's dad off to the side and asked him something. What, she didn't know, and Kai wouldn't give any clues.

She loved it here. Bruno and Ashby had plenty of room to run and Sara had already started planning how she wanted the backyard. She had a lot of ideas on how to accommodate the rescue and efficiently utilize the space they had.

The morning after Kai and Sara had gotten back together, Kai had taken her on a tour around the property. The backyard was mostly grass, there was a larger shed and an area for a garden. Past that, it was just grass.

Sara wanted to put in some landscaping and maybe even a saltwater pool. Having the pool would also help some dogs with therapy, not to mention cooling off during the summer months. Kai was going to look at getting it covered so they could use it year-round.

So many plans. For the first time in a month, Sara was excited for the future. No longer was she afraid of Kyle lurking in the shadows. No longer was she upset about her relationship with Kai. Things were going well. Her last semester had started a month ago, and she was looking forward to graduating in a couple months. Thankfully, this semester wouldn't be as demanding as the last one.

Her ribs were healed, and her cast had come off two weeks ago.

"Hey beautiful" Kai came up behind her and snuggled his face into her neck. It tickled and Sara gave a little giggle.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Kai asked as he rested his chin on her shoulder and swayed back and forth with her.

"I think so?" Sara gave him a questioning look. He had something planned but was keeping the details secret, for now.

"Good. I'll pick you up from school and bring you home to change." He placed kisses along her neck and a shiver ran down her spine.

"Oh? What should I wear?" She turned around to face him. Her arms went up to his shoulders and she gave him a playful look.

"Well, technically I would prefer if you didn't wear anything." She gasped and swatted him on the shoulder, "but... a dress would be nice. I wanted to take you to a nice restaurant tonight instead of our usual scene."

Hmmm, this intrigued her some more. The only nice restaurant they frequented was the Italian place, Rossi's. Sara had fallen in love with their seafood alfredo and the turtle cheesecake.

"Are you taking me to Rossi's?" she asked excitedly.

"May-be" Kai dragged out the word. "I will neither confirm nor deny"

She gave him a peck as they walked out to the truck to head to class. Kai only had morning classes today, then he would be at Sudo the rest of the day.

**

Kai

He was nervous. Sweaty palms, racing heart, fidgety limbs, the whole deal. He had everyone gathering at the restaurant in an hour and he was currently waiting for Sara to walk out of her classroom so he could take her home to change. He was leaning against the wall, he hoped having a sturdy structure behind him would help calm his nerves, but it wasn't helping. He then started pacing. Maybe that would help more.

He was nervous about tonight, but he was also crazy excited for it. He knew what today was and wanted to change out the bad memory for a good one. One that would overshadow the bad, permanently.

A few minutes later, Sara walked out of her classroom. She looked a bit surprised but gave him a wide smile as she walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

One smile from her made most of his nerves disappear.

"I get an escort from class today?" she teased. He grabbed her hand and started to walk her out of the building and over to the parking lot.

"Yes, I thought it might be fun to pick you up from class instead of just waiting for you."

"Mmhmm" Sara mused.

Sara talked about her classes on the way home. Soon, Sara was in a beautiful teal dress, and they were headed toward the restaurant.

"You're planning something, I know it" Sara said as he helped her out of the truck.

"My lips are sealed"

"At least I was right on the place" she said, gesturing to Rossi's sign.

They were seated at a table and their orders were placed. Kai with the parmesan chicken and Sara with the seafood alfredo.

Shortly after they finished eating, Kai excused himself for a moment. He looked back at Sara before turning the corner to speak with the waitress. He had ordered dessert, turtle cheesecake, but Kai had something he wanted placed on the dessert. Everything had been pre-arranged, and now it was go time. He placed a hand in his pocket and squeezed the box that was burning him.

The waitress took the cheesecake over to their table and Kai watched from his corner as the waitress set it down. He had asked the waitress to put a little toothpick with a flag on it that read "Look around you."

Sara looked confused and started looking around her and her face lit up when she recognized the majority of those around them.

Kai walked back over to their table, picked up his glass and started clinking it, waiting for the other guests to settle down.

Sara looked at him in bewilderment, her cheeks were flushed red, and he could tell she was debating on whether or not to cover her face. He just smiled and winked at her.

"May I have your attention for a moment" Kai said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Four years ago today, I met this gorgeous woman sitting here and we went on our first date. Now she didn't think much of me, in fact I think she hated my guts." He chuckled, as did most everyone else. Sara's face was beet red, but her eyes shone with excitement.

"We didn't see each other again for three of those years and reconnected last year. She still hated my guts at first, but I won her over with my stubbornness. She took my breath away and showed me that there is always more that meets the eye." He looked at her, this time holding her gaze for the rest of his speech.

"There was a time where I didn't know if we would make it, I wanted to, more than anything. Thanks to two goof balls we call Bruno and Ashby, rescues that Sara fell in love with, long before me, we were able to put the past behind us and leave it there for good."

Now was the big moment, he took a deep breath, took the ring box out of his pocket, opened it, and knelt down on one knee, taking her hands in his. "Sara, I love you with everything I have. You are the most important person in my life, you are my world. May I ask you my question?"

She nodded; tears fell from her eyes as he looked into them.

"Will you marry me?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yes!" She squealed through her tears. He placed the ring on her finger. Kai felt her place her hands around his head, and she pulled him in for a deep kiss.

Their friends and family who had come to witness this moment, cheered, as did other guests.

Sara broke their kiss and their foreheads rested together.

"You're such a goofball" she said.

"I know, but I'm your goofball" he said as he kissed her again.