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Coralyn pulled her hand free gently and tugged Giana’s face

to hers. Her hands were like ice on Giana’s equally icy cheeks.

“No. This is perfect. If you’re serious, then yes. Yes, I’d love

to get married.”

“I’m serious.” Giana’s hands bracketed her own. They were

going to have to leave soon, because her fingers were another

layer of frigid. “You taught me how to be joyful again,

Coralyn.” Her face softened, just like all her hard edges had

softened over the past year. “You’re so brave. I always said I

didn’t believe in happy endings or fairy tales, and that’s

probably a good thing because I’d likely be the villain in the

stories, but—”

“You’re not,” Coralyn protested on a laugh. “You’re the

white lady knight and the princess charming.”

“Not the ice queen.”

“No.” She gave a hard shake of her head. “Not anymore.

You deserve every good thing. We might not collectively

believe in happily ever after, but we do believe in good things,

healing, peace, and happy promises. We don’t need happily

ever after because that’s the end of things, and this isn’t the

end. We’re not the people we were, and that’s a good thing.”

Giana’s swallow echoed in the still morning. Even the

streets behind the park were fairly quiet, as if the world didn’t

want to wake itself up from the frigid cold. “I’m sorry if I ever

implied you were weak for being kind and sentimental and

good. I’m entirely in awe of you and your strength. You have

the best heart.”

Coralyn flushed with happiness. Her cheeks were pink with

more than just the wind-whipped cold. She could actually feel

the heat in her face, and it tingled pleasantly.