Page 91

I found out why.

A whole section of the restaurant that was open to a view of the beach was covered in candles. It was set for two people. Us. “You did this?”

“I did.”

The candles were far enough away from the table that I wouldn’t be nervous. I’d gotten better with fire, and I loved our fireplace back home. But open flames still made me anxious. He’d thought of that. He thought of everything.

But we didn’t go up to the table. Lucas sat down on the sand and tugged me down in front of him so I was bracketed by his legs. “We have some time to finish the sunset.”

“Okay.” I snuggled back into him.

No matter how many times he held me, I would never get tired of it. Every time it felt like safety and comfort. It felt cliche to say that it was my happy place, but it was.

“Are you happy that we came?” he asked.

“Yes. It was time. And Melanie will love Montana. Watch her ditch Florida once she sees it. She’s always hated it here.”

Lucas chuckled. “Well, we do have guest houses if she wants to get on her feet.”

I laid my hands over his where they rested on my stomach. If he hadn’t done that, given me that chance, I probably wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be here.

“I want to ask you something,” he said.

“Mm?” The sunset was a blaze of orange and pink in front of us, and I was so relaxed I could just fall asleep.

“Will you marry me?” he whispered.

My whole body went still. “What?”

“I know that it might be difficult for you to say yes, given what happened the last time someone asked you that question.”

I scrambled out of his hold and turned around. He wasn’t joking. There wasn’t a shred of humor on his face.

“And if that’s the case, then I’ll wait. Even if it’s something you can never do, I want you to know that I’m in this forever. It’s you and me, for as long as you want me.”

“You want to marry me?”

Lucas slipped a hand around the back of my neck and wove his fingers into my hair. “Evelyn, I’ve wanted to marry you for as long as I’ve loved you. And I loved you a lot sooner than you realize. But no matter what you answer, I’m still yours.”

I crushed myself against him with a kiss that could have melted the whole beach to glass. Lucas’s other arm came around me, and his hand sank deeper into my hair. I wanted to breathe him in and never let go. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

He smiled against my lips. “Really?”

“Really.”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a square of black fabric. My heart stilled. Not a jewelry box. He’d thought of that too. “Given everything, I didn’t want to get you a ring. And I know you’d say that it was fine, but there are no rules. And we don’t have to force ourselves to go by tradition when it’s going to make it that much harder.”

He unfolded the velvet. Nestled inside was a necklace. A simple, beautiful chain with a teardrop diamond that sparkled in the fading light of the sun. It was beautiful.

He was right. I would have worn a ring for him. But my finger was scarred, and it would have kept the memories lurking.

“It’s perfect.”

As he lifted the chain, it seemed to go on forever. “It’s long so you can wear it beneath your clothes if you want. Or shorten it too.”

I ducked my head as he looped it around my neck. The length placed the diamond near my heart, and I put a hand to my chest. I didn’t have to say it out loud. He already knew. “I love you,” I told him anyway. There wasn’t anything truer that I could say.

“I love you more.”

“Doubtful,” I said with a laugh.

Lucas spun me down onto the sand so he was hovering over me and kissed me again. Hard. “I guess we’ll just have to see who wins.”

“Kind of hard to do that if we’re together forever.”

Lucas smiled. “That’s exactly the point.”

The sun blazed bright in its final moments before it disappeared, and Lucas wrapped me up in him. The first and only place that I never wanted to leave.

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