Page 137

After we finish eating, he rinses our dishes and then leads me outside with our fingers interlocked. The chill nips at my bare arms, but I follow him without hesitation. Wood is already stacked in the firepit, and he bends over to start it. A few seconds later, with a click, lanterns light up in the backyard, creating a warm, ambient light.
A thick blanket is draped across one of the two Adirondack chairs, and there’s that same jar of wildflowers on the little side table, swaying slightly in the breeze. I stop walking because it’s absolutely magical. The simplicity of it, the care in how it’s laid out, makes my throat tighten.
“You did all this for me?” I ask.
“Of course. Seeing the look on your face right now? Worth it.”
He loops his finger in mine and leads me to the waiting chairs. I sink into it, and he sets the blanket over me before settling beside me, so close that our knees touch.
I let out a content sigh, watching the fire and enjoying the warmth. Above us, the sky stretches wide and open, stars poking through in clusters, bright and scattered and wild. There’s no city glow to drown them out here, and it feels like they’re sparkling just for us.
Neither of us speaks as we watch the flames flicker. He reaches over, and his hand finds mine. I glance over at him and smile because he’s so calm. But the longer I watch him, the more I see he’s holding something in. I notice it in how his thumb keeps running the same slow circle against mine and the way his jaw keeps flexing, like there’s something caught behind his teeth.
I reach for him with my opposite hand, my fingers brushing across his scruff. “What’s on your mind?”
He exhales through his nose, a shaky laugh caught somewhere in his chest. His eyes flick to mine, and whatever he’s been holding back starts to surface. “You know me so well.”
Brody leans forward and kisses me. It’s not hurried or hungry, just soft. And I don’t know if I’ve ever been kissed beneath the stars. His forehead rests against mine, our breaths mingling in the cool mountain air. The fire crackles beside us, casting orange light along his jaw. I watch his throat bob as he swallows, and for the first time since I’ve known Brody Calloway, he looks nervous.
“I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this,” he starts, his voice low. “But every time I run through it in my head, it sounds too neat. Too practiced.”
“Don’t overthink it,” I whisper, fingers lacing with his.
He nods once and exhales like he’s bracing for a free fall, and then he shifts out of the chair and moves until he’s on one knee in front of me.
My heart stops. Actually stops.
His hands don’t shake, but there’s tension in his shoulders.
“I didn’t think forever was something I’d ever get,” he says, eyes locked with mine. “Not with my past. Not with the way I’d lived. I thought I’d always be the guy who showed up when things fell apart, never the one who got to build something of his own.”
Tears rise fast and hot behind my eyes, but I don’t blink them away.
“But then you came crashing into my life with your fire and your stubbornness and your impossible strength. And suddenly, I didn’t want to be the man who only protected people; I wanted to be the man who deserved you. The one who got to love you out loud with his full chest, without apology, exactly as you are.”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. The leather is worn at the corners. He opens it, and inside is a simple, timeless ring—platinum band, oval diamond, nothing excessive, just elegant.
My mother’s ring.
I gasp, and I’m so overwhelmed by happiness that I don’t realize I’m crying until tears drip down my cheeks.
“Your father gave it to me,” he says, confirming it. “He mentioned how important it was for you to have this ring.”
“Brody …” His name comes out cracked and full of emotion.
“Harp, you didn’t save me, but you made me want to be saved. And I want a life with you. A home. A million slow mornings and quiet nights and every messy, real, beautiful thing in between. Please marry me. Please be my wife. Please let me protect you and love you until my very last day.”
I can’t speak, but I nod hard, fast, too many times. And then I’m out of the chair and into his arms, the blanket falling to the ground as I kiss him through the tears, through the laughter, through the shaking in both of our hands.
“Yes,” I finally manage against his mouth. “A billion times yes.”
He slips the ring onto my finger, and I stare at it like a piece of my heart has finally returned to me.
We hold each other under the stars, the fire warm beside us, the trees swaying like they’re witnesses. And as he presses his lips to my temple, I know this isn’t a dream. It’s my reality. We lie together until the fire burns down, and instead of adding more, Brody stands, lifting me into his arms and carrying me over his shoulder like a caveman.
“Brody Calloway!” I say with a laugh as his hand lands firmly on my ass. “I thought we talked about this!”
“We did,” he says as he takes the steps up the porch and takes me inside.