Page 107 of Echoes of a Silent Song

“Sure.Yeah.Of course.”Wow.This was not going the way he’d planned.

Finally she replaced the music on the rack and started playing.“Huh,”she said over the rippling piano introduction.“Is this for a commission?It doesn’t have your usual harmonic complexity.”

“That’s because the music isn’t the most important part.”Okay.Time for plan B.He hadn’t expected to need to spell it out for her quite this specifically, but whatever.He could be flexible.

He lowered himself to one knee next to her, but still she focused on the music.

“Blair.”

“Yeah?”She turned the page.

“Blair, I need ...”

“What?”She stopped playing and finally looked at him ...then froze.Her mouth was open, her hands still on the keys.

“The title is all that matters in this one.Because it’s not just a title.It’s a question.”He pulled in a breath.“Marry me, Blair.Please?”

Her mouth opened further.“Oh, you’re ...this is ...”

He fished the ring out of the pocket of his tux jacket and popped open the box.“For real?Yes.It is.”

She stared for what seemed like forever, then erupted in a joyous shriek and launched herself from the piano bench into his arms.“Yes.Yes, yes, of course, Callum, yes.”

Swallowing against a sudden lump in his throat, he smothered her lips in a kiss, then slid the ring onto her finger.“Hope this won’t get in the way while you’re playing.”

“I don’t care if it does.”She held her left hand out, turning it this way and that.“It’s gorgeous.”

“The new lights don’t hurt anything.”He’d pulled all the strings he had—and a couple he didn’t—but finally the district had agreed to replace the noisy, outdated auditorium lights.These were much quieter, which had been his main goal, but they had the added benefit of splitting the oval-shaped diamond into brilliant shards of red, green, and blue.

“They don’t.”She gazed at him and wrapped her arms around his neck again.“What made you do this now?Tonight?”

“Well, I thought about doing it after the concert—not in public, of course, just with the two of us—but I couldn’t wait.”He leaned hisforehead against hers.“Frankly, I wouldn’t have been able to focus on the concert.But I just realized webothmight not be able to focus now.”Blair smiled.“I think we’ll be fine.We’re professionals, after all.”She pressed a kiss against his lips, then pulled back.“Wow.We’re getting married.”

“We are.”

He still could barely believe it.It wasn’t the first time he’d given a woman a diamond.And it wasn’t the first time Blair had received one.He’d once planned to spend the rest of his life with Rayne, and Blair had made the same plan with Derek.

But God had had a different plan.And through all the brokenness and pain of Rayne’s death and Derek’s betrayal, God had been working quietly backstage, weaving all the melodies and harmonies of their lives together to create the masterpiece of here and now.

And Callum would spend the rest of his life thanking him for it.