Page 108 of Just Say (Hell) No

“Means… life,” she said slowly. “Vitality, I guess you’d say. Like you’ve got extra.”

“Ah. I reckon you got it right, then. What do orange and red mean together?” The essential point. He might not want to know, but the only way to face things was head-on, and the only way to deal with pressure was to walk towards it. Today, and every day.

“They mean,” she said, “that I’ll keep telling you to dial it back, and you’ll keep having to do it.”

He heard the laughter in her voice, and something in him relaxed. “Sounds about right. So. Ella and Tom. What color is he?”

“Oh, he’s green as well. They’re both green. Grounded. And I’m guessing, by the way, that you’ll see him shift teams in a year or so. I’m thinking Auckland will be too close to Josie and Hugh for her, and any place but where she is will be too far away for him. If she ends up at the University of Canterbury and he goes to play for the Crusaders… when you meet him on the field, try not to kill him, please.”

“Haven’t killed Kane yet, have I?”

“No. But you’ve looked like you were trying.”

He smiled. “Nah. That’s just me. But you think they’ll last?”

“Oh, I think so. You can say they’re young, and that a year’s a long time. But my teenage crush has lasted thirteen years now. And counting. I can’t seem to shake it.”

“Ah. This would be a good time, then, to talk about what happens when Ella goes home. When you don’t have a reason to be in my house anymore.”

Nyree thought,What?Marko’s arms were still strong and warm around her, and she couldn’t be wrong about what he felt. Shecouldn’t.He still shone that same steady red. He still felt solid as stone.

She said, “Let’s hear what you think, and then I’ll tell you whatIthink.” Time to put her heart on the line. This was everything, or it was nothing. There was no spot in between that worked for her.

He said, “Sounds like a plan.” The sun was nearly down now, the gold half-circle sending its rays to light up the clouds that much more. So beautiful it hurt. “You’ve painted two of my rooms already,” he went on. “Got your art on the walls, got your makeup on the shelf and your toothbrush next to mine. And I’ve got you in my heart, too. You’re what home is to me. When I head out the next time, and every time—I need you there to come home to, and I want to be that for you as well. I want to be your solid place, your strong place. I want you to know, whatever happens, that you won’t be alone. That you can paint, and you can try, and you can fly. Fly as high as you like. Just come back to me.”

He’d moved, had taken his arms away and come to face her, still holding her by a hand. The sun slipped away, and on the beach, alone except for a flock of wheeling birds, Marko… didn’t. He’d never slip away. He was sinking down on a knee, pulling something out of the pocket of his jacket.

A box.

He said, “I should’ve done it while the sun was up so you could see it better, but this felt right.” He smiled, then, a little lopsided, and maybe a little like something Marko never was. Scared. “Doing it in color, eh.” He flipped the box open, and, yes, there was a ring in there, and she might be having trouble breathing. A round stone cut like a star, and shining like one, too, with more diamonds set into the platinum band. “You’re a woman who’s always going to need the stars,” he said, “and I want to help you get them. I love you, baby. Will you marry me?”

She had a hand over her mouth. “Marko. That’s a… that’s too much. That diamond.”

He’d started to smile more, to smile for real. “Nah. I had to make it big enough for those fellas to see all the way across the café when I’m gone. If you stay there, of course, but I think you will. I think you need the people. I think you need the life.”

“I may never…” Her hand was shaking in his. “I may never be famous, you know.”

“Never mind. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. But I think you will. And I’m down here getting older every minute, so you know.”

“Oh!” She had to laugh, then, and he was laughing, too. “Then—yes. Yes. Put that ring on me and get up here again. I need to kiss you. I love you. I want to marry you more than anything in the world. But I need to know one thing. What was your card of the day?”

He was sliding the diamond on her finger, and his hand around hers felt like the safest place she’d ever been. “The King of Wands.”

“Sounds about right. What does it mean?”

He stood up, took her in his arms, and kissed her as the sunset glowed pink and gold, red and orange. It was cold out, but here where she stood, here with this man, she had all the warmth in the world.

He said, “According to my mum?” and smiled. “An honorable man.”