Evie turned toward the door, but I grabbed her wrist. “Hang on one minute. I want to talk to you.”
“We can talk in the car.”
I did the only thing I could think of to make her relax. I cupped her cheeks and pulled her mouth to meet mine. She tried to pull away, but after ten seconds her shoulders loosened and she gave in. It was supposed to calm her down, but it started to have the opposite effect on me, so I forced myself to cut it off. Though I kept her cheeks in my hands and her face close.
“Just give me one minute, okay?” I whispered.
She blinked a few times, looking a little out of it, but nodded. I loved that even after all this time, I could still make that happen. Bringing her hand to my lips, I kissed the top before taking a deep breath and stepping back. Then, I dropped to one knee.
“Evie, I wanted to do this here because I know the significance of these treehouses. They’re a place you came to feel safe at times in your life when you wanted to escape the world. I might not have climbed into a treehouse, but I’ve definitely spent my share of years wanting to escape life—until you walked through my door.”
Evie covered her mouth, and tears welled in her eyes.
“Since the day I met you, my life has been changed. You’ve made me want to live again, to be a better person, and you’ve made me want so much more out of life than money and power.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring box I’d been carrying around since we left New York this morning. “I worried you might think I was playing pocket pool with the way I’ve been reaching into my pocket so much to make sure I didn’t lose this.”
Evie laughed.
I opened the ring box. Inside was a four-carat princess-cut diamond, with two smaller stones set into the filigree on either side. The smaller stones were from her grandmother’s ring and Kitty’s. It had taken a few people to get this made. Next to the ring in the black velvet box was the orange piece of sea glass she kept in her purse and never went anywhere without. I took out the glass and held it up to her. “I hope you don’t mind that I stole this from your bag this morning. I needed every bit of luck I could get today.”
She took the sea glass and held it next to her heart. “I think the feeling in my heart right now might be better than the one I had on the beach twenty years ago when I found it.”
I smiled. “Evie, I want to wake up with you every morning and fall asleep next to you every night. I want you to be my wife, and I want to have a family with you. But more than anything, the reason I wanted to do this here is because I want to replace your treehouses, sweetheart. I want to be the person who will always be there for you, the place you run to when you need to feel safe.” I paused and took a deep breath. “Will you marry me, Evie?”
Tears spilled down her face. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. “Yes! Yes!”
My heart raced out of control as I took her mouth in a kiss. When it broke, we were both panting. I pushed the ring onto her finger, and she stared at it.
“The stones on either side are from our grandmothers’ engagement rings, given by their one true loves. Greer helped me find your grandmother’s ring, and Kitty couldn’t wait to give you hers.”
“Oh, Merrick, that means the world to me.” She held out her hand. “It’s absolutely stunning.”
“Well, then I guess I got the right one. Because it matches the woman wearing it.”
THE END
（But sometimes life is a circle and leads back to the beginning…）
Back to the Beginning
Merrick
Nineteen years ago
“Hey.” My sister walked into the garage where I was practicing shots on my grandfather’s old pool table. She picked up the five ball I had bent over to shoot. “Grams needs you to take a ride to the market to pick up some sugar.”