“It does seem to be one of your favorite places.”
And there’s that smile again. “I have many favorite places.”
“That’s true,” Hyacinth chimes in.
“She’s notorious,” Jerry calls from the top of the amphitheater.
“Would you two please let him talk?” my mother says.
“Do you realize you’re surrounded by people who adore you?” I ask my beautiful bluebell.
She blinks once, and her smile grows wider. “And surrounded by people that I adore in return. This isn’t where either of us thought we’d be when we met, is it?”
“Not at all.”
I’m smiling too as I glance around at the kids again. Some are bouncing. Grins and smirks abound in this little amphitheater tonight.
“Is he gonna kiss her again?” someone whispers loudly.
“I hope not,” Hyacinth whispers back, just as loudly. “Ew.”
“What I hope,” I say, turning to the audience again, “is that each of you has learned a fraction of what I learn every day about the world and how to live life to the fullest, for having had the privilege of spending it with this lovely woman here.”
I squeeze her hand while more squeals and awws rise around us.
“Hayes,” she whispers.
I turn back to her. “You, my dear bluebell, have done the impossible. You’ve taken a cold, battered, hidden heart and taught it the true meaning of love. You’ve restored my faith in humanity, pulled me back into the world, and brought as much peace to my life as you have joy.”
She swipes at her eyes, still smiling. “You make it easy.”
“The day we met, the only thing I wanted was peace, quiet, and solitude. And I know I was the last thing you wanted that day too. The universe had other plans for both of us, and I find I want something I never thought could exist for me.”
“What’s that?”
I drop to one knee, and gasps and squeals explode around me.
But I care simply about one person, and one person only, whose eyes have suddenly gone the size of the fire, and whose lips have rounded into a circle.
“Hayes,” she whispers again.
“What I want, Begonia, is to marry my best friend, the woman I adore and cherish beyond reason, the only person on this earth who could make me believe in the honesty of love again. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me every single day. If you’ll have me.”
Her eyes are wide and shiny, her smile so bright it could be a star all on its own, and she’s squeezing my hand.
“Hayes Rutherford, you know you don’t have to marry me to keep me.”
“And yet I have an inexplicable urge to stand on a mountaintop and vow to love you for all eternity anyway. I want it all, bluebell. Babies and awkward holiday parties with our families and gray hair and adventure and life. I want to tie my life with yours forever.”
“Say yes, Ms. Begonia!” someone yells.
“Men are gross! Say no!” a very familiar voice yells back. It seems someone invited Keisha as well.
Begonia laughs, but the merry sound turns into a gasp as I pull the velvet box from my pocket and open it. “I don’t mind earning that yes,” I tell her softly. “And I don’t mind being told no, so long as you’ll still keep me.”
“I could never tell you no.” She swipes at her eyes again, laughing, as she drops to her knees too, then flings herself at me. “I love you, Hayes. I love you and adore you and cherish you and want to spend the rest of my life doing all the things I know to do to make you smile and laugh and also—” she drops her voice “—all those things we shouldn’t talk about in front of an audience of horny teenagers.”
“Is that a yes?” I ask as I cling to this woman who’s given me back everything I’ve been missing in my life.
“It’s a double-triple-quadruple with whipped cream and a cherry on top yes,” she replies.
And I suddenly realize the error in my plans to propose to her in her very favorite spot on earth.
We have an audience.
Easily solved, though.
I pluck the modest ruby ring out of the box and lift it to her finger. Could I have gotten her a larger ring?
Yes.
Would she have turned me down on principle if I had?
Entirely possible.
“It’s the color of my hair,” she whispers.
“Exactly right, my love.” I start to slide it over her knuckle while the campers cheer around us, when suddenly, a massive pile of fur woofs, leaps between us, knocking us both to our asses.