Page 81 of Promise You Forever

I lead her into the copse of trees between the high pasture and the pond before dismounting. She’s perfectly capable of dismounting on her own, but I reach up and help her down anyway. I swipe my hand down the leg of my jeans before linking our fingers. She’s kind enough not to mention my sweaty palms, but still, I want to try for her.

Beyond bringing her up here, I don’t have a plan. I don’t even know how I’m going to ask her. I’m not even sure why I thought winging it would be a good call.

The water is just as clear blue as ever. There’s still some ice floating in it, so we’re definitely not recreating the skinny dipping. We have the rest of our lives for that.

“I forgot how gorgeous it is up here.” She walks to the water’s edge. “It’s crazy how clear the water is. You can see right to the bottom.”

“Yeah, you can see everything.”

She turns with a grin. “You saw everything that day, didn’t you?”

“Absolutely. Why do you think I jumped in after you?”

“You were so infuriating.”

“Were?”

“You still have your moments.”

I cup her cheek, going quiet as I lose myself in my favorite set of eyes. “I love you so much, Eli.”

“I love you, too.”

“I don’t even think love is a big enough word for how I feel about you. I want to spend every waking moment for the rest of my life and the lives I’ll live after this one with you. I want to watch every meteor shower with you. I want to put my babies inside you and raise them side by side with you.”

“Luke—”

I drop to one knee and pull her grandma’s ring out of my pocket. “Four years ago today, I made you promise me that you wouldn’t fall for me. I was already well on my way to falling in love with you, and it was delusional to think we could stop this. Today is my turn to make a promise. I promise you forever, if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife.”

“Yes.” Her hand shakes as I slide the ring on her finger. “Yes, my god, yes. I’d marry you in every lifetime.”

As soon as I stand back up, she jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist as we kiss. She grinds againstme as I squeeze her ass in my palms. If that water wasn’t so cold, we’d already be naked.

She breaks the kiss to look down at her hand through tear-filled eyes. “Was this Grandma’s ring?”

“Yes. Back before Christmas when we went to see Paul and you met with his doctor?” She nods, remembering. “I stayed back to ask Paul for permission to marry you. He was having such a good day, I wanted to have that conversation with him while I could.”

She buries her face in the crook of my neck and cries. I blink back tears myself, it’s bittersweet to talk about that day.

“He was so happy for us that he walked over to his dresser and pulled this ring out to give it to me to give to you.”

She looks down the pear-shaped diamond on an intricately woven white gold band. “I always loved her ring. Did you know Gramps had it made specifically for her? It’s a one-of-a-kind ring.”

“I didn’t know that, but it makes sense, I’ve never seen anything like it. One-of-a-kind ring for one-of-a-kind women.”

Epilogue

Three months later

Eli

Asmall bump hides beneath the flowing lace skirt of my wedding dress. We found out I was pregnant a week after we got engaged, we decided to wait until the wedding when I’d be well into my second trimester to tell everyone. We had a small ceremony in the back yard with close friends and family.

We invited less than twenty people, just those close enough to us to consider them family. Sam and Janey, along with Coop. My parents, who brought Gramps out from the care center for the day. Amber and her dad. Colt. Linda and Jasmine, who are dating and have recently moved in together.

Unfortunately, Luke’s dad wasn’t able to make it. His health is rapidly declining, but he’s tried making amends with his kids. It counts for something, and Luke is planning on having us go see him before we leave for our honeymoon, so we can tell him about the baby.

A tent is set up for dinner with a long rectangular table that fits all of us. Luke stands and holds his beer up as servers take everyone’s plates.

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