Page 80 of Hearts on Ice
Strange timing, but okay. She followed him up the walk to the rink, waited for him to unlock the door and turn on the lobby light. Her heart did a little stutter-beat when she saw that over the pictures that had been just him, he’d taped printouts of their meme.
Dozens of them, all over the lobby.
“Find someone….” she murmured, and turned to Declan, waiting for explanation.
He motioned to the beautifully wrapped gift on the table closest to the door. “Open it.”
“For me?” she questioned, crossing to it and lifting it. Whatever it was was heavier than she expected, so she had no idea what it could be.
He nodded. She looked at him a long moment, but his expression was unreadable, his attention on the box, not her, so she carefully removed the ribbon and unfastened the tape to remove the thick paper gingerly.
“You didn’t wrap this,” she said.
“Meghan did.”
“For me?”
She folded back the paper to reveal a drone box, then turned to stare at him, not comprehending.
“I don’t like Xavier, but this was a good idea, and Meghan and Evan said they’d learn how to operate it so they could record our routines. We’ll have to work more around their schedules, but I think it will improve the videos.”
The smile that spread across her face tugged at muscles she hadn’t used in too long. “You got this for me. I mean, you had it wrapped, you decorated the rink, so you knew I’d come back?”
“I bought it when you texted this morning, and Meghan and Evan hung these up while I went to go get you.”
“You knew you’d forgive me?”
He took a step forward, took both her hands in his. “I knew I wanted to work things out. I know I’ve been miserable the past few days, and I don’t want to feel that way again.”
He released one hand and reached into his pocket. Colby’s heart started thundering for real this time as he drew out a small square box.
“I love you, Colby. I want to be part of your family, too.”
Her heart lifted all the way to her throat. “Deck.”
“If you’re going to say no, say it now,” he said, and flipped open the box. “Because I don’t think there’s any reason to go on if this isn’t our goal, to get married again.”
She stared at the ring, which started to blur as tears filled her eyes. She grabbed his hand with both of hers and pulled the box closer, in case he changed his mind. When she looked into his eyes, they were a bit blurry, too. “Yes, Declan. This is everything I want. Everything I want with you. Let’s get married.”
Surrounded by the place they loved, by proof of their love, and nothing else, he pulled her into his arms for a kiss to seal the deal.
When he kissed her, familiar, new, exciting, reassuring, she wrapped her arms around him, never wanting to let go.
Colby layon her back in bed, holding her hand up so her ring would catch the light.
“You don’t think it’s bad luck to use the same engagement ring, do you?”
“It’s not the ring’s fault we were young and foolish.” Declan threaded his fingers through hers and drew her hand down to kiss it. “But if you want, we can trade it in.”
“No, I loved this ring then, and I love it now. I’m surprised you still had it.”
“I thought about selling it, for a while, then I never got around to it. I’m glad now I didn’t.”He nestled down deeper into the mattress. “I’m sorry I let my emotions take over like that.”
“You were entirely justified. You were caught off guard, you didn’t know my real feelings. Can we just, as you said, start looking forward instead of back at all the mistakes we’ve made?”
“Every day, Mrs. O’Hare. Every day.”
She rolled over, straddling his hips and rising over him.
