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“Cole, be serious.”
Sliding his hand over her cheek, he said, “Maybe this will help.” And then he kissed her, with tongue, for ten solid seconds, giving it everything he had.
When he pulled away, she looked a little dazed, color rushing to her cheeks, Mira Pink. “I guess we’re not worried about the families anymore?”
He turned, catching the wide-eyed stare of what looked like a five-year-old boy, and winced. “Oops.”
“Actually, that did help. Thank you.” She took a breath and blew it out, then jumped in place a few times, like a boxer warming up for a fight. “I can do this.”
Nodding, he repeated, “You can do this.”
“If you’ll follow me this way, folks,” the tour guide called out, “we’ll go into the deepest parts of the cavern. Once we’re there, we’ll turn off the lights for thirty seconds so you can see what it’s like to be in total darkness, the kind your eyes would never adjust to.”
“At least they warn you about turning off the lights now,” she muttered.
Holding her close, Cole walked with her around the corner, her face tucked into his chest, her arms cinched around his waist. “Are you ready?” he asked her.
“No.”
“Need another kiss? I’m happy to feel you up real quick too, if you think that’ll help.”
At least she laughed, until the tour guide said, “Here we go, folks. Thirty seconds. See you on the other side.”
The lights went out, one at a time, until only a single yellow bulb buzzed along the wall. When that flickered off too, Cole had to admit it was pretty damn disconcerting, the complete absence of light, of sound as everyone in the cavern seemed to hold their breath at once.
“I’m right here,” he said into Mira’s hair as she burrowed into his side. “I’ve got you.” After a moment, her arms relaxed, and even though he couldn’t see her, he felt her looking at him.
He’d been counting in his head,twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen. He didn’t have much time left. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” she said. “Because you’re here.” Squeezing him tighter, but not in fear, she whispered, “You’re my light when the world goes dark.”
His wedding speech. She remembered. Either his chest shrank, or maybe his heart swelled, but there wasn’t enough room left for all the love inside him. “I’ll always be here,” he told her. And then he reached into his back pocket, pulled out the ring she definitely would have felt if he’d let her grope his ass, and held it in front of her, his fingers trembling so hard he only prayed he wouldn’t drop it.
Six, five, four…
When the lights flared back to life, nearly blinding him, he looked down at Mira and grinned. “Doesn’t closing your eyes just make it darker?”
With a self-deprecating laugh, she opened her eyes, then gasped when she saw the ring, her eyes misting over while she watched him sink to his knee, her chin wobbling when he told her, “You made it, sugar.”
“Cole?” she said, her voice cracking.
“I thought it might be memorable to do it like this.” He glanced around. The tour guide—who was more than happy to take Cole’s twenty bucks to give him a little extra time on this part of the tour—gave him a wink, while everyone surrounding them watched on, covering their mouths or their hearts, holding their own loved ones close. “But I didn’t realize there would be so many people watching.”
Mira laughed. So did everyone else. But then he caught her stare, the tear slipping down her cheek, and the world around them disappeared, the way it always did when she was this close to him.
“I thought this moment would be meaningful, significant. Because we’ve both had to overcome our fears in order to find our way to each other,” he explained, the simple violet sapphire set in a vintage platinum band glinting under the artificial lighting. “I thought that when the lights went out, I’d feel…different somehow. But I don’t feel different. I guess I didn’t need to bring you all the way to this strange, dark cave, because I could have done this sitting at your counter having coffee with you, or walking with you through the streets in town, or dancing with you to the jukebox at Jimmy’s. Because, Mira Jean Harlow, every moment when you’re by my side is meaningful. Every laugh, every touch, every breath I’m lucky enough to share with you is significant. Every single second I spend with you becomes my new favorite memory.”
Across the cavern, someone sniffled.
“I know you don’t care for weddings, so we can just stay engaged forever if you want—”
“I want a wedding,” she said quickly, her tears streaming. “I want a huge wedding with everyone I’ve ever known, all their relatives, and their friends, and their friends’ friends. Everyone!”
Cole laughed, even though his eyes stung. “Mira, sugar, I love you. I always will, and I want you and everyone else to know that. I’ve already asked you so many times. I meant them, each one, and I mean it now too. Will you marry me?”
Bending over, she took his face in her hands, smiled through her tears, and said, “Fuck yes, I’ll marry you!”
While the entire cavern erupted into cheers, Mira helped him to his feet, and he slid the ring onto her finger. When he met her stare again, she cupped his cheek, and told him, “Every second I spend with you becomes my new favorite memory too. But”—she gave him a watery grin—“it’s gonna be pretty hard to top this one.”
She kissed him then, and as he stood in that hidden place carved out by time, surrounded by whistling, cheering strangers, holding the woman he would have moved all the way to the moon for in his arms, Cole thought,Hell yeah.Because this moment was meaningful, it was significant, and it would be very hard to top. Good thing he had the rest of their lives to try.
~THE END~
