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"Then I guess I'm glad I didn't, because I would hate for you ever to run from me." He put his hands on either side of her face and looked into her eyes. "You'll tell me if I'm coming on too strong, won't you? If I'm moving too fast?"
Again, she thought about how surprised he was going to be in the morning when he found out that he wasn't the only one who had been moving fast. She was tempted to tell him now, but she didn't want to spoil what she hoped would be another really lovely and romantic moment.
"Trust me," she said, "we're in perfect sync." In every single way...
Their lips were nearly touching when her cell phone and the landline in the cottage both rang at the same time. She frowned as she reluctantly pulled away from him. "That must be one of my guests. I hope nothing is wrong."
But she soon found out there was. The couple who had checked in that afternoon, then headed out to drive through the mountains of Calistoga, had blown a tire on their rental car. The manual was missing from the glove box and they couldn't find the spare. They'd called the rental company, but they had no cars left on the lot. And when they'd called their auto service hotline, they were told there was a backup of several hours.
"I've got to go pick them up," she said.
"I'll come too."
Taylor knew there would be many more wonderful nights with Justin, especially now that they were engaged. Still, she couldn't help regretting that they couldn't yet celebrate their engagement.
He seemed to read her mind. "Before you know it, we'll be back here, warming each other up in your bathtub."
She gave him a quick kiss, told him where to find the pump and patch kit in the garage, then went to change into jeans and a jacket. She thought briefly about taking off her ring--she'd hate for anything to happen to it while she was helping with the tires. But that was a risk she was going to have to take.
Now that Justin had put his ring on her finger, she never, ever wanted to take it off.
*
Four hours later, they finally made it back to her B&B. Her guests had been beyond thankful that they'd not only come to help them, but had also brought warm blankets and a flask of hot cider. After tucking them into the backseat of her car, Taylor and Justin had gone to see what could be done about the tire.
As much as the previous part of their evening had been magical and perfect, the next was one long string of errors. Once they found the spare, the security lug-nut tool that should have been with it was missing, so they couldn't loosen the nuts to take off the flat tire. It was sheer luck that a county road maintenance worker came along in his service truck with an air compressor and a plug kit, and could repair the tire enough to get them down the hill to St. Helena.
The sun hadn't yet started to rise, but it would soon. It was tempting to fall into bed to catch a little sleep before morning officially came. Taylor felt as though she was buzzing inside, which tended to happen when she was just on the borderline of exhaustion. But she desperately wanted to give Justin the same magical romance he'd given her just hours ago.
She wouldn't make a habit of pulling all-nighters, but just this once surely couldn't hurt. Fortunately, though her side still ached, she hadn't had another full-on burst of pain in the past few days. After she gave him her surprise this morning, she'd be careful not to push her body any harder. After all, she had promised Justin that she knew her limits, and she wanted him to know that he could always trust her.
"I know you're going to think I'm crazy," she said, "but I have a surprise for you. One that involves taking the world's quickest shower to get the grease off and then getting straight back in the car."
"Of course I want to see what your surprise is," he said, "but are you sure you're up for whatever it is? I'd never forgive myself if I ran you ragged."
"I'm fine," she promised him. "And I really think you'll love my surprise."
His smile made her heart dance around. "Life is never going to be boring with you, is it?"
In her old life, where she'd always followed someone else's step-by-step plans for the future, there had never been many chances to be spontaneous. But as the owner of a wine country B&B, she could see that each day would be wildly different from the next.
And she loved it.
"I sure hope not," she agreed.
After they'd quickly washed their hair and cleaned the grease off their skin--rather than all the other naughty things they would have rather done in the shower--they dashed back out to her car. The sun wasn't up yet, but they could see a glimmer of light just beginning to peek over the hills.
Justin's grin was huge as she turned off the ignition a quarter of an hour later. "We're going up in a hot air balloon?" He looked like an excited kid, and her heart melted all over again. "This is going to be awesome!"
The Morrisons were so adventurous that she was surprised he'd never been up in a hot air balloon before. Especially given that the wine country was only a couple of hours away from Palo Alto. But maybe he'd been waiting to take the flight with her, just as she couldn't help but feel that she'd been waiting to take a trip on the Wine Train with him. There were so many wonderful things she wanted to experience with him--this was only the tip of the iceberg.
A shadow of doubt crept inside before she could block it out. Doubt that she'd be well enough in the future for too many big adventures. Doubt that he'd be a match. Doubt that even if he was a match, she could reconcile herself to the idea of him sacrificing so much for her.
She forcefully shook off the dark thoughts. They were here for Romance Part Two. She wouldn't allow her diagnosis, and all the uncertainties that came along with it, to thwart even a single second.
They got out of the car and were soon being given information about their flight--where they'd be flying, at what altitude, and how to stay safe while in the basket beneath the balloon. She'd arranged for an exclusive two-person trip. One of the staff members would be on board as the pilot, but the owner had assured her over the phone that his pilots were masters at fading into the background when necessary.
Not that she had been planning to do anything blush-worthy with Justin up there--but she did have a very special moment planned. Though things had changed since last night, she still wanted to go ahead with it.
Soon, they were climbing into the large basket and setting off into the sky. Justin put his arms around her from behind, and Taylor leaned back into him while they soared in time to the rising sun. The grapevines below undulated over the hills and vall
eys, a picture-perfect wine country scene in the breathtakingly beautiful early morning light.
They might not have had any sleep, but Taylor felt more crisp and clear than ever before. And despite the darkness that had tried to creep in earlier, she felt so calm now, as though nothing could ever go wrong again.
"Justin." She turned so that they were facing each other and his hands were in hers. "Eight years ago when we met, I knew my life had just changed forever. I couldn't imagine not seeing your smile, and I didn't want to go even a day without hearing your laughter. I knew I'd always be head over heels for you, but what I didn't know was that you'd end up feeling the same way about me too. Yesterday, when you asked me to marry you, you must have been wondering why it took me a few seconds to say yes." She moved closer to him. "It isn't because I had any doubts at all. Of course I don't, even if neither of us can know for sure what's coming in the future." Again, she forced away the dark clouds that kept trying to creep in and let herself focus only on the man she loved. "The reason I was so surprised is because I was planning to propose to you. Here. Now." She laughed. "But you beat me to it."
He kissed her first, then said, "I love you, Taylor. So damned much I swear my heart feels as big as this balloon over our heads."
She reached into the bag she'd brought with her, then held out a velvet box that matched the one he'd given her last night. "I can't wait to marry you. Until then, I hope you'll wear my ring."
His grin was a mile wide as he opened the box, but when he saw the ring inside, he looked like he was about to tear up. "My mom would have loved this ring. I love this ring."
Taylor still couldn't believe she'd been able to find a man's band inset with a fire opal. It was simply meant to be.
She lifted it out of the box and slid it onto Justin's ring finger. There was no officiant, no family or friends nearby, no rose-covered arches or cake to cut, but as they soared through the sky wearing each other's rings, Taylor felt as though they'd already made every vow that counted.
From this moment forward, they would love and protect each other through whatever came. She would just have to pray that it would be more good than bad. And trust that even if it wasn't, their love would survive.
