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I tense. “Why’s that?” I face her, realizing there's a wounded look in her eye.
“Well, last night it was just kind of odd that you didn't come over after everything we shared the night before. I just thought that what we were a thing now, that we were together. I just hated being apart from you, Filson.”
“We are a thing. The best thing that’s ever happened to me.” I run my hand over her cheek, pulling her toward me to press our foreheads together. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I had something I had to do.”
“Well, telling me what you had to do would help.” I don't like being in the dark, but I also know I am keeping something from him. I could have told him about the cash offer yesterday morning, but I didn’t. I don’t exactly have a leg to stand on.
“I couldn't really tell you about this one.”
Her eyes go dark. “Why not?” she asks. “Should I be worried about something?”
I chuckle. “No, Maple. Don't assume the worst.”
“Okay, then what was it?” she asks. “Because I'm standing here feeling really vulnerable thinking that you might not come back.”
“You have to trust me, girl. I'm here to stay.”
She looks up into my eyes. “Really? You mean that?”
“Listen. I had to go to the city in order to find something that I knew I wouldn’t find in Snowy Valley. A special something for someone very special.”
I swallow as I get down on one knee drawing a small box from my pocket, causing her to gasp and cover her mouth. “Maple St. Claire. I've loved you since I was six years old. I know there was a long stretch of years where I wasn't the man I needed to become because I didn't rightly know how, but now I do. And beyond that, I know how to be the man you need. I know how to give that to you. All I need to do is be myself.”
“Oh, Filson,” she says, biting back tears as I press on.
“I love you,” I tell her. “I love the way you drink your tea and the way you like to fight. I love how stubborn you are and the way you go all in. I love the way you believed in me before I believed in myself. I love you and I need you to be my wife.”
I open the jewelry box as tears fall down her face.
“I love you too,” she says, shaking her head in disbelief. “I love you so much. And of course, I'll be your wife. I want to be anything you need. I just don't want to be apart from you.”
She doesn't take the ring. Instead, she leaps into my arms and I laugh, falling backward on the floor. She climbs on top of me and gives me a kiss.
“I love you. I love you. I love you like crazy.”
“And I’m goddamn crazy for you.”
She looks down at me and I laugh, wondering how the fuck I got so damn lucky.
“Take the ring, baby,” I say, taking it from the box and placing it on her finger. “So, that was the errand I was running. I couldn't exactly tell you I was planning to propose, could I?”
“I suppose not,” she says with a laugh. “Oh, Filson, I can't believe this. It's all I've ever wanted.”
“Not all you've ever wanted though, is it?” I ask, running a hand over my beard. She crawls out of my lap and we sit on the floor facing each other.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“Well, you wanted this house too, didn't you?”
She nods. “Let's not talk about it. It's too heartbreaking. Besides, I sold it. I sold the house. Someone offered cash, 10 percent above asking price and I signed my name and all the papers yesterday.”
“You did,” I say. It's not a question.
“I did.”
“I know, Maple.”
“How did you know?” she asks, her brows furrowing.
I take my fiancée’s hands. “Should I be upset that you didn’t tell me yesterday morning even though you knew?”
“I didn't know how to say it,” she admits.
“I thought we've been down this road, Maple. You can tell me anything.”
“I know but I just wanted us to have Christmas.”
“Well, we're having Christmas and we're also talking about the sale of your house. You can have the good and the bad. Not only one or the other.”
“I’m beginning to understand that, thanks to you,” she says. “But yes, I did sign my name on the dotted line and sold the house.”
“Yeah, I know. I saw your signature.”
“How?” she asks.
I pull out my phone and pull up an email document. “Because, Maple St. Claire, I'm the one who bought it.”
She gasps and shock is written on her face as she takes my phone. “Filson Barre, you crazy-ass fool. You really did this for me?” She sets the phone down, wiping the tears from her eyes.
