“Why?” I’d asked.
“Because my mom says they remind us to look for the beauty. There is always beauty,” he’d said.
Coming back to the present, I reached him and Ranger, who’d run up to greet me and dropped a ball by our feet. “Hey, Sully.”
Sully took the ball and threw it high and long as Ranger ate up the distance, running for it. “Hey, babe.” He looked at me closely. “You okay?”
I moved toward him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I’m good.”
Sully’s arms tightened around my body. “Maggie, what’s up?”
I turned my head, resting it against his chest, and looked over the top of the tall corn as the sun had begun to disappear behind the elevators. “I love sunsets here.”
Sully kissed the top of my head. “We certainly have seen our share from this spot.”
Thinking of a Jason Isbell song, I whispered, “I hope we get to see forty years more.”
Sully was silent, then he chuckled. “Are you talking about that song that Emma loves, ‘If We Were Vampires’?”
“I introduced her to it,” I retorted automatically. We all battled to be the first to find a good song, a good band. It was a bit competitive. Laughing at myself, I pulled back and looked up at him. The heat of the day was fading. There was a breeze moving through the corn that tousled his dark hair. The scent of the grill still pervaded the air but combined with the flowers from his mom’s garden between us and the house. Sully’s brown eyes crinkled at the corner as he gazed down at me with a questioning expression. I looked at the face that I knew so well, that person that would never hurt me, and finally opened my heart.
Taking a deep breath, I began. “I love that song too, and I’m realizing that forty years together is nowhere near enough with you.” My voice cracked. “One day we’ll be gone, and I’m going to hate myself for being an idiot and wasting even one moment with you.”
Sully’s thumb came up and swiped the tears that were flowing down my cheeks away. “Baby,” he whispered.
The desire to bury my head and just hold him was strong, but I needed to get this out. I wanted no more secrets, no more holding back. “I’m so sorry, Cole. I’m so sorry that I didn’t see it before. But I know now that you aren’t only with me because of the baby. I know that I don’t need to run away from Highland to be myself. I can stay right here with the people I love, with the job I love, with the town that Idolove. This is my future. You are my future.” I swallowed hard.
Sully’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Maggie, I’m damn glad to hear you say that.” He began to lower down to a knee.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I said, quickly sinking to my knee myself. “I’ve been the pain in the ass here. I’m proposing to you.”
Sully wasn’t having it and joined me so that we were both kneeling, our bodies pressed together as our arms wound around each other, my belly preventing us from being completely against each other. “You are never boring, Maggie May. But there is no way I’m not proposing to you.”
I reached up, pulling his face to my own. Kissing him hard, I pulled back. “What if we propose to each other? I’ll go first.”
Laughing, he nodded. “Of course you will.”
I grinned at him. “Cole Sullivan, I’m sorry for being a horse’s ass for the past few months. But I have my head on straight now, and I know what I want. I want my future to be with you. I love you to pieces. Will you marry me?” Even though I knew what his response would be, my heart threatened to burst out of my chest. Luckily Sully seemed to sense that, and he leaned forward to brush his lips against mine before he spoke.
“Maggie Jameson, I love the shit out of you. Kneeling here in this yard, with the sun going down, I know my mom was right. Beauty is in front of us all the time. Of course I’ll marry you. I want forty years with you, and then forty more. I pray that one day, when we’re old and gray, that I will go first because I don’t want to spend one more day on this earth without you. You are my other half, and I’m so damn glad you realize that. I love you and this little girl you are carrying.” He took my hand in his, and I gasped as I realized he was sliding a ring on it. Looking down, I broke. Every tear my body contained decided it was time to rain down. It was my mom’s opal engagement ring that had sat in a special bowl on my dad’s dresser as I grew up. Through watery eyes, I locked eyes with Sully.
He answered my unasked questions. “Irene brought this from her apartment when she came to the hospital. Your dad had stored his stuff at her place, and he called her to ask her to bring it when I asked.” He paused, looking at my hand, then intertwining our fingers, he continued, “What do you say, Maggie May? Will you marry me?”
At that point I realized it was a lost cause and stopped trying to hold the tears back and embraced the ugly cry. Throwing my arms around Sully’s neck, I got out, “Of course I’ll marry you.”
As his lips met mine, I heard cheering, and we broke apart to see Lee, Anna, Max, and Emma, as well as Ranger rushing us.
“Well, I guess that saves us time in getting the word out.” Sully smiled at me. Leaning down, he brushed his lips against mine and whispered, “Welcome to the family, babe. I’m guessing this means you don’t need to move out next week?” His twinkling eyes looked at mine in amusement.
Laughing, I shoved him away but then gladly accepted his help up from the ground. Looking from Sully to the people we loved surrounding us to our dog spinning in circles as he barked to the setting sun, I was filled to the brim. There is just so much beauty.
Epilogue
Merry Christmas
Twenty weeks later…
Sully
