“Too small,” Rashid said, shaking his head.
“Since when would you want a big tree, Ebenezer? Isn’t it a waste of resources… not to mention how much mess the needleswill make, and how hard it will be to fit it in the elevator?”
He laughed and put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “Get in the Christmas spirit, Red. We have twelve-foot ceilings. That little tree will look ridiculous. All the trees on this path are too small.”
“Okay, then, Dr. Needs His Christmas Decorations to Be Proportional to His Room, take me to where you think we’ll find a tree.”
Releasing her waist and taking her hand, he scanned the trees around them. Many of the larger ones already had red ribbons on them, which meant they were spoken for.
“There,” Rashid said, pointing to a small grouping of trees away from the others. They went for a closer look. The trees in the grouping were all big—well over six feet tall. Ruby inhaled deeply, the cold winter pine smell going straight into her bones. She still absolutelylovedthis season and was so excited to be spending another Christmas with Rashid. She knew without a doubt that it would be even better than last year. And last year had been pretty great.
They had already made plans to see the Santa Claus parade next week with Jasmine, Tara, Noor, Reena, Nadim, and Aleem again. Ayesha and her new girlfriend Olivia were going to be joining them, too. And they’d already bought tickets to take the girls toThe Nutcrackeragain later in December. Ruby had taken three skating lessons to be ready for a big skating party that Shayne and Anderson were hosting in a few weeks. Shayne was renting an outdoor projector so they could still watchCarol, but outside.
“Okay,” Rashid asked, “which one?” None of these treeshad red ribbons on them. Ruby let go of Rashid’s hand and inspected each tree until she found one that was just the right height and had just the right number of healthy-looking branches.
“This one,” she said right before leaning into the needles of the tree to take a deep inhale of the scent. It was glorious. It was a deep rich green and would look fabulous in their living room. “I want this one,” she said again, turning so she could get the ribbon from Rashid.
But she froze, mouth agape at what she saw. Rashid, with his jeans, flannel shirt, and blue beanie hat, was on one knee in front of her and holding out a little red box.
Tears welled in Ruby’s eyes as she stepped closer. It was a ring. A gorgeous gold band with two little leaves wrapped around two clear stones, and a big red ruby right in the middle.
“Rashid,” she said looking into his face. There was so much there. Hope. Respect.Love.“I… don’t know what to say…”
“I think I’m the one who’s supposed to say something.” He smiled, then took a breath. “I don’t have words for how much better my life has been since I met you a year ago. I thought I was happy—with friends and a wacky family that I would do anything for, plus a fulfilling job. But I was wrong. Everything was so empty when we were apart for those months. I don’t ever want to do that again. So…” His voice cracked with emotion. “So maybe it’s impulsive, but… Marry me, Ruby?”
With full-on tears falling down her cheeks, she dropped onto the snow in front of him, and wrapped her arms around Rashid.
“Yes,” she said into his ear. “A thousand yeses. Let’s getmarried.”
Rashid dropped his butt onto the snow and pulled Ruby into a tight hug.
This. This was why she was never going to leave this man. She wanted to make this feeling, thiscomfort, last forever.
Sitting on his lap, she put her left hand, with her new gold and red snowflake manicure, in front of him. He slipped the ruby ring on her ring finger, then pressed a kiss to her lips.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too. Your mother and sisters are going to take over wedding planning.”
He nodded. “I know. Let’s elope a minute past midnight on New Year’s Eve.”
Ruby laughed. She knew there was no way he would upset his family like that. And she knew that this, being in Rashid Hakim’s arms, was exactly where Ruby was supposed to be.
